Director’s Statement

This film began with a quiet but persistent question: what remains when faith no longer answers us? In a world where culture is often expected to fill the moral void left by religion, we see that it frequently falters. No secular system—however well-intentioned—has matched religion’s reach in encouraging people to act with sustained compassion. And yet, for many of us, the language of faith has fallen silent.

Having grown up in and around a conservative Asian church, and shaped by a multicultural background, I was taught to seek meaning through stillness and ritual. But in that stillness, I also witnessed repression, violence, and absence. This film explores what fills the space left behind when belief begins to fracture.

The story is semi-biographical, though abstracted. Eric, a successful writer, returns to a childhood church in search of reconciliation—with his father, his past, and perhaps something greater. In the sanctuary’s shadows, he senses a presence—only to realise it is his own. The divine remains absent. The silence endures.

In its final moments, the meaning behind Eric’s glance remains uncertain. Things Between Heaven and Earth offers no answer—only a quiet, sincere question: in the absence of certainty, what do we choose to carry forward?

Things Between Heaven and Earth is currently on the festival circuit.