PBS Media StudiosPBS Media Studios
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
KHEM ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL SELECTIONS powered by ICON Media Group
2nd Level (near Sears)
Animation FIlm Block – Rated: PG-13
Experience and celebrate the outstanding creative talent we have within the Animation, VFX and gaming industries.
Ascend is an animated film introducing the concept and cast of a group of girls called Mythologicals. In a city where the lower class lives high above the ground, these four girls have to zipline around the city to their day job, with obstacles in their way. In a world of monsters and high rise worn down apartments, we follow the daily life of your average Teksden residents.(USA)
Julia Shine (Director)
Falling from heaven to the sea, I was so scared that I wanted to escape from the sea. I was reborn after repeated failures, which made me realize the joy of being alive. (China)
Hongying Chen (Director)
SANGSANGBA – (3:40) Nominated for Best Student Film (College)
A girl realizes her feelings for her best friend. (Republic of Korea)
Jay Eunjin Lee (Director)
Death is Smoking My Cigars – (2:51) Nominated for Best Animation (Short)
“Death Is Smoking My Cigars” is a poem published in 1987 by the American author Charles Bukowski (1920–1994). The poem has long been a favourite of the core Misfit Productions team. It evokes a life-affirming defiance which is core to the ethos of the studio’s founder, AJ Leon. As a tribute to one of our favourite pieces, we undertook the first ever animated adaptation of Bukowski’s poem, combining a rousing reading with a lush, original aesthetic. (Philippines)
AJ Leon (Director)
JACK’S TRAVEL – (2:43)
A story regarded a seriously ill old man. He pursues the soul journey of missing love while he is dying, showing his mental journey and the final relief. (Taiwan)
百藤 Benton (Director)
STAG – (13:55)
Eve is a Catholic high schooler who’s grappling with an odd relationship to beetles and blossoming feelings for her classmate, Betty.
Kaitlyn McCafferty (Director)
In Rde – (8:01) Nominated for Best 2D (Short)
In Rde is a two-dimensional animated short film that combines music, dance and animation and focuses on the transmission of emotions. The short film tells the story of the war in the stream of consciousness, all the lives are suffering, even the perpetrators themselves… It advocates for peace and for equal rights. (China)
贺天 (Director)
Family Tree – (9:21) Nominated for Best Story
An animation about Seymour, a lonely sycamore tree who becomes excited when a new family moves into the house on the grounds where he lives. (Ireland)
Emmet O’Brien (Director)
From Me to You: A Conversation with Animation – (5:26)
Nominated for Best Student Film (College)
The narrative follows the character, Renee, who is unmotivated to finish a recent animation project. Though she makes another attempt to start, she is uncertain of her own abilities as an artist and again, avoids working on the project. As she seems to give up, her work comes to life, forcing her into a dreamscape. There, she confronts her own uncertainties and is reminded of the accomplishments she has made when she first began her journey. (USA)
Leah Coleman (Director)
Izzy’s Demons – (6:58) Nominated for Best Student FIlm (College)
Izzy is a person who struggles with the decision to reconnect with an old friend. As she gives into her jealousy for her friend’s success, she makes a decision that her subconscious does not let her get away with so easily.
Her relationship with this person is played in front of her and she realizes that something isn’t adding up. Memories start taking a turn for the worse and she realizes why they aren’t talking to each other.
Only when she confronts her anxieties can she be released from her subconscious. (USA)
Greg Garay (Director)
Genesis: An animated short – (4:59) Nominated for Best Music
Genesis is an animated short film about being creative and loving what you create! Inspired by the book of Genesis. (USA)
Philip Page (Director)
Losing to Alexis Lee – (5:25) Nominated for Best Animation (Short)
Alexis Lee is the star of the track team. She’s fast, a heartbreaker, and so, so pretty…
Sunny must beat her at all costs. (USA)
Vanessa Synn-Ying Kwan (Director)
The Chair – (6:54)
A woman encounters a chair with strange properties, but can’t decide if the experience is exciting or annoying. Created old-school style, using only pen and paper, and made up of 2,700 individual drawings. (USA)
Ronnie Cramer (Director)
Elizabeth Hardy: Private Investigation – (2:45)
Crime and corruption has taken over her neighborhood. Cops have refused to help and the government has called them a lost cause. But she believes that if no one else can save her home then she must step up and be the one to do it! Her name is Elizabeth Hardy.
Emory Rice (Director)
The Winter – (5:00)
Walking in a snowy forest, a peasant sees an unusual deer and goes to follow it. The deer allures him and the peasant even wants to catch it. (Australia)
Xin Li (Director)
GON, THE LITTLE FOX – (27:59) Nominated for Best Animation (Short)
When Gon, a playful orphaned fox, finds that young Hyoju has lost his mother, he tries to comfort him and make amends for his own earlier mischief by secretly bringing small gifts to the boy every day. But Hyoju doesn’t realize who is behind the anonymous gifts, and the two are headed for a heartbreaking climax.
Takeshi Yashiro (Director)
The Boundaryless Night – (3:20)
A hungry stray cat sneaked into a house, which the owner had just lost her son in an accident, seeking for food. (Taiwan)
Li-Wei Hsu (Director)
The inability to change despite one’s every effort – this is the coldest place for the mind to exist. (USA)
Ashley Schmid (Creator)
Unconditional – (2:52) Nominated for Best 3D (Short)
“Unconditional” is about a defining pivotal moment in a mother and son’s relationship and their unconditional love. It deals with gender expression, queerness and the innocence of it.
After his mom leaves him home alone, Cameron can explore his true self and interests in femininity. Although he is young, he is aware of society’s expectations on boys and must face his own insecurities. (USA)
Austin Jaye Braddock (Director)
As the only human survivor of a radioactive apocalypse, a cheerful young woman sings her way through life, planning a tea party where she hopes she can finally find friendship.
Alyssa Ragni (Director)
Journey through the Northern – (1:35) Nominated for Best 2D (Short)
Based on a fairy family. They go out on a quest to find their father. (USA)
Edmund Paul (Director)
Total Runtime: 2:05:39