Conference Program: The Inaugural Conference of the Association for Chinese Animation Studies, Zoom Webinar, March 1-May 12, 2021
Panel 1: 9:00am-11:30am, March 1 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Keynote Speeches, chaired by Daisy Yan Du, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR
9:00-9:10am:
Opening Remarks, Daisy Yan Du, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Welcome Speech, Kellee Tsai, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
9:10-10:20am:
“Playful Dispositif and Remediation: Chinese Animation from the Perspective of Film History as Media Archaeology”, Yingjin Zhang, University of California, San Diego, USA
10:20-11:30am:
“Vernacular Networking: The Transmedial Situation of ‘Chinese Anime,’” Thomas Lamarre, University of Chicago, USA
Panel 2: 9:00am-11:00am, March 2 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Screening of Early Animated Shorts by China Film Archive (not open to the public, exclusive to conference participants only), chaired by Zhen Zhang, New York University, USA
The Mouse and the Frog (cel, Wan Brothers, 1934)
Songs of Resistance 2 (cel, Wan Brothers, 1938)
Songs of Resistance 5 (cel, Wan Brothers, 1939)
The Kite (cel, Liang Jin, 1943)
Dreaming to be Emperor (puppet, Chen Bo’er, 1947)
Capturing the Turtle in the Jar (cel, Mochinaga Tadahito, 1948)
“An Overview of the Animated Film Data in the China Film Archive,” TAN Qiuwen, China Film Art Research Center, PRC
“Screening of Selections from the Early Chinese Animation Playlist,” Christopher Rea, University of British Columbia, Canada
Panel 3: 9:00am-11:40am, March 8 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Early Animation and Cartoons before 1949, chaired by Yingjin Zhang, University of California, San Diego, USA
“Kamishibai in Wartime China,” Sharalyn Orbaugh, University of British Columbia, Canada
“Metamorphosis: ‘Three Hairs’ from Newspaper to Big Screen,” Zhen Zhang, New York University, USA
“Reality and Seriality in Zhang Leping’s Comic Strip: The Wandering Life of Sanmao, 1947-1948,” John Crespi, Colgate University, USA
“Animation and the Republican Chinese Film Industry: In Search of New Methodologies,” Christopher Rea, University of British Columbia, Canada
“The Wan Brothers Reexamined,” Yan Chen, Kyoto Seiki University, Japan
Panel 4: 9:00am-12:10pm, March 9 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Animation in Socialist China, chaired by Stephi Hemelryk Donald, University of Lincoln, UK
“The Deconstruction of Animated Technology in Socialist Puppet Animated Films, 1949-1964,” Linda C. Zhang, University of California-Berkeley, USA
“Sonic ‘National Style’ in Socialist Chinese Animation Films,” Ling Zhang, State University of New York Purchase College, USA
“Animated Soundscape: Wu Yingju’s Music in Meishu Films in Socialist China from 1957 to 1965,” Yunwen Gao, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
“Receiving the Classics,” Sean Macdonald, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA
“From Ink to Animation: Tang Cheng’s Artistic Road,” Zeyu Yang, Qingdao Agricultural University, PRC
Panel 5: 9:00am-11:10am, March 15 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Legacy of the 1980s, chaired by Paola Voci, University of Otago, New Zealand
“Motifs of Science and Technology in Chinese Animation during the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw,” Hua Li, Montana State University, USA
“Adapting Dunhuang in a Transitional Period: Negotiated Intermediality in The Deer of Nine Colors and Jiazi Saves the Deer,” Shasha Liu, University of Toronto, Canada
“Xu Bing’s The Character of Characters and the Possibilities of Calligraphic Animation,” Panpan Yang, University of Chicago, USA
“Dynamics of Dialogue: Reconstructing the Sino-European Opening-Up within the Art-house Animation Festival Circuit in the 1980s,” Olga Bobrowska, Jagiellonian University, Poland
Panel 6: 9:00am-11:10am, March 16 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Independent Animation in China, chaired by Thomas Lamarre, University of Chicago, USA
“The Chinese Animateur 2.0: Playful Technologies and Magical Wonders,” Paola Voci, University of Otago, New Zealand
“Animating the Urban: Cities in 21st Century Chinese Independent Animation,” Isabel Galwey, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR
“Assembling the History of Difference: Independent Animation in Postsocialist China,” Hang Wu, University of Chicago, USA
“Constant Renegotiation: Understanding the Ecology of Independent Chinese Animation,” Aaron Wenhai Zhou, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Panel 7: 9:00am-11:50am, March 29 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Animators’ Perspectives: Women and Independent Animation (in English and Chinese), chaired by Yiman Wang, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
