The animation works "Wish/Hope" and "Snapdragon" produced by the Department of Visual Communication Design of STUST participated in 2021 international film festivals and brought back good news! The animated short films were recognized by international film festival, nominated for multiple film festivals and qualified for international screening, which once again showed that STUST has taken root in promoting local cultural creativity and digital multimedia creativity.

[A poster of the animation work "Wish/Hope" by students from the Department of Visual Communication Design of STUST.]

The student animation work "Wish/Hope" is jointly directed by Prof. Ya-Shue Li and Prof. Jun-Shuo Huang of STUST. The content of the film focuses on the rare friendship between a little deity and a lonely monster through a wish for a sky lantern. The emotional story script and creative animation production won the affirmation of the 2021 LA Indies Festival in the United States. The Los Angeles independent film festival started in 2007. Every year, thousands of filmmakers from all over the world are invited to participate in it. The animation work "Wish/Hope" from the Department of Visual Communication Design of STUST stood out among many works worldwide and won the Best Student Film Award," emerging internationally to win honor for the university. At the same time, the work was also shortlisted for a number of international film festival nominations and screenings, including the Humanities, Arts and Sciences International Film Festival (nomination), Seoul Independent Short Film Festival in South Korea (nomination), Dam Short Film Festival in the US (shortlisted for screening), Venice Short Film Festival in Italy (shortlisted for screening), New York Independent Short Film Festival in the US (shortlisted for screening), and CyBorg Science Fiction Film Festival in Italy (nomination). Students from the Department of Visual Communication Design of STUST have had brilliant performances internationally with their works, fully employing their creativity to realize their dreams of original animation films.

[STUST student animation work "Wish/Hope" won the 2021 Los Angeles Indies Festival—Best Student Film Award and was nominated for a number of international film festival awards.]

Another student’s work—"Snapdragon"—is directed by Prof. Chian-Fan Liu. The motivation for this animation is to explore the roles which women are expected to play in the society and family as well as the psychological burden they have to bear under the oppression and harm brought by the labels on women. Even when modern women’s self-consciousness has seen a rise, there are still many areas where women still live in social confinement. The production team hopes to arouse public attention to this issue through their works. In addition to being recognized by the RedDot Brand and Communication Design Award in Germany, the work was awarded the Animaevka International Animation Film Festival in Belarus (nomination), Toronto International Women's Film Festival in Canada (nomination), and CyBorg Science Fiction Film Festival in Italy (nomination). The work was unanimously favored by the international judges.

[A poster of the student animation work "Snapdragon" by the Department of Visual Communication Design, STUST.]

Deng-Maw Lu, President of STUST, said that STUST has always encouraged teachers to lead students to participate in international competitions, showing what they have learned in various competitions and gaining experience. This time the participating teams have won many good results on the international stage, showing that the teaching innovation of STUST has been effective and has reached international standards. It is hoped that students who are interested in the field of design and creation in the future will choose STUST with an international perspective to their future studies, realizing their dreams of stepping onto the international arena.

[The student animation work "Snapdragon" from STUST was awarded the RedDot Brand and Communication Design Award and Toronto International Women's Film Festival-Award in Canada (nomination).]