“Big Screen. Mixer Party. Meet the Judges”
Flushing Town Hall today announced the selected films to be honored at the 4th Crazy Talented Asians & Friends animation shorts showcase, “BIG SCREEN. MIXER PARTY. MEET THE JUDGES,” a hybrid in-person and YouTube live stream event on Sunday, February 18th at 6:00 PM (EDT).
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A mixer party will be held right after the screening program. “Flushing Town Hall is excited to continue promoting works by emerging and professional Asian-heritage artists with the return of Crazy Talented Asians & Friends. Asian/Asian American artists and their stories need to be heard and cherished, especially in these times,” says Ellen Kodadek, Flushing Town Hall’s Executive & Artistic Director. “We have been a strong advocate of arts equity since 1979, supporting local, immigrant, national, and international artists. We develop partnerships and collaborations to bring people together by presenting arts and culture from around the world. Highlighting Asian/Asian American perspectives and talents is an important part of our mission.”
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This year’s selected animation shorts, representing the top 2% 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 films present a range of stories and experiences as diverse as the APA community itself. The category winners among the official selected films are:
The Lost Courier, Winner, inspired by the artist’s real experience, is about some of the incredible things a courier goes through before reaching us, by Zidong Ma.
The Twins, Jury Selection, tells the story of the sibling rivalry between twins Lake and Lucas that got out of hand one day after school, by Michelle Tang.
Cycle, Best VFX, is about somewhere in the vast universe, an asteroid from the supernova explosion lands on a nearby planet, which triggers new life on it, by Chloe Ko.
Make a God, Best Stop Motion, tells the story of an unexpected creature that was born in the magic circle of a higher species, by Jia-Zhen Jian and Wan-Yu Hong.
No Photography, Best 3D Animation, is about a high-tech thief's perfect museum heist until a peculiar tourist insists on taking pictures of every exhibit, by Vincent Wang, Grace Redclift, Kaifu Tan, and Lance Haug .
Grown Up, Best Narrative, is about a peculiarly precocious boy whose perfectly well-adjusted life comes to a halt when his long-lost father returns to make amends, by Jee Kim.
Head in the Clouds, Best Sound Design, tells the story of a quirky student who daydreams, must creatively elude her strict math teacher to remain there. by Kaylee Tan.
In Sight, Best Art Direction, tells the story of a young troublemaker and her dog set out on a journey up a mountain to shoot down the brightest star in the sky, by Wendy Lu, Natalie Tran, Cindy Zhi
0:00AM, Best 2D Animation, tells the story of an exhausted commuter whose body had reached its limit but time was still advancing minute by minute, by Yuanshen Yang.
Happy Green, Best Professional Short, takes an intimate look at a symbiotic relationship between Happy Green, a little green turtle and an elusive black flower, by Sonnye Lim.
Nurture, Best Experimental Animation, tells the story of how breast milk comes quietly into the world at the time of birth to raise newborns, by Ying-Fang Shen.
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In addition to the category winners above, this year’s Official Selected Animation Shorts are listed below. The program on February 18th, 2024 will only screen some of the films due to limited time.
“Covert,” Bervyn Chua
“Lemon,” Yuanyuan Lu
“On the Haunt,” Joy Zhou
“RA-MEN,” Xai Yaj
“Resilience,” Yunie Choi
“SMILE MASK,” Yuanyuan Lu
“The Best Ham Sandwich According to a Fish,” Jessica Xu
“The (W)hole, “ Jiansu Wang
“Twin Sparks,” Ollie Yao and Heather Yun
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This year’s jury is led by Mr. Gonzalo Janer, a character animator and motion designer. In addition to being Animator at Nickelodeon in New York City, he also serves on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts. The jury panel also includes (in alphabetical order):
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. His passion for animation and film as mediums for storytelling and artistic exploration drives his role as a juror at CTAF (Crazy Talented Asians and Friends) where he looks forward to connecting with fellow artists and sharing their collective experiences and creativity.
Nicolas Manrique is an Emmy-nominated senior motion designer graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, currently working as Principal of motion graphics at Rockstar Games in New York City. He has worked in renowned studios both nationally and internationally, like Diptongo Media Group, Klip Collective, Nickelodeon, and Adolescent NYC. His client work includes TEDx, VH1,FX, Bravo TV, Sesame Street, Oxygen, CNBC, and Sesame Street among others. At Nickelodeon, he and his team received an Emmy nomination for the show Kids Pick The President in 2016. Currently, Nicolas Manrique and his team focus on game trailers, motion graphics for social media, in-game animation, and other forms of animation for the marketing department at Rockstar Games.
Chi-Sui Wang is the Executive Curator at Kuandu International Animation Festival and an Associate Professor at Taipei National University of the Arts. She was the Artistic Director of the Taichung International Animation Festival in 2020. Ms. Wang graduated with a PhD in Art Creation from the School of Arts and Culture, University of Newcastle, UK. Her recent painting series mainly explores the relationship between image and time, image and memory. She chose blur as a subjective expression method, forming a bracket-like middle in the picture. Zone, placing one's own sense of body, viewers can also use this to shuttle through the free field, bringing in another subjective perspective. She uses the technique of glimpse to capture the moment of time and space, allowing the viewer to truly experience the artist's current state of perception when appreciating the painting.
Wendy Cong Zhao is an independent artist based in Brooklyn, New York. She has been working and teaching in the independent animation field since 2011. Her animated documentary "My First Sessions" was published by The New Yorker in 2020. She has directed three music videos for UMG, including “Cheek to Cheek” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” from Christopher Tin’s Grammy-nominated album “The Lost Birds”. She is a winner of the 2023 Princess Grace Award in Film and Animation. Her work combines surreal animated imagery with conventional production techniques such as interviews and reenactments, often exploring themes of migration, identity, and loss.
“It is my greatest honor to be the lead advisor for the festival. Year to year, along with the jury panel, I get to enjoy and cheer for all the amazing stories in the art form of animation created by the Asian/Asian American filmmakers near and far. Their visions and creativity are what drive our global culture forward. I am very grateful all the industry professionals can join us put this amazing lineup together and I truly hope the audience will enjoy this journey of imagination”