“Re-archiving Forgetfulness: How Women Artists Evoke Memories in the Collaboration of Independent Animation,” Maggie Chunning Guo, Renmin University of China, PRC
“In the Name of Love,” CHEN Hailu, East China Normal University, PRC
“She-Frame-Gaze,” CAI Caibei, Independent Animation Director
“I Have Gender, But My Work Does Not,” CHAI Mi, Independent Animator and Artist
Panel 8: 9:00am-11:40am, March 30 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Chinese Animation, Children, and Adults, chaired by Wendy Larson, University of Oregon, USA
“Animation as a History of Childhood in late 20th Century and early 21st Century China,” Stephi Hemelryk Donald , Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia & Bin Fang, Beijing Normal University, PRC
“Animation and Technologies of Mobility: Internationalism and the Making of Mao’s Children,” Lanjun Xu, National University of Singapore, Singapore
“Educating the ‘Careless’ Socialist Child: Professionalizing Childhood in the Maoist and Early Post-Mao Years,” Yu Zhang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
“Transborder Fairy Tales: Wartime Animated Film Princess Iron Fan and the Discourse of Children,” Ying Chen, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
“Breaking the Stereotype: Dahufa and Adult-Oriented Chinese Animated Film,” Shaopeng Chen, Southeast University, PRC
Panel 9: 9:00am-11:40am, April 12 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Theorizing Chinese Animation and the World, chaired by Alex Zahlten, Harvard University, USA
“Beyond the Great Divide: Asian Animation and the Future of Animation Studies,” Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Waseda University, Japan
“On the Value of Anime Studies for Chinese Animation Studies,” Marc Steinberg, Concordia University, Canada
“Suspended Animation,” Daisy Yan Du, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR
“From an Ontology to a Mish-Mash: The Development of Chinese Animation Theories,” Yuanyuan Chen, Ulster University, Ireland
“Chinese Animation between Standardization and Disneyfication,” Dr. Rolf Giesen, Independent Scholar, Germany
Panel 10: 9:00am-11:40am, April 13 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Digitality, CGI, and VR Animation in China, chaired by Yomi Braester, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
“Chimeric Animation,” Yiman Wang, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
“Digital Animation and CGI in Twenty-first Century Chinese Prescriptive Realism,” Jason McGrath, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA
“CGI Ink-Painting Animation in China,” Hailu Chen, East China Normal University, PRC
“Nationalism, Transnationalism, and the Contemporary Shuimo Donghua Style,” Shannon Brownlee, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada
“Present Absence: Rethinking VR Animation as Digital Myths in China,” Maggie Chunning Guo, Renmin University of China, PRC
Panel 11: 9:00am-12:30pm, April 19 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Film Screening and Animators’ Perspectives (in Chinese and English): chaired by Daisy Yan Du, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR
Premier of Red Squirrel Mai (CGI ink-painting animated feature film, 2020)
“From Pleasant Goat to Red Squirrel Mai: On Creative Animation Industry in Contemporary China,” Lo Wing Keung , Chairman of Ink Culture LTD (Hong Kong) & Ink Culture Brand Management Co., LTD (Guangzhou)
“The Quest for Digital Ink: Developing Tools for Painting, Calligraphy, and Animation,” Nelson Chu, Creator of Expresii (an ink-painting software tool)
Panel 12: 9:00am-11:10am, April 20 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), The Invention of Traditions in Chinese Animation, chaired by John Crespi, Colgate University, USA
“The Invention of Chinese Pictorial Space in Chinese Animation,” Yomi Braester, University of Washington-Seattle, USA
“Queering an Icon, Becoming a Demon: A Preliminary Discussion of the 2019 White Snake Animation,” Liang Luo, University of Kentucky, USA
“Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chinese Animation,” Hongmei Sun, George Mason University, USA
“Nationality, Modernity, and Individuality: The Refunctionalization of Monkey King’s Image in Chinese Animation,” Yishui Chen, Beijing Normal University, PRC
Panel 13: 9:00am-11:40am, April 26 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Animation and Cartoon in China, chaired by Christopher Rea, University of British Columbia, Canada
“The Twinning of Chinese Animation and Cartooning,” John A. Lent, Temple University, USA
“Hua Junwu’s Cartoons and the Unmaking of National-Style Animation,” Muyang Zhuang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Bugman: Scientific Fairy Tales and the Enemy Within,” Nick Stember, University of Cambridge, UK
