A 3D animated short film about a mechanic, her robot companion, and the path they take to reconnect their relationship. Director Biography -&nbsp;Kristina Tran<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/7b3961e413381454c133485aba537e91.jpg" width="208">Kristina Tran is a Vietnamese- and Chinese-American filmmaker from Elk Grove, California. She attended San Jose State University for her BFA in Animation/Illustration and graduated in 2024. "re:connection" is her final thesis film, which was completed as part of her degree.﻿Her passions include creating cluttered 3D sets, dramatic lighting, render wrangling, and eating at Home Eat with her team.

re:connection

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor 8 year old Hanako and 120,000 other Japanese Americans are abruptly ordered to leave everything they once called home to live inside deserted internment camps. Based on my grandmother, Hisako Kido Yasuda's, real experience. Director Biography -&nbsp;Becca Joy Jackson<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/9cf9eac603181efd795d5476c7635b86.jpg" width="237">Becca Jackson is a Japanese American animator and filmmaker from Gaithersburg, Maryland. She began her undergrad work in Los Angeles at Biola University, majoring in cinema media arts. During the pandemic Jackson returned home to Maryland and transferred to Maryland Institute College of Art to earn a BFA with a major in animation and a minor in film and video.Jackson currently works in freelance animation, focusing on 2D digital animation and stop motion. She currently has an animation titled "Love the Phone You've Got" on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. as a part of the exhibit Cellphone: Unseen Connections. Jackson is drawn to creating film and animations based around her family history and Japanese American identity. She believes animation is a powerful tool to tell stories and convey messages important to her and her community.

uprooted

Known for addressing colonial histories and erasures through traditional Indian and Persian manuscript paintings, Artist Shahzia Sikander is creating two sculptures for her first major public art commission in New York City. "Witness‚" is installed in Madison Square Park, a short distance from its counterpart, "Now‚" sitting atop the Appellate Division, First Department, Supreme Court of the State of New York alongside statues of famous lawmakers like King Louis IV and Moses. Through these pieces, Shahzia reimagines the monument as a marker of boundary-breaking, feminine spirit, and collective visibility. Shahzia's work is especially timely in light of recent legislative battles surrounding women's reproductive rights in the United States, as well as the ongoing fight for equitable representation in society at large. Director Biography -&nbsp;Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/3066b43836bf00222836106cb7b51fad.jpg" width="229">Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung is a Taiwanese nonfiction filmmaker based in the New York metropolitan area. Her documentary shorts, including Finding Nasseebi and Sleepwalker, have screened at festivals around the world, such as London International Documentary Festival, Riga International Film Festival, Sharjah Film Platform, and Cinequest Film Festival. She has produced and edited digital shorts for VICE World News, Reel Works, and Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies. She holds an MFA from Stanford University.﻿

Shahzia Sikander: Melting Boundaries

A Japanese-American dance duo must choose between their passion or their lives as WWII concentration camps begin to rise in the U.S. Director Biography -&nbsp;Benjamin To<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/19eb34fc58bf348d067b82e79c512165.jpg" width="251">Benjamin To is an award-winning writer, director, and founder of BAND WITH NO NAME Films. He hit the ground running right out of university when his AAPI profile documentary miniseries, Life Stories, was picked up and produced by NBC News for a 20-episode run. His digital and scripted work has been featured on platforms like Activision, NBC, The Los Angeles Times, and Snapchat. His filmmaking journey has also taken him all over the United States, Europe, and most recently, Asia.

Infinity!

A Chinese American boy wants to celebrate his birthday, but as a part of the Qingming Festival, must instead follow tradition and pay respects at the graveyard to his grandfather who he's never met. Director Biography -&nbsp;Austin Chen<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/6cf937b920b875e0cb3db0c28fc75868.jpg" width="261">A Chinese American boy wants to celebrate his birthday, but as a part of the Qingming Festival, must instead follow tradition and pay respects at the graveyard to his grandfather who he’s never met.

