Making Animation 2026: Seeing Animation

Event information
Date and time

10–12 Sep 2026

Location

Day 1: Asia Research Institute, Block AS8, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260

Days 2 and 3: LASALLE College of the Arts, 1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940

Registration
The symposium is open to all and free of charge. Registration is required.
Register now

Event information

Date and time

10–12 Sep 2026

Location

Day 1: Asia Research Institute, Block AS8, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260

Days 2 and 3: LASALLE College of the Arts, 1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940

Registration
The symposium is open to all and free of charge. Registration is required.
Register now

Event details

This symposium is the third in an annual series alternating between single-day and multi-day formats, developed by the Puttnam School of Film & Animation at LASALLE College of the Arts (LASALLE), in partnership with the Department of Japanese Studies at National University Singapore (NUS).

Across two and a half days, the 2026 edition asks how contemporary animation in Asia gets selected, programmed and made visible, as well as who decides these. Following earlier symposiums on animation as form (2024) and as practice rooted in observation and the touch of the hand (2025), this year the focus turns to the systems that carry work from being made to being seen: studios, festivals and classrooms, from those who make the work to those who shape its movement through them.

The symposium gathers artists, festival programmers and scholars from across Asia, alongside students from LASALLE and NUS. Audiences are invited not only to watch but to participate in the act of seeing animation, the question the symposium opens.

Convened by: Dr Gan Sheuo Hui, LASALLE
In partnership with: Department of Japanese Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS
Advisors: Chris Shaw, Head, Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE and Assoc Prof Lim Beng Choo, Head, Department of Japanese Studies, NUS
Supported by: Mitsui NUS Japanese Studies in Southeast Asia Endowment Fund

 

Symposium information

Day 1 takes place at NUS and opens with practitioner-researchers: creative artists who also teach, programme and write. Wang Chi-Sui, programme director of the Taichung Animation Film Festival and professor at TNUA, brings perspectives on contemporary Taiwanese animation. Thanut Rujitanont, founder of Graphy Animation in Thailand and PhD candidate at Griffith Film School, presents his practice and research on contemporary Thai animation. Joint student presentations from NUS and LASALLE share research-in-progress. Sessions at NUS are research-focused, with film excerpts to illustrate.

From Day 2 onwards, the symposium moves to LASALLE, and the programme turns to practice and curatorial voices, anchored by director Sung Hsin-Yin (On Happiness Road), whose training in Kyoto and recognition at the Tokyo Anime Award situate her practice within a Japanese animation lineage while speaking from a distinctly cross-regional position. Zhu Yantong, festival director of the Feinaki Beijing Animation Week, presents a curated programme of contemporary Chinese works. Narita Hyoe, Executive Chairman of the Niigata International Animation Film Festival, and Hojo Masato, CEO of Eurospace (an independent movie theatre in Tokyo), bring a programme of award-winning shorts from NIAFF and a conversation on building cultural-community space through festival and theatre. The day closes with KUWA from the Most Trash Animation Festival, whose name states its argument: a curatorial selection of compelling works the mainstream festival has overlooked or refused.

Day 3 begins with 听见 / What We Heard, a closing day designed around slow listening. Year 2 LASALLE students host visiting guests in small groups for lunch near campus at venues of their choosing, such as kopitiams, picnic spots and places which locate the symposium in Singapore. Each group has ninety minutes of relaxed conversation with one guest, and their reflections inform the semester's research and creative work.

The symposium closes with a screening of Liu Jian's Art College 1994, a film about young art students wondering what their futures might look like, followed by a recorded message from the director and closing remarks from the convener and our partners at NUS and LASALLE. The closing returns to the question the symposium opened with: who gets seen, and how the act of slow seeing might make the making matter even more.

 

Sung Hsin-Yin 宋欣穎 is a writer/director born and raised in Taiwan.

Her animation feature On Happiness Road, was a huge box-office success that received numerous awards from international film festivals, including the Golden Horse Award for Best Animation Feature.

In 2023, her feature Lost in Perfection reached the Top 10 on Netflix in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

In recent years, she has focused on developing film and television projects with strong international appeal.

Convened by Dr Gan Sheuo Hui
Advisors Chris Shaw, Head, Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE
Assoc Prof Lim Beng Choo, Head, Department of Japanese Studies, NUS
Organised by Puttnam School of Film & Animation, Faculty of Fine Arts, Media & Creative Industries, LASALLE College of the Arts
In partnership with Department of Japanese Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore
Supported by Mitsui NUS Japanese Studies in Southeast Asia Endowment Fund
Niigata Prefecture
Niigata University
Niigata International Animation Film Festival
Kaishi Professional University
Eurospace
Project manager Averil Jodie Koh
Project assistants  Choi Eunji, Azsmaan Zayne
Administrative assistants (NUS) NUS, Department of Japanese Studies
Administrative assistants (LASALLE) Karen Cheok
Student and alumni core team (LASALLE) Averil Jodie Koh, Duangkamol Kwek, Eunji Choi, Gladys Chong, Kim Jinsol, Lee Jungha, Nah Yee Chern, Qiran Ocean Abdullah Davidson, Ryan Goh, Tan Grace, Tansha Surendra, Thong Tze Ling
Copy editor Ailin Chin
Web design Ailin Chin
Digital programme booklet Averil Jodie Koh, Choi Eunji
Technical support Brian Hong
Poster design Kim Jinsol
Slide design Kim Jinsol, Duangkamol Kwek
Consecutive interpretation (Japanese) provided by Nakano Mio
Consecutive interpretation (Chinese) provided by Raey Ang
Student translator for message from Liu Jian Lin Kefan, Liu Runying, Tan Xuqi, Zhang Jiaheng, Zhang Jiayue
Alumni emcee Liang Kip Boon
Student emcees Charmaine Lam Su Ting, Lee Jungha, Qiran Ocean Abdullah Davidson, Sarisa Balqis Thampirak
Alumni volunteers Azsmaan Zayne, Brian Lam, Choi Eunji, Duangkamol Kwek, Kim Jinsol, Liang Kip Boon, Nah Yee Chern, Tan Grace, Tansha Surendra
Student volunteers Alk Ang, Althea Margaux Desepeda, Btari Cinta Alisha Marco, Charmaine Lam Su Ting, Gladys Chong Yu Kheng, Jocelyn Jennifer Wen, Micheline Phie, Miura Nicole Lacida Narayan, Naomi Yangqian Verkerke, Nguyen Ngoc Khanh Chi, Nickie Yap Ming En, Raechel Ma Weilin, Ryan Goh Jun Aun, Sarisa Balqis Thampirak, Seowon Han, Subbachandra Balaji Srividya Advika, Tanvii Sivakumar, Thong Tze Ling, Tia Ai Ling Pekerti, Yashawini Narendran
Special thanks Director Liu Jian, Producer Yang Cheng, Producer Juan Foo, Suphon Niamkamnoet, Yamamura Koji, Cissie Fu, Shangshan Ruoshui, Brian Hong

