Experiencing Interruptions?

Malignant

At a hotel for the super-elite, Scott's 30 year wait to confront the ghost of his childhood pushes his sanity to the edge, provoking a drastic course of action with profound consequences.

  • Devin Fei-Fan Tau
    Director
    Unicorn, EVE: The Prologue, Mensch (Human)
  • Mark Scrimshaw
    Writer
  • Devin Fei-Fan Tau
    Producer
    Unicorn, EVE: The Prologue, Mensch (Human)
  • Greg James
    Key Cast
    "Scott Johnson"
    Wild, The Drunk Series, Combat Report
  • Laura Duyn
    Key Cast
    "Dr. Lee"
    EVE: The Prologue
  • Suzanne Owens-Duval
    Key Cast
    "Susan Moore"
    Dick Strange: American Made
  • Michelle Damis
    Key Cast
    "Young Susan Moore"
    Z Nation
  • Jack Poole
    Key Cast
    "Young Scott Johnson"
    EVE: The Prologue, The Storybook Killer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Horror, Thriller, Drama
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Canon C500
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 2018 SHORT to the Point Film Festival
    Bucharest
    Romania
    September 13, 2018
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2018 Canby Film Festival
    Canby, OR
    United States
    October 10, 2018
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2018 Canada Shorts Festival
    New Brunswick
    Canada
    December 15, 2018
    Finalist Award
  • 2019 Cinema Soup
    Dekalb, IL
    United States
    June 8, 2019
    Official Selection
  • 2019 DUMBO Film Festival
    New York, NY
    United States
    September 21, 2019
    Official Selection
  • 2019 Klamath Independent Film Festival
    Klamath Falls, OR
    United States
    September 15, 2019
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Devin Fei-Fan Tau

Devin (鈄非凡) is a gay, Asian-American filmmaker whose storytelling speaks out against the imposed silence he experienced from both his native and adopted cultures since immigrating to the United States as a child four decades ago.

He's currently on his 3rd career, having developed his financial and analytic skills in corporate finance and then adding an eye for fashion in apparel merchandising.

BS University of California at Berkeley (Business), AAS Portland Community College (Video Production).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Browse any internet news site and you’ll recognize that preconceived notions and an absence of information lead us to snap judgements that simply confirm our own biases. As a gay Asian American immigrant, I’m all too familiar with how quick people are to take at face value what they think they are seeing without looking any further for the truth. Having gone through 30 scripts to explore this theme, Malignant stood out as an unparalleled opportunity to bring audiences on a journey that turns their assumptions on their heads.

We begin by seeing Scott as a unidimensional caricature of a self-important elitist. From the start we think we know exactly what type of person he’s going to be. As the story unfolds, however, each twist and turn reveals an additional layer of depth and complexity. My goal as a director, is to invite the viewer to draw their own conclusions right at the outset and then see them overturned one by one.

With each scene, we reinforce the expectation that an unforgiving Scott will allow his mother to die and why, but in end the end Scott makes the most self-less choice possible. Speaking to the complexity of what it means to be a human, we learn that this is not a story about forgiveness at all. In an age where society is polarized into echo chambers of black-and-white thinking, Malignant points out the need to get past our own prejudices. Only with eyes and ears open can we go underneath the surface and see the multidimensionality of human existence