B13. Best Animation (Nominee)
Wishfeather
From Ying Lei Zhang
A dancer wishes to soar beyond her eternal cage. But the key can only be found from deep within herself.
Hello, my name is Ying Lei Zhang and I'm an Asian Australian director based in Sydney, New South Wales. I graduated from the University of Technology Sydney with my debut solo short film, "My Friend in Red" (2024), a film that explores isolation and imaginary friends through silence and hybrid animation. This year, I completed my second shortfilm "Wishfeather", a story about hope.
What inspired you and your work?
My inspiration comes from a time of my life when I felt trapped with an issue that I could not solve. So I wanted to make a story with an unsolvable conflict. But at the same time, I wanted to capture a feeling of hope.
There are some problems in life that cannot be solved, some problems feel like a perpetual cage. There's no way to unlock or break out... but there's always passion that burns deep within all of us. And this passion can be strong enough to lift us up if only we choose to let it. Believe. Dance. Soar.
My biggest creative influences are Andrey Tarkovsky, Ellis Kayan Chan, psychology, and birds.