The Qingming Kid

Dinner for two turns deadly when a Korean and a Korean-American fight for the check - and their honor - in this zany martial arts comedy. Director Biography -&nbsp;Shane Chung<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/96973b8a6aaac6bf3ef481c1a61530d1.jpg" width="211">Shane Chung is a Chicago-based filmmaker obsessed with storytelling in all its forms. As a Korean-American working in film, he champions diversity, inclusion, and wackiness in the film industry and enjoys challenging mainstream narratives with left-of-center weirdness.

CHECK PLEASE

A poetic conversation between an immigrant daughter and her mother about sacrifices and dreams. Director Biography -&nbsp;Clara Chan<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/2cc10197ff849ffb175c9bef7e9c5b37.jpg" width="228">Clara Chan has been in the animation/VFX industry for over two decades. She works as a VFX Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks by day, and as an independent filmmaker by night. She made her first independent short film, “Embrace,” in 2021 which has been screened at different film festivals in Canada and the US. She started Flying Dumpling Films in 2022 because she is passionate about telling unique and authentic stories that connect with people. Clara has lived in mainland China, Hong Kong, California, New York and Texas, and currently resides in Vancouver, Canada. She has a B.S. in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. in Visualization Sciences from Texas A&amp;M University. She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts &amp; Sciences (Short Films and Feature Animation Branch) since 2021.﻿

Have I Swallowed Your Dreams

"Dear Watsonville" is a mixed-media documentary offering an intimate glimpse into the lives of the manong generation, the first generation of Filipino migrants to arrive en masse to the U.S., as seen through the eyes of their children. It unfolds in three distinct vignettes, each focusing on the migration stories and day-to-day experiences of three Filipino families. The film distinguishes itself with its experimental use of community-sourced oral histories, archival images, and hand-drawn illustrations. Together, these elements weave a moving narrative about resilience, placemaking, and childhood. Director Biography -&nbsp;Sandra Lucille<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/cc18a25e14b79bb8866abc0c2bf63bfe.jpg" width="238">Sandra is a Filipina Mauritian filmmaker raised in California. Her personal work discusses mixed heritage, Asian diasporic experiences, and how globalization impacts identity. She loves to use mixed media to explore how complex memories and emotions can be communicated through film. In 2020, she was an Armed With A Camera fellow where she created Back to the Source, a film about feeling foreign in one’s home country. Most recently, Sandra was selected to be a 2023 Artist Disruptor by The Center for Cultural Power x California Arts Council. Film and video are Sandra's chosen instruments for change. She hopes her work prompts radical healing and reflection.﻿

Dear Watsonville

Meimei grows up in Taiping, Malaysia with Grandma and learns the traditional practices of her culture. Grandma introduces Meimei to the gods, and Meimei teases them. When Meimei moves to New York City, she loses her connection with her culture. Meimei returns to Malaysia after her grandma's death. Director Biography -&nbsp;Stefie Gan<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/4875b5daa15783cc319b7d7d9f1c0c26.jpg" width="224">Stefie Gan is a Bay Area-based illustrator, animator, and filmmaker. She received her Bachelor of Arts in architecture from Barnard College, Columbia University, where she made her first animated film titled A Day in Kuala Lumpur, an 18-minute long animation depicting life in the city based on interviews of people in Malaysia and diaspora of those living in NYC. As an MFA animation student at the University of Southern California, she has worked with researchers and scientists at the USC Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies where she made an animated video depicting Life at the Rocky Intertidal Zone and the importance of plankton to marine life. Her award-winning film, Plastic Ecosystem, using found plastic objects to address the issue of climate change, received second place at the Oscar-qualifying Odense Film Festival. Her work addressing Asian Hate during COVID was also featured by the Getty Museum. Stefie is the first in her family to go to college, and it’s important to her to bring social action and her cultural heritage to her drawings and films.

Joss Lotuses to Grandma

United States of America

Animation and Short Stories

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