Ivan Tan is a writer-director from Singapore. His graduation film, Tadpoles, was the first Singaporean film to screen and win a jury prize at the 66th Locarno Film Festival.

Having no formal training in filmmaking, he enrolled into the National Film & Television School (UK), where he was one of eight directors selected for the cohort that year.

Since returning to Singapore, Ivan has been actively involved with the independent filmmaking scene. He served as 2nd Assistant Director on Anthony Chen’s Wet Season (2019), script supervisor to Jow Zhi Wei’s Tomorrow is a Long Time (Berlin 2023), K. Rajagopal & Chris Yeo’s Deep End and Tan Siyou’s Amoeba (TIFF 2025)‍. Since 2020, he has taught screenwriting at Lasalle College of the Arts.

Somewhere in between, he worked as a fisherman on a remote island off Hokkaido.

Ivan's latest short film, Small, Sharp & Green, featuring Fan Bingbing, completed principal photography in 2025.

Ivan’s cinema is concerned with class, magic and the invisible. He is developing his debut feature.