Ascent

Through a grey blanket of clouds, we barely discern the contours of Mount Fuji. 4,500 photographs from the past 150 years form the basis for Ascent. Made entirely with stills, it is a filmic experiment balancing between documentary and fiction, photography and film, where an English woman and her deceased Japanese partner, Hiroshi, lead the way. As Mount Fuji is climbed across geographical, temporal and cultural divides, the narrative unfolds, exploring unexpected paths.

Main Festivals & Awards

Festival del Film de Locarno (2017)
Inernational Film Festival of Rotterdam (2017)

Director's Biography

Fiona Tan is an artist working primarily with film and photography. She is internationally renowned for her skilfully crafted and intensely moving installations, in which explorations of identity, memory and history are key.

Tan represented The Netherlands in the 2009 Venice Biennale. Her work can be found in numerous international art collections including the Tate Modern, The New Museum New York, Guggenheim Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Centre Pompidou.

Her 1st feature History's Future premiered in January 2015 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. It has received three nominations and is being screened internationally across many festivals. Ascent is her 2nd feature film.

Tan is been awarded the prestigious Getty Research Institute’s Artist-in-Residence Grant and will be living and working in Los Angeles from September 2016 through to June 2017.