Elephant in Castle 城堡裡的大象 (2021)
Elephant in Castle (2021) is a 2D digital animation, using a hand-drawn frame-by-frame process to create subtle abstract narratives. The work expresses a constant change within the artist’s inner world, depicting the emotional, aesthetic, and tactile responses that she has to Hong Kong, the city where she grew up. Stepping into a new decade, the world is coming to an unprecedented and critical moment in history. The film is a reflection conveyed by the artist's sentimental responses to the stories/memories/social shifts that took place in Hong Kong.
Lee was inspired by the research topic and artworks relating to Topophilia, a term from Greek topos. Combining Topo-, meaning “place”, and -philia, meaning “love of”, Topophilia is a “strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain people and a love of certain aspects of such a place.” People in a city might come from different places originally, but they all form their own paths of connectivity and responses to the places we inhabit, and even to the particular site that they pass through occasionally.
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Awards and Festival Selections:
2023
Finalist, The 28th ifva Festival, Hong Kong
2022
Cristal Award Nominee, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France
Best Student Film Award Nominee, World Festival of Animated Film- Animafest Zagreb, Croatia
Best International Film Award Nominee, Fantoche International Animation Festival, Switzerland
Marilyn Marsh Saint-Veltri Award Nominee, Denver International Film Festival, USA
Special Mention Award, Animaphix International Animated Film Festival, Italy
Official Selection, MONSTRA Lisbon Animation Festival, Portugal
Official Selection, Flatpack Film Festival, United Kingdom
Semi-finalist, International Cosmopolitan Film Festival of Tokyo, Japan
Official Selection, Fest Anča International Animation Festiva, Slovakia
Official Selection, Turku Animated Film Festival, Finland
The 18th Seoul Independent Animation Festival, South Korea
2021
Bronze Award, Los Angeles Animation Festival, USA
Special Jury Award, Tatsuno International Film Festival, Japan
Best Student Animated Film Award Nominee, Kuandu International Animation Festival, Taiwan
Official Selection, Tirana International Film Festival, Albania
Official Selection, BITBANG International Animation, Videogames and Digital Art Festival, Argentina
Official Selection, NEOSFEST Encuentro Internacional de Experimentación, Puebla
Official Selection, SPARK ANIMATION 2021, Canada
Official Selection, Canlandıranlar Animation Film Festival, Turkey
Official Selection, ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival, Azerbaijan
Finalist, SHORT to the Point International Short Film Festival, USA
Official Selection, SUPERNOVA Digital Animation Festival, USA
Official Selection, Tbilisi International Animation Festival, Georgia
Official Selection, Shibuya TANPEN Film Festival CLIMAX at Sasebo, Japan
Official Selection, NewFilmmakers NY, USA
Official Selection, London International Short Film Festival, United Kingdom
Exhibitions and Screenings
2023
Citrus Worlds II, Art Central, Hong Kong
EX!T 13 - Experimental Media Art Festival, Guling Street Avant-Garde Theatre, Taiwan
2022
“Mon OEil” online video series, Centre Pompidou, France
“Animafest Zagreb 1972 – 2022,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia
“HK Foreward 2021,” 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
“System Dreams,” Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
“Please Mind the Gap,” MFA Graduation Show 2021, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Animated short film
Duration: 4’48”
Directed & Animated by: Florence Yuk Ki Lee
Composer: Just Bee
Sound Designer: Florence Xingyu Tan
Additional Animation: Tina Bahraei
Additional Compositing: Di Wu
Advisor: Max Hattler
Production Studio: No Reason Studio
Special Thanks: Harald Kraemer, Leung Chi Wo, Tobias Klein, Yu Ka Ho Albert