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A director shaped by advertising and short films now turns to a larger narrative project
FOR more than 15 years, Tan Ce Ding has worked behind the camera, directing commercials while developing his own storytelling voice.
His short films, including Hawa and Please Hold the Line, have travelled to major international festivals.
Now, at 35, the Kuala Lumpur-based director is preparing for his biggest leap yet: his first feature film, Somewhere in the South.
Town under spotlight
Set in a small Johor town during a by-election, Somewhere in the South follows a restless young man who becomes a political party mascot, wearing a tiger costume during campaign events and rallies.
Tan is fascinated by what happens when a forgotten town is thrust into national attention.
“Just imagine a forgotten town, small town. It is dying, nobody cares about it. But just because a by-election is happening there, suddenly all the politicians go in. Resources, money, media and all that stuff will swamp it. So that place temporarily becomes the spotlight,” Tan told theSun.
For a brief period, the town feels seen and then the circus leaves.
“You thought you were being saved for that brief moment, that one or two weeks running the campaigns and all that. But after all of this goes by, everything just goes back to normal,” he said.
Against this backdrop is a young man who feels stuck. Many of his peers have left for Singapore in search of better pay but he cannot.
“He cannot go because of his family. All his friends and all the young people from the town already left. So, he is left alone with nothing happening and it makes him frustrated,” Tan said.
When he is chosen to wear the tiger mascot suit, everything changes.
“Whenever he goes on stage, of course there is applause, people cheer for him and all that. But it is actually not to him, it is (for) that character. The longer he does it, he gets addicted to the applause,” Tan said.
Eventually, the line between man and mascot blurs.
“Once he removes (the mascot suit), he goes back to being nobody. Then he becomes desperate, wanting to reclaim that identity,” he said.
Malaysian setting, universal struggle
Tan described the film as distinctly Malaysian in its setting, but universal in theme.
“In terms of the setting, it is very Malaysian. But in terms of the theme, the story, the conflict, I am trying to keep it universal. The setting is Malaysian, but the story and conflict are universal. So,it could travel,” he said.
Rather than focusing on poverty or statelessness, common themes in local arthouse cinema, Tan wants to explore identity.
“Ultimately, that is the theme of the film. It is about looking for identity. A lot of young people nowadays are constantly struggling with the sense of identity, who you really want to be,” he said.
His interest in by-elections comes from observation rather than ideology. He attended two during his research.
“I felt the whole thing is quite absurd. It is funny. I am not judging. I am just showing it as what it is,” he said.
From shorts to feature scale
Moving from short films to a feature has changed the scale, but not the fundamentals.
“In terms of how you build your character, how you tell the story, how you create your character arc, the foundation is there. But, now everything is 10 maybe even 20 times bigger,” he said.
The biggest difference is the stakes. Unlike his shorts, which were largely self-funded, a feature requires external financing and co-production partners across borders.
“Feature film has so much money put in. When you are doing a long film, there is a lot of money at stake. So, you need to think about how much of your personal voice you can put in,” he said.
Even so, he wants his debut to reach beyond festivals.
“I do not want to make a film just for the sake of art. I want something that audiences could resonate with and enjoy. It is not a popcorn movie, but it is something people could enjoy,” he said.
At its core, his approach remains character-first.
“For me, visual comes second. It is always about character and emotion first. Character is equal to the story. The story is the growth of the character,” he said.
As he steps into feature filmmaking, Tan is not thinking about movements or labels.
“I just want to focus on what I want to do. Ultimately, that is the goal,” he said.
For now, that goal is clear: tell a story about a young man in a small southern town who mistakes borrowed power for identity, and discovers what remains when the costume comes off.
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