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Animation by Women of Asian Descent
Discover a selection of short-animated films by women of Asian descent
So close and yet so far...
Flowing Home (Như một dòng sông)
Uncover the story of two sisters forcibly separated during the Vietnam War in this award-winning epistolary short by Sandra Desmazières.
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Boat PeopleKjell Boersma & Thao Lam 2023 9 minAs a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history. -
Flowing Home (Như một dòng sông)Sandra Desmazières 2021 15 minTwo sisters grow up in Vietnam and are separated by the war between North and South. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Thao, in her teens, must leave the country with her uncle. Her sister Sao Maï, only a little older, remains with their parents, hoping they will soon be reunited. But their separation will last nearly 20 years, and the letters they exchange are their only way to connect and relieve their loneliness. Thao and Sao Maï write about their everyday lives, their memories, the war, and its ghosts.
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Old DogAnn Marie Fleming 2020 3 minAfter losing his best friend, an elderly pug named Henry must depend on his owner for help and companionship. Writer/director Ann Marie Fleming (Window Horses) makes visible the tender work of caretaking in her new animated short, Old Dog. All dogs (and people) should be so lucky and so loved.
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A Short Film About Tegan & SaraAnn Marie Fleming 2018 4 minIn this joyful portrait, filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming animates the formative days and musical career of Calgary-born identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin. Their remarkable journey over the past 20 years has often intersected with notions of identity—as artists, as individuals, as sisters, as queer women, and as leading activists in the LGBTQ community. Their musical progression parallels and amplifies their commitment to bringing the marginal to the mainstream.
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Winds of SpringKeyu Chen 2017 6 minUnfolding with the rhythm of the seasons, Winds of Spring tells the tender story of a young girl who, driven by the irrepressible need for self-fulfillment, decides to leave the family nest. Keyu Chen employs her signature style of fluid transitions and fine, spare lines inspired by Chinese ink painting in her delicately crafted first film.Keyu Chen makes use of fine lines and fluid transitions in her delicately crafted first film, which tells the tale of a young girl who, driven by the irrepressible need for self-fulfillment, dreams of leaving the family nest.
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SabinaKatherine Li 1991 7 minThis short animated film is an impressionistic exploration of sensuality within the feminine imagination. Inspired by Anaïs Nin's poetic writing, Sabina breathes with lush, elemental energy where colours embrace and shapes caress in the soft currents of water and desire.
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Showa ShinzanAlison Reiko Loader 2002 12 minThis animated film tells the story of a young Japanese girl's relationship with her grandfather, a postmaster and amateur geologist. When the neighboring Mount Usu erupts during World War II, he records its activity. As he witnesses the birth of a new mountain named Showa Shinzan, he transcends the misery and folly of war that surrounds them and teaches his granddaughter a valuable lesson about life. Evoking the tradition of Bunraku puppetry, this animated film is based on actual events.
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Jaime Lo, Small and ShyLillian Chan 2006 7 minIn this animated short, Jaime Lo's father is sent to Hong Kong for a year-long work assignment. A shy Chinese-Canadian girl, Jaime Lo must use her creativity to cope with his absence. This story offers us a lighthearted glimpse into a common dilemma that many immigrant families face, where one parent must work overseas in order to provide for the rest of the family back home.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
A Prairie StoryAnne Koizumi 2006 1 minIn this short animation film a prairie landscape undergoes a metamorphosis from rural idyll to over-urbanized dystopia. Director Anne Koizumi laments the changing face of her hometown of Calgary in this critique of the bacteria-like spread of suburbia and exurbia.
Produced as part of the third edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. -
Stories Sarah TellsAnn Marie Fleming 2013 4 minThis short film pays tribute to director, screenwriter and actress Sarah Polley. Her latest film, Stories We Tell, a feature length documentary about her family history, premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival, then screened to unanimous acclaim at the Telluride Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival. It was called “a brilliant film: an enthralling, exquisitely layered masterpiece” by Maclean’s film critic Brian D. Johnson. Here, a whimsical, playful film tells the story of the kinds of stories Polley tells. Using humorous, simple line animation, the film comments on the messiness of life and art.
Produced by the NFB in co-operation with the National Arts Centre and the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation on the occasion of the 2013 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. -
Submerge: Kami No YuCindy Mochizuki 2003 1 minThis short animation film is a “water poem,” set in a Japanese ofuro hot bath. It explores water as a medium and repository for collective stories and was created in a hybrid new media form using animation, video and split screens.
Produced as part of the first edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. Theme was "Water and Our Relationship to It". -
The Friends of Kwan MingChristine Amber Tang 2002 7 minThis animated short tells the story of Kwan Ming, a man who left China to live and work in the New World. Once at destination, Kwan Ming and three traveling companions look for work but find nothing. When opportunities finally arise, Kwan Ming lets his friends have the best jobs and takes a lowly position as helper to a mean storeowner. But his generosity pays off when his friends help him with a very difficult task.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
I Was a Child of Holocaust SurvivorsAnn Marie Fleming 2010 15 minThis short animation is director Ann Marie Fleming’s animated adaptation of Bernice Eisenstein’s acclaimed illustrated memoir. Using the healing power of humour, the film probes the taboos around a very particular second-hand trauma, leading us to a more universal understanding of human experience. The film sensitively explores identity and loss through the audacious proposition that the Holocaust is addictive and defining.
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The Magical Life of Long Tack SamAnn Marie Fleming 2003 1 h 28 minFilmmaker Ann Marie Fleming travels the globe to piece together the story of her great-grandfather, the cosmopolitan Long Tack Sam – an internationally renowned Chinese acrobat and magician who overcame isolation, poverty, cultural and linguistic barriers, extreme racism and world wars to become one of the most successful acts of his time. This first-person road movie celebrates the spirit of Long Tack Sam's magic and art in a richly textured and exhilarating testament to his legacy.
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The ZooJulia Kwan 2018 11 minThe Zoo follows the parallel lives of a polar bear cub in a popular city zoo and a Chinese boy who visits him until they’re both in their twilight years.
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BlossomJulia Kwan 2010 6 minJulia Kwan's short film captures the experience of a young woman as she travels to a new country. As summer opens into spring, mother and daughter build a life together. The taste and texture of each season, whether the ice-cream smell of summer, the crisp birch air of autumn, or the warmth of winter dumplings -- are lovingly rendered in animation, sound and image. Throughout the passage of time, the persistence of love endures, as resolute and unchanging as the cycle of the season.
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SurfacingJulia Kwan 2015 6 minThis short film explores the passions of acclaimed musician and songwriter Sarah McLachlan, using her own words and drawings to guide us through her rich creative world, the founding of the groundbreaking Lilith Fair, and her philanthropic work at the Sarah McLachlan School of Music.
Produced by the NFB in co-operation with the National Arts Centre and the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation on the occasion of the 2015 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.
