The official website of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (AIAFF) announced the list of its official selection on March 28. Me and the Magnet and a Dead Friend directed by Liu Maoning, a CUC student of Class 2014 majoring in Animation in School of Animation and Digital Arts, stood out from 3092 films from 86 countries and became the only graduation short film in competition from Mainland China. The film tells the audience a series of past events about family and friends in director’s childhood in an unique perspective, with pictures full of artistic expression and an eloquent form of narration.
Me and the Magnet and a Dead Friend is Liu Maoning’s graduation work finished under the guidance of his teachers including Ai Shengying and Duan Wenkai. Speaking about his work, Liu said he tried to convey the forbearing state of childhood in the film. Taken down from the hi-fi, the magnet attracted many objects like coins and screws wherever Liu passed and brought him fun. He described the magnet as a symbol of his childhood because it always accompanied him when friends seemed to come and go.
Conquering the limit of time and shortage of hands, Liu feels excited and surprised that his work is shortlisted for the Annecy 2019. He counts it as an honor which can boost his confidence in work creating because it means a story with sincere emotions can gain affection from people wherever they come from. “Teachers of our school always encourage us to express ourselves and pour our own emotions into the films, and that’s what I wanted in my graduation work, to make a conclusion and express myself,” Liu said.
When asked about his study life in CUC, Liu appreciated that CUC had equipped him with the knowledge of different fields apart from animation, which turns into the source of his creation. Liu advises students to follow their heart and return to the nature of their own when creating a work, saying, “Maybe the things come from your heart is not always perfect, but they do belong to you and carry your own symbol. With your genuine emotions, it’ll arouse an echo in others’ hearts.”
With the core of students' creative work, Animation in School of Animation and Digital Arts of CUC perseveres in encouraging the multi-angle and wide-vision creative idea and has developed a path of cultivating talents in animation and new media art. Its graduates won many important awards home and abroad, for example, Tong Hua, a graduate of Class 2008, won the 45th Student Academy Award.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (AIAFF) was created in 1960 sponsored by the International Animated Film Association. As one of the four most famous international animation film festivals, the AIAFF has the longest history and greatest influence, enjoying the reputation of Oscar of the Animation Film and Cannes of the Animation Film. The Annecy Awards of feature films, short films, films produced for television and advertising and so on are considered the highest glory in animation films. The Annecy 2019 will be held in Annecy, France from June 10 to June 15.
Original Article From: http://en.cuc.edu.cn/News
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