Date
9 Sep 2025
Venue
Lecturer Theatre
Block F Level 2 #F202
LASALLE College of the Arts
1 McNally Street
Singapore 187940
Contact
animation.symposium@lasalle.edu.sg
Convened by
Dr Gan Sheuo Hui
Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE College of the Arts
Advisors
Assoc Prof Lim Beng Choo
Head, Department of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore
Head, Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE
Registration
The symposium is open to all and free of charge. Registration is required.
Making Animation 2025 looks to independent animation for inspiration in expression, craft, and storytelling that stay close to observation, imagination and the touch of the hand. In today’s fast-moving visual culture where cinema, streaming and social media increasingly converge, the symposium asks what keeps stories meaningful, and which skills and sensibilities matter as habits and technologies change. These questions guide a focus on solo and small-team practices valued for self-expression, craft and reflective storytelling. Keynote speaker Yamamura Koji treats animation as giving shape to “invisible movements of light beyond reality,” favouring imagination and “thinking with the hands” over copying and algorithmic styling.
The morning frames the discussion. Gan Sheuo Hui (LASALLE) examines how anime-styled filters and AI shorts drive trend-led mimicry and asks where replication ends and expression begins. Lim Beng Choo (NUS) considers post-COVID experiments in noh and kabuki with VR and AI, keeping performers and embodied practice central. Akiho-Toyoda Noriko (Niigata University of Health and Welfare) presents an occupational therapy collaboration that uses animation to clarify the field’s holistic approach and foreground storytelling as care. Usui Michiko (Kanto Gakuin University) revisits Utsushi-e, a magic-lantern theatre, to show how voice, music and timing turn technique into story.
The afternoon turns to practice. Yamamura Koji deepens this theme, tracing a line from hand-drawn films to VR experiments, reflecting on materiality, timing and image-making beyond replication (Japanese with consecutive translation). Lefty Julian (Malaysia), a documentary comics creator, shares Making George Town, rooted in community stories and cultural memory. NOvia Shin (Malaysia), a multidisciplinary creator, presents Let the Map Speak, mapping overlooked everyday details through layered media and quiet storytelling (Mandarin with consecutive translation). Together these voices show how independent practice shapes meaningful animation and connected practices today.
Schedule
10:30am–11:00am
Welcome and introduction
11:00am–12:00pm
Session 1: Research sharing
Moderated by: Dr Du Lin, NUS
- 11:00am: Anime‑Styled Filters in Everyday Media: Replication vs Expression by Dr Gan Sheuo Hui, LASALLE
- 11:10am: Coupling Noh and Animation the VR Way by Assoc Prof Lim Beng Choo, NUS
- 11:20am: From Utsushi-e to Japanese Anime: Contemporary Reinterpretations of Traditional Japanese Storytelling through Utsushi-e by Prof Usui Michiko, Kanto Gakuin University
- 11:30am: Beyond the Screen: Animating Social Purpose in an Interdisciplinary Collaboration by Assoc Prof Akiho-Toyoda Noriko, Niigata University of Health and Welfare
- 11:40am: Q&A
12:00pm–1:00pm
Lunch
1:00pm–2:30pm
Session 2: Keynote by Koji Yamamura
Moderated by: Dr Gan Sheuo Hui, LASALLE
Keynote will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A
2:30pm–3:00pm
Break
3:00pm–4:00pm
Session 3: Documenting Our Fading Culture Through Art 以圖文紀錄消失中的文化 by Lefty Julian
Moderated by: Chris Shaw, LASALLE
Talk will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A
4:00pm–5:00pm
Session 4: Let the Map Speak: Fieldwork, Paper Layers & Framing a Moment 这个故事生锈了！副：让地图会说话：田野、纸层与定格的实践 by NOvia Shin
Moderated by: Dr Yuen Shu Min, NUS
Talk will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A
5:00pm
Symposium ends
Symposium information
Welcome to Making Animation 2025: Independent Voices from Asia.
