Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film 87: Sandi Tan on “Shirkers"
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Oct 25, 2018 Sandy Tan, director of the groundbreaking documentary 'Shirkers,' shares her remarkable journey as a teenage filmmaker in the 1990s. She discusses the creative betrayal by her mentor and how it shaped her artistic path. An emotional story unfolds as she recounts the rediscovery of lost film reels, blending nostalgia with her current life as a novelist. Tan reflects on her transition from writing to filmmaking, revealing the joys of collaboration and the vibrant connections she made at Sundance that reinvigorated her passion for cinema.
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Magnetic, Unplaceable Mentor
- Sandi Tan describes George Cardona as a non-threatening, strange storyteller who became her mentor and friend as a teenager.
- He dressed in loud blousy shirts and had an unplaceable accent that made him feel mythic rather than threatening.
Slow Disintegration After Production
- The film was left unedited when Sandi, Jasmine, and Sophie scattered to different cities and couldn’t unite against George.
- Long distance, teenage rivalries, and expensive long-distance communication prolonged the realization that the film wouldn’t be finished.
Loss As Unwanted Protection
- Tan believes finishing the film in 1992 might have destroyed her and her friends' creative futures due to harsh local reactions.
- She now frames the theft as a strange protection that prevented them from being mocked into abandoning filmmaking.