This is a war film. It’s not about violence or victims but about the resilience of my people.

A nation torn by war and politics has been the dominant narrative of Vietnam seen by foreign audiences (thinking of Apocalypse Now). It is only a minor part of our 4000-year history. There are so many beautiful things to say about my culture, their spirit, and my people in the event of war. As a Vietnamese born person living in Canada for the past four years, I felt the urgency to make a film that told another war story of Vietnam that countered some negative tropes and images in the western collective imaginary. My goal for the film is to make an impact, not only for younger generations to know about what their people had been through or to commemorate those who lived through such difficulties, and those who died. I hope that the film will be a representation of my pride and shifting the perspective of audiences looking at my homeland.

A little boy sends paper airplanes to his dead soldier dad, believing that he now guards the sky and might be back one day. Will he keep his faith after months go by, or accepting the reality that his dad will not return when war is taking over his village?

An V Mai is a 2D filmmaker and illustrator born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam, currently pursuing her animation career in Vancouver, Canada. Growing up in a culture that emphasizes sentimental values, An uses her art to explore the theme of emotions and traumas, especially those embedded in family history and relationships. An gains her skill in Animation through her education at Emily Carr with a Bachelor Degree in Media Art.

https://mthuyvietan.wixsite.com/mysite

Eclipse

When Day meets Night, the line between them is forever blurred.

Two shape-shifting lovers, separated by night and day, come together for a dance under the fading light of the eclipse.

Ciyo, the sun-loving coyote and Corvin, the moon bathed crow dance their familiar lover’s dance.

About the artist:

Sara Crivelli is an American illustrator and character designer currently living in Vancouver, Canada. She is a graduate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design with a BA in 2D Animation. She’s been drawing since she could pick up a crayon and has created a plethora of worlds with dozens of characters bringing them to life.

She loves to play around with atmosphere, color and lighting to create dynamic illustrations that tell their own stories. Her favorite aspect of her art is designing characters and the worlds they live in, one such world of characters is that of her webcomic. She is fluent in a multitude of programs from Photoshop and After Effects to TVPaint.

Dance choreography written and performed by Hayley Galati and Greg Jungco. Please follow and support them! Without their hard work and creativity, this project would never have been born.

Please also check out Linda Arkelian who helped provide me with dancers and has been such a positive influence on the project as a whole. The picture to the right was taken by her of the two dancers.

A child fights a mirror in search of their true identity. What is it that lies beyond the mirror’s surface?

Growing up, I didn’t used to like looking at myself in the mirror—the person I saw didn’t match the sense of “self” I actually felt inside, and I didn’t know where I fit into these invisible categories I saw. What does it mean to be masculine? To be feminine? Not just affecting what we “can” or “can’t” do, it’s something that affects also what we “do” or “don’t do”. I made this film because I wanted to express the feeling of wanting to be able to shape how others see us.

Moving to Canada from Kaiping, China at the age of 6, Ness Xu grew up jumping between interests of music, math, writing, and drawing, before finally heading down the path of animation at Emily Carr University. Ness hopes to find the opportunity to continue creating, regardless of the form, even after graduation.

https://nessxu.wordpress.com/