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)‍.

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

Ivan's latest short film, She Said, featuring Fan Bingbing, will compete in the 31st Busan International Film Festival.

He is a lecturer of digital film at the Nanyang Technological University, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information (WKWSCI).

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