2025 a dream run for Bendigo filmmaker

LOCAL curator, arts advocate and emerging filmmaker Ivan Sun’s short documentary House of Loong is going from strength to strength after its screening at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival in July and being named a finalist (documentary short movie) at the World London Film Festival.

It’s now due to be shown next month at The University of Chicago’s Chi-Town Multicultural Film Festival and the Perth International Multicultural Film Festival.

Speaking about the film, which was funded by a Regional Arts Victoria grant, Sun said its reach has been much broader than he expected.

“I feel that I was so lucky to get that story to tell,” he said.

“Though I’m new to filmmaking, I was able to apply what I’ve learned about writing and 20 years of teaching at university level.

“I think that all contributed to how (I’ve been able to) craft and tell a story and catch people’s attention.”

Meanwhile, Sun’s music video Something Metropolis (a collaboration with electronic music producer and sound artist Aimee Chapman) has been selected to be shown at the UK Animation and Music Video Festival next February and has appeared online as part of the Sydney Lift-Off Global Network Film Festival.

If that’s not enough – another short film he produced, The Wands, has also been officially selected for the 2025 Canberra Short Film Festival in November.

“I feel really overwhelmed and grateful to Bendigo that I’m able to express myself creatively and tell Bendigo stories, which is effectively what these are,” Sun said.

He said his entry into making films came partly by accident, before he realised he “had a knack for it.”

“I think the key to it is there are amazing stories waiting to be told that I can’t wait to share with the world,” he said.

“But at the same time, I want it to come naturally – that’s just part of my process.

“I can’t say that every year things will go as well as this year, but I’d like to think I’ve got a lot of experience in honing a story that might interest a broad audience.”