Nadira Ilana is a writer-filmmaker from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Drawing inspiration from her Bornean heritage, she founded Telan Bulan Films with a focus on crafting contemporary indigenous and minority stories.

​

Telan Bulan Films was founded in 2016 to craft contemporary indigenous and minority stories respectfully and sustainably. The Sabah-borne production company was kickstarted with Big Stories Bongkud-Namaus, an Australia-Malaysia co-production. The year-long film residency was part of an international community participatory project, which was widely covered by the national news including The Star and Borneo Post.

 

Telan Bulan Films has since produced commercial content for the likes of Maxis, Vivo, Betadine and BBDO Malaysia. In 2019, Telan Bulan Films produced Bebbra Mailin’s ‘Ninavau’ as part of Pesta Filem Kita. The Kadazan-language short subsequently won Best Short Film at Malaysian International Film Festival, as well as winning awards such as Best Short Film and Best Story at the Malaysian Digital Film Awards that year.

 

Nadira’s short film ‘Tadau om Vuhan Kopisoomo’ (Were the Sun and the Moon to Meet) screened at SEAxSEA Film Festival 2021, Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia. ‘Telan Bulan’ means to ‘Swallow the Moon’ in Bahasa Malaysia, based on the Dusun folkloric monster ‘Tarob’ that swallows the sun or moon, causing eclipses.