World Premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival
September 24 – October 7 2020. For tickets visit VIFF 2020

Pink Lake (in post-production) is a narrative feature co-created by Emily Gan (Cavebirds) and Daniel Schachter (Three Mothers, Entre chien et loup)

Pink Lake was shot in Gatineau, QC

Cinematography by Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky (Le règne de la beauté, Les fleurs oubliées)

Pink Lake was made in partnership with Jacob Potashnik of Headstrong Films and with funding from SODEC Jeunes créateurs aide à la scénarisation.

Co-Directors Daniel Schachter and Emily Gan on set in Gatineau QC

Daniel has directed three short films. His first short film “Three Mothers” won the Grand Prix at Cours écrire ton court and screened at dozens of international festivals, including Clermont Ferrand. His last short “Entre chien et loup” stars Monia Chokri. Daniel has also released albums with Secret City Records and Saint-Cecile under the name Daniel Isaiah.

Emily’s debut feature documentary “Cavebirds” premiered at Hot Docs 2019 in Toronto, where she won the prestigious Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award. She is also a photographer and yoga teacher.

Emily Gan / photo credit: Sabrina Ratté

LINKS

Cavebirds
My feature documentary is now available on Apple TV around the world
Watch it HERE

Naada Yoga
LIVEstream, VOD, Studio Yoga classes in Montreal & Online
Sign up HERE

BIO EN // Emily Gan is filmmaker, photographer and yoga teacher born and raised in Montreal. “Cavebirds,” Emily’s debut feature documentary, received the Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award at Hot Docs 2019. Her first feature-length narrative film “Pink Lake” that she co-created with her partner, Montreal filmmaker and singer/songwriter Daniel Isaiah Schachter, premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2020. Emily is currently developing a horror fiction film based on traditional folktales.

BIO FR // Emily Gan est une cinéaste, photographe et professeure de yoga née et élevée à Montréal. “Cavebirds,” son premier film documentaire, a reçu le prix Emerging Filmmaker Prize lors de son passage à Hot Docs en 2019. “Pink Lake” est son premier long-métrage de fiction qu’elle a co-créé avec avec son partenaire, le cinéaste et compositeur montréalais Daniel Isaiah Schachter, et à eu sa première mondiale au VIFF 2020. Elle développe actuellement un film d’horreur basé sur des contes traditionnels.

ENG // Winner of the Emerging Filmmaker Award at Hot Docs in 2019, Emily Gan takes us inside her soft-spoken father’s world, with scenes of family life, interviews and poetic visions captured in the half-light.Painted on a backdrop of the edible bird’s nest farming industry, Cavebirds is a poignant film that reflects on matters of the heart, home and heritage. 

FR // Lauréate du prix de la cinéaste émergente au festival Hot Docs 2019, Emily Gan nous entraîne dans l’univers de son père, un homme à la voix douce, en mêlant scènes de famille, entrevues et visions poétiques saisies dans la pénombre. Sur fond de l’industrie de nids d’oiseaux comestibles, Cavebirds est un film tendre et émouvant, centré sur des questions d’amour, de foyer et d’héritage.An industry that farms edible nests made of bird spit provides the backdrop to a father-daughter film about matters of the heart, home, and heritage.  

“The EMERGING FILMMAKER PRIZE goes to a film that demonstrates a profound connectivity with a long tradition of diasporic cinema. This film is a quiet personal reflection on the complexities of migration and belonging, told through poetic details and poignant autobiographical reflection.” – Jury statement @ Hot Docs 2019

In CAVEBIRDS, the filmmaker tracks her father’s progress in building an edible-nest swiftlet birdhouse in his hometown – a small village in Malaysia he left more than half a lifetime ago. Together they explore the places they call home on opposite sides of the globe, while the birds fly unceasingly from scene to scene bridging the cultural and generational gaps between a daughter and her immigrant father.

I wish to acknowledge the support from the Canada Arts Council Media Production Grant (2013), Société Civile des Auteurs Multimédia (2016)  and the RIDM Talent Lab (2014)

I also wish to acknowledge the generous support of family members, friends, mentors and collaborators who continue to guide and inspire me.

And a special thanks to my parents: Howard Gan and Grace Gan

withthisringfilm.com