How Ervin Han spent 10 years bringing The Violinist to life

Ten years is a long time to spend on a single story.

For Ervin Han, co founder of Singapore animation studio Robot Playground Media and co director of The Violinist, it meant navigating creative setbacks, international collaborations and moments when the film seemed almost impossible to make.

But this June, the decade of perseverance paid off when The Violinist became the first Singaporean film to win the prestigious Cristal Award, the top prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Yet, for Han, the award was never the goal.

“When we began, we simply wanted to tell a story that meant something to Singapore and to our region,” he says. “The greatest reward was the journey itself.”

While the recognition is a milestone for the film, Han hopes it also shines a light on the creative talent across Singapore and Southeast Asia, encouraging more homegrown stories to find audiences around the world.

The Studio Ghibli film that changed everything

Like many children growing up in the 1980s, Han loved cartoons. But he never imagined animation could become his career.

That changed while he was at university, when he discovered Studio Ghibli.

The films showed him that animation could be more than colourful entertainment. They could be deeply human, emotionally nuanced and quietly profound, revealing new layers with every watch. It was then that he began to see animation as one of the most powerful forms of storytelling.

His journey into the industry wasn’t conventional either. Before co founding Robot Playground Media, Han worked on the policy side of Singapore’s animation industry at the then Media Development Authority, overseeing animation funding before joining a local studio as a producer to better understand the business from the ground up.

Eventually, the desire to tell stories that hadn’t yet been told led him to start his own studio and, ultimately, The Violinist.

More than a film about Singapore

Inspired by Singapore’s history, The Violinist is also a deeply personal story about identity, memory and community.

“I hope people see something of their parents, grandparents, or even themselves in it,” Han says.

“I hope the film reminds us that peace, harmony and multiculturalism aren’t things we should ever take for granted. They were hard won, and every generation has a responsibility to protect them.”

More than awards, Han hopes the film becomes a cultural touchpoint that sparks conversations across generations and leaves audiences with “a quiet sense of pride in who we are and how far we’ve come”.

What a decade taught him

Spending 10 years on one project inevitably changes a person.

“When you’re younger, it’s tempting to impress people with clever ideas or ambitious filmmaking,” Han says. “Over the years, I realised that the audience doesn’t remember how difficult something was to make. They remember how it made them feel.”

He also learnt that great storytelling is never the work of one person.

“My job wasn’t to have all the answers, but to create an environment where the best ideas could emerge,” he says, crediting the artists, composers, animators and international collaborators who shaped the film alongside him.

Even when the project faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Han never lost faith in the story.

“There were definitely many moments when it felt like circumstances were pushing against the film being made,” he says. “But every time I pitched the story, it only reinforced my belief that this was a story worth telling.”

A new chapter for Singapore animation

Despite The Violinist‘s historic win, Han is realistic about what one film can achieve.
“One film, or one award, doesn’t create an industry,” he says.

Instead, he believes Singapore’s future lies in embracing its strengths: collaborating internationally while telling stories that are uniquely its own.

“If this film encourages the next generation of Singaporean animators and filmmakers to think bigger, dream more ambitiously, and believe that their stories can travel the world, then I think it will have made a meaningful contribution.”

As for what’s next, Han is looking forward to finally bringing The Violinist home to Singapore later this year, while continuing work on new projects including Banquet for Hungry Ghosts and Wu-La. But more than anything, he hopes The Violinist leaves behind something bigger than a trophy.

“I hope it becomes not just a film people enjoy, but one that sparks conversations and lives on as part of our cultural memory.”