 

Opening
Welcome and introduction
10:30am–11:00am
AS8, 04-04, NUS

 

10:30am Assoc Prof Lim Beng Choo, Head, Department of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore; Chris Shaw, Head, Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE

10:45am Symposium introduction by Dr Gan Sheuo Hui, Convener, LASALLE

SESSION 1
Programming across borders
11:00am–12:30pm
AS8, 04-04, NUS

 

Moderated by Assoc Prof Deborah Shamoon, NUS
 
11:00am What Taichung Sees: Curatorial Choices in Contemporary Taiwanese Animation, presented by Prof Wang Chi-Sui, Taipei University of the Arts; Programme Director, Taichung Animation Film Festival (TAFF) 台中國際動畫影展

12:15pm Q&A

SESSION 2
Student research and practice
1:30pm–2:30pm
AS8, 04-04, NUS

 

NUS and LASALLE students will present their research and take questions.

Break
2:30pm–2:45pm
SESSION 3
Contemporary Thai animation
2:45pm–4:15pm
AS8, 04-04, NUS

 

Moderated by Ang Qing Sheng, LASALLE

2:45pm A Practice in Time: Thai Independent Animation Now, presented by Thanut Rujitanont, founder, Graphy Animation, Griffith Film School

4:00pm Q&A

Welcome
Day 2 opening remarks
11:00am–11:05am
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE
SESSION 4
In conversation with Sung Hsin-Yin
11:05am–12:30pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

Moderated by Dr Gan Sheuo Hui, LASALLE and Prof Ishida Minori, Niigata University

11:05am Inside the Studio: A conversation with Sung Hsin-Yin, Taiwanese director and scriptwriter (Chinese with consecutive interpretation)

12:15pm Q&A

Lunch
12:30pm–1:30pm
SESSION 5
Curating from Beijing: Feinaki Beijing Animation Week 费那奇动画周
1:30pm–2:45pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

Moderated by Erica Lai, Deputy Director of Programmes at Singapore Art Museum
 
1:30pm Programme introduction — Zhu Yantong

1:45pm Festival Director, Feinaki Beijing Animation Week presents a curated screening of contemporary works by Zhu Yantong, rated NC16

2:35pm Talk and Q&A

SESSION 6
Beyond Tokyo: Niigata and the animation hub
新潟国際アニメーション映画祭
3:00pm–4:30pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

Moderated by Chris Shaw, LASALLE
 
3:00pm Programme introduction — Prof Narita Hyoe, Executive Committee Chairman Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF) and Hojo Masato, CEO, Eurospace (Japanese with consecutive interpretation by Nakano Mio)
 
3:30pm Screening of Look Back (2024) by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, ~60 mins, rated PG

Break
4:30pm–5:00pm

 

Tea and refreshments will be provided.

SESSION 7
Curating what the mainstream misses
5:00pm–6:30pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

Moderated by Asst Prof Zhao Xinyi, Department of Japanese Studies/ Chinese Studies

5:00pm Most Trash Animation Film Festival 最爛電影節, featuring Shangshan Ruoshui, founder, Most Trash Animation Festival and KUWA, animation director (Chinese with consecutive interpretation by Raey Ang)

5:30pm Curated screening, rated NC16

6:20pm Q&A

SESSION 8
Walking Reads
11:00am–12:00pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

Moderated by Jamin Wu, LASALLE

After two days of talks and screenings, selected LASALLE students host visiting guests in small groups for informal conversation.

Walking Reads means learning by moving through a place, by going somewhere, by encountering rather than reading from a desk. Each group chooses its own venue near campus, and they talk about what they have heard and seen across the symposium.

Opening
Welcome and framing: 聽見/ WHAT WE HEARD
12:00pm–12:15pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

Conducted by Dr Gan Sheuo Hui, LASALLE.

SESSION 9
Screening
12:15pm–2:15pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

Introduced by Sarah Cheok, art director and filmmaker

12:15pm Screening of Art College 1994 (dir. Liu Jian, 2023) ~118 min (Mandarin with English subtitles), rated PG-13
 
2:15pm Message from Prof Liu Jian, China Academy of Art, animation director

Closing
Closing remarks
2:15pm–2:30pm
Block F Level 2 #F202, LASALLE

 

The following speakers will deliver closing remarks: Dr Gan Sheuo Hui, Convener; Assoc Prof Lim Beng Choo, Head, Department of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore; and Chris Shaw, Head, Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE
 
 
 

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