Thank you for being here. We planned this gathering with a simple aim: to listen closely to how work is actually made by hand, watched on screens and across languages, and hear why these stories matter to the people who make and share them. As platforms overlap and the use of generative AI becomes commonplace, Making Animation 2025 asks what animation can do now and what makers need to do it well.
The morning’s programme lays the groundwork. Gan Sheuo Hui (LASALLE) traces anime-styled filters and AI shorts to ask where replication ends and expression begins. Lim Beng Choo (NUS) considers noh and kabuki experiments with VR/AI while keeping performers and embodied practice central. Akiho-Toyoda Noriko (Niigata University of Health and Welfare) shares an occupational-therapy collaboration that uses animation to clarify holistic care. Usui Michiko (Kanto Gakuin University) revisits Utsushi-e, showing how voice, music and timing turn technique into story.
In the afternoon we look to independent practice for grounded methods and reflective storytelling. Keynote speaker Yamamura Koji reflects on “invisible movements of light”, from hand-drawn films to VR (Japanese with consecutive translation). Lefty Julian (Malaysia) presents Making George Town, a documentary comics project rooted in community memory. NOvia Shin (Malaysia) shares Let the Map Speak, where layered media turn quiet observation into narrative (Mandarin with consecutive translation).
Students are woven through the programme as MCs, interpreters, photographers and interviewers producing special features for the school. Co-organised by LASALLE College of the Arts and the National University of Singapore, this programme is made possible by colleagues, students, volunteers and partners. Please listen with care and generosity, and may these independent voices renew your energy, show how observation becomes imagination, and how layered stories still move people.
Convened by:
Dr Gan Sheuo Hui
Advisors:
Associate Professor Lim Beng Choo, Head, Department of Japanese Studies, NUS
Chris Shaw, Head, Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE
Organised by:
Puttnam School of Film & Animation, Faculty of Fine Arts, Media & Creative Industries, LASALLE College of the Arts
Co-organised by:
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 University of Health and Welfare
Kanto Gakuin University
Project manager: Choi Eunji
Project assistants: Azsmaan Zayne, Fu Meijo
Administrative assistants (NUS): NUS, Department of Japanese Studies
Administrative assistants (LASALLE): Karen Cheok
Copy editor: Ailin Chin, Alex Soo
Web design: Ailin Chin
Technical support: Brian Hong
Poster design: Chris Shaw, Koji Yamamura
Consecutive interpretation for Koji Yamamura provided by: Tomoko Shiga
Consecutive interpretation for NOvia Shin provided by student volunteers: Chen Zijia, Lin Tian, Qu Lemeng
Student emcees: Larvett Chong, Lee Jungha, Qiran Ocean Abdullah Davidson
Student volunteers: Ang Swee Tung, Averil Jodie Koh, Belyta Yip May Wai, Duangkamol Kwek, Georgie Tng, Grace Tan, Katherine Lee Viryawira, Kim Jin Sol, Lam Su Ting Charmaine, Leong Yi Shan, Madeleine Erlangga, Mayla Adisa Nurulhana, Ruth Tang Ru, Ryan Goh, Sarisa Balqis Thampirak, Sim Pei Ksuen Jessley, Tansha Surendra
Student photographers: Althea Margaux Penaranda Desepeda, Jasmine Pandey, Noh Heui Yong, Nuha Alia Binte Jaabir Abdul Khaaliq, Wen Caiwei, Yee Chern Nah
Videographer: Brian Hong
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Koji Yamamura was born in Japan in 1964. His film Mt. Head (2002) won six Grand Prix, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short, and was selected for Annecy Festival's '100 Films for a Century of Animation'. Yamamura's filmography, including Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor (2007) and Dozens of Norths (2021), has received more than 155 awards, including 21 Grand Prix for his directorial work. His most recent film Extremely Short (2024) was officially selected for Directors' Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival. Yamamura is also an active picture book author with 100 titles published, including Viva Vegetables!, which has over 500,000 copies published, and Parade. He was awarded the Kawakita Prize and the Art Encouragement Prize in Japan, and received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2019. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he is visiting professor at Tokyo Zokei University, China Academy of Art and Aichi University of the Arts, and has been a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts since 2008. |
