2018 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Sandi Tan’s Shirkers

Date:

Forget about Chris Smith’s Jim Carrey / Man on the Moon rescued footage docu, we have a true detective treasure hunt that knows no geographic bounds to watch out for on the horizon. A recent 2016 Sundance Documentary Film Program Fellow and recipient of some post-production coin from Sundance, the Singapore born Sandi Tan saw her short films shore up at fests such as NYFF, and Clermont-Ferrand and then made the Cinereach backed Shirkers her first feature quest. Teaming with Cinematographer Iris Ng (Stories We Tell), Tan is also an author having published a couple of years back.

Gist: In 1992, an enigmatic American named Georges shot Singapore’s first indie film with a group of female teenage film-buffs, then absconded with all the footage. Nearly twenty years later, his widow uncovers the 16mm cans in New Orleans—and ships them to the film’s screenwriter-actress, who embarks on a new voyage to Singapore, Cambridge, New Orleans, and into the past.

Production Co./Producers: Sandi Tan, Jessica Levin (Day Night Day Night).

Prediction: U.S. Documentary Film Comp.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic). TBD (international)

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022, he was a New Flesh Juror for Best First Feature at the Fantasia International Film Festival. His top films for 2023 include The Zone of Interest (Glazer), Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Pham Thien An), Totem (Lila Avilés), La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher), All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson). He is a Golden Globes Voter.

Share post:

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Popular