“From the ‘Golden Era’ to the ‘Horse Racing Book’ Crisis: The Transformation of the Comic Publishing Industry in the Early PRC (1949-1956),” Rebecca Scott, King’s College London, UK
“Exploring Lianhuanhua: A Look into the Imagined Community of China’s Palm-Sized Comic Books,” Stephanie Jones, University of San Francisco, USA
Panel 14: 9:00am-11:40am, April 27 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Chinese Animation and Live Action, chaired by Jason McGrath, University of Minnesota, USA
“From Animation to Martial Arts: Toward the Transcendence of False Movements,” Jinying Li, Brown University, USA
“The Promise of Flying: Flash Animation in Jia Zhangke’s The World,” Wendy Larson, University of Oregon, USA
“Interacting with the Virtual: Affect and Animated Environment in Recent Chinese-Language Films,” Xiao Liu, McGill University, Canada
“Uneasy Ties: Digital Realism and the Discourses of Actualities in Contemporary Chinese Animated Documentaries,” Li Guo, Utah State University, USA
“Ethnographic Animation: Participatory Design with the Longhorn Miao,” Yijing Wang, Beihang University, PRC
Panel 15: 9:00am-11:40pm, May 3 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Border-Crossings: Chinese/Japanese Animation, chaired by Sharalyn Orbaugh, University of British Columbia, Canada
“Anime in China and ‘Connective’ Memory in East Asia,” Alexander Zahlten, Harvard University, USA
“Mochinaga Tadahito and the Question of Chinese, Japanese, and American Animation,” Jason Cody Douglass, Yale University, USA
“Chinese Wanghong in Japanese Manga: Transnational/Cultural Production in Asano Tatsuya’s Faceless,”
Cyrus Huiyong Qiu, University of British Columbia, Canada
“When Bullet Screen Meets Animation: The Visual Ethnography of the Alternative ACGN Culture in China,” Weihua Wu, Communication University of China, PRC
“It’s a Good Day for Gag: Cultural Dubbing, Sound Culture, and the e-gao Mode of Cultural Critique,” Casey Lee, Harvard University & University of Florida, USA
Panel 16: 9:00am-11:40am, May 4 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Animation Research, Education, and Publication in Mainland China (in Chinese), chaired by Weihua Wu, Communication University of China, PRC
“A Brief History of Animation Theory in Mainland China,” NIE Xinru, East China Normal University, PRC
“How Animation Research Institutes in China Promote the Development of Chinese Animation,” ZHONG Yuanbo, Chengdu University, PRC
“Flourishing from Barrenness—The Birth and Development of Animation Education in Mainland China,” AI Shengying, Communication University of China, PRC
“The Journal Contemporary Animation and Chinese Animation Academia,” TAN Qiuwen, China Film Art Research Center, PRC
“An Overview of Animation-Related Publications in Mainland China,” ZHAO Jun and CHEN Mo, Communication University of China Press, PRC
Panel 17: 9:00am-11:10am, May 10 (Monday, Hong Kong time), Animation in Taiwan, chaired by Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Waseda University, Japan
“Animating Worker Subjectivity: Cartoon Characters Modeling Neoliberal Subjectivity in Taiwan,” Teri Silvio, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
“Becoming Animated: The Transmedia Performance of Pili Puppetry,” Jasmine Yu-Hsing Chen, Utah State University, USA
“Animating Collective Memories and Traumatic Narratives: Hand in Hand, On Happiness Road, and Taiwan’s White Terror,” Laura Jo-Han Wen, Randolph-Macon College, USA
“Animated Discursive Practices in Taiwan Bar and Year Hare Affair: A Comparative Study on Online Animations in Taiwan and China,” Lien Fan Shen, University of Utah, USA
Panel 18: 9:00am-11:40am, May 11 (Tuesday, Hong Kong time), Animation in Hong Kong and Singapore, chaired by Marc Steinberg, Concordia University, Canada
“Animated Abstraction and Meaning: A Case Study of Hong Kong Artists,” Max Hattler, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
“Recalling and Storytelling Hong Kong in Animation: No. 7 Cherry Lane,” Tze-yue G. Hu, Independent Scholar, USA
“Moving Tales in the History of Hong Kong Animation,” Winnie Fu, Independent Scholar, Hong Kong SAR
“A Brief History of Ink-painting Animation in Hong Kong,” Ann Y. Y. Leung, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
“Singapore Independent Animation in the New Millennium,” Hannes Rall, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Panel 19: 9:00am-11:20am, May 12 (Wednesday, Hong Kong time), Animators’ Perspectives: Independent Animated Filmmaking in the Digital Age (in English and Chinese), chaired by Zhen Zhang, New York University, USA
“Memory Clash,” Lei Lei, Experimental Animation Artist
“Am I an Animator? The New Trend of Self-made Animator in Hong Kong and Beyond,” NG Kai Chung Tommy, Independent Animator
11:00-11:15am: Best Student Paper Award Ceremony, chaired by John Lent, Temple University, USA
11:15-11:20am: Closing Remarks, Daisy Yan Du, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR