Crazy Talented Asians & Friends: 5th Animation Festival for Short Films and Motion Graphics

Come celebrate the creativity of storytelling with our returning popular festival of animation shorts by Asian American and Asian artists and their friends. Our fifth festival has expanded to include motion graphics and promises to be another exciting showcase of the crazy talents we have in the community.  

This year’s selected work, representing the top 3% of over one thousand submissions, were chosen by a panel of seasoned professionals for their extraordinary storytelling, art direction, animation, production, and sound design. In addition to their creative visuals and soundtracks, these works present a range of stories and experiences as diverse as the APA community itself. The category winners are:  

For Student short films: 

• Express Photo, Winner, inspired by the naughty monkeys in China's charming Mount Emei, by Dashan Zhou.  

• CHAIN, Best 3D Animation, is about a mantis catching the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, by Lin Han. 

• VOW, Best VFX, is about a husband who desperately digs through the snow to save the love of his life who was lost in an avalanche, by Xu Hong Wong. 

• Kids in Winter, Best Stop Motion, tells the story of three rabbits getting through an unexpected icy snowstorm, by Maing Caochong. 

• Vestige, Best Art Direction, on an artist in search of her long-lost childhood friend through intricate and atmospheric illustrations combined with limited animation, by Yu-Hsuang Teng 

• Sheep Shapes, Best Narrative, is about two shepherds who groom their sheep in different ways go head-to-head at the sheep shapes competition, by Jia-En Ho. 

• Natural One, Best Sound Design, an animated short film about Dungeons and Dragons, an unlucky bard, and the friends made along the way, by Arin Jacobelli. 

• Sprout, Best 2D Animation, tells the story of a young plant girl who freaks out when she starts sprouting a mustache and it gets even worse when she has to face her dad, by Addison Fujimoto. 

• Cannot Sleep !, Best Experimental Animation, tells a magical experiment where one's head changes and one's head falls while trying to sleep, by Yingjie Zhou. 

• Rewind, Best Mixed Media, is a hybrid 2D+3D animated story about a girl reliving moments spent with her grandmother through a videocassette tape, by Valerie Yu. 

For Non-Student short films: 

• IN-BETWEEN, Best Professional Short, tells the story of ordinary people who once illuminated civilization using the hidden torch in the darkness, by Long Qin. 

• Nicely Awful, Jury Selection, tells the story of a little duck who is fed up with the struggles of daily life, finds utopia, and so his trouble begins, by Tobias Schlage. 

For Motion Graphics: 

• Under Suits, Winner, by Waner Zhang 

• Oh! My God, Jury Selection, by Aimee Chen and Ruchen Shang

• EXPO 2015, Best Branding, by Bolin Zhou 

This year’s jury is once again led by Gonzalo Janer, a character animator and motion designer. He also serves on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts​.​ The jury panel also includes​ (in alphabetical order)​: 

• Jae Bae has over a decade of experience in conceptualizing, designing, creating motion graphics and animated films, Jae specializes in communicating with audiences through creative storytelling. In her current role at Patreon as a lead motion designer, she provides innovative solutions for product design, marketing campaigns, and brand design challenges. 

• Chris Colby is an accomplished artist in Manhattan, known for his versatility and creative prowess. With a diverse background in artistry, Chris has consistently delivered outstanding work for a variety of clients. He has honed his craft through collaborations with renowned studios and brands, including Imaginary Forces, Nickelodeon, Fox, Fuse Media, IBM, Google, We Are Shadow, e.l.f., Kate Spade, among others. He has a great passion for animation and film as mediums for storytelling and artistic exploration. 

• Chun-Yao Chang is a VFX compositor, matte painter, environment artist at Framestore and an Adjunct Instructor at Montclair State University. He has years of experience working in the film and commercial industry. Some of the TV shows he worked on include AMC's "The Walking Dead," Apple TV's "Invasion," Netflix's "The Perfect Couple," Amazon Prime's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." and much more. Chang specializes in digitally visualizing fantasy stories through his artistic eyes, CG and compositing skills. He is deeply passionate about exploring diverse environments, cultures, and architectural styles. 

• Jennah Park is a 3D/2D motion designer at Google in New York City, recognized for creating enchanting stories with playful graphics and characters. As an artist, she loves to work with cute, magical visuals and craft playful narratives that bring positive energy to her audience. Jennah has worked as an animator for Nickelodeon, contributing to freelance projects in both New York and Seoul while passionately pursuing her filmmaking aspirations in the animation industry. 

• Chi-Sui Wang is the Executive Curator at Kuandu International Animation Festival, Program Director of Taichung International Animation Festival and the Professor at Taipei National University of the Arts. Ms. Wang graduated with a PhD in Fine Art from the University of Newcastle, UK. Her artistic oeuvre has consistently delved into the examination of visual perception, seeking to elucidate the intricate interplay between images and time, as well as images and memory. Embracing a narrative style characterized by ambiguity and subjectivity, her paintings establish a parenthetical framework around an intermediary space. The representation of “water” in Wang Chi-Sui’s oeuvre offers a unique perspective that disrupts established narratives. She is also a film producer for shorts and programs. 

In addition to the category winners above, this year’s Official Selected Animation Shorts are listed below. The program on December 6th, 2024 will only screen some of the films due to limited time. 

• “Bulbank,” Cherry Guo 

• “Straggler & Snub,” Ruth Wang 

• “Odyssey Express,” Wen Yi Wu 

• “Dead Bird.,” Matthew Lei 

• “The Dream Factory,” Hyojin Shim 

• “Nian Shou,” Judy Yang 

• “Whispers of Unspoken Moments,” Amelly Chang 

• “THE SCHOOL OF FIGHT,” Luke Lee 

• “Christmas Dance,” Tiffany Jiang 

• “Heads Full of Life,” Teo Nalani 

• “Road of Lux,” Wu Chia Hsun 

• “TWINS,” Asher Borison 

• “Splash Back,” Yufei Xiao 

• “Ashes to Hill,” Lei Sun 

• “Summer,” Pavel Pazukhin 

• “Ocean Aliens,” Jake Johnston 

• “Soundtrack Your Life,” Saniya Assembek 

• “Syrinx,” Grace Choi 

Please come join us for an exciting big screen experience and register for the mixer party to meet with the artists, jurors and professionals from the animation industry! 

Crazy Talented Asians & Friends is a community-led program series dedicated to works by Asian/Asian Americans—to showcase the diverse creativity and impact this community has to offer​ ​while bringing together families, friends, and audiences from different backgrounds to celebrate their stories.

Questions? Please email:

Ms. Ming-I Huang
Flushing Town Hall Guest Producer
ming.i.huang3@gmail.com