ANIMAFEST PRO | PRESENTATIONS AND MASTERCLASSES

Hefang Wei: Clear or Clearly Unclear

Presentation
2/10 FRI 10:00h &TD

"As a filmmaker in the art and commercial animation world, I try to be clear in my storytelling. Filmmakers build films which propose communication to the audience. As audience we all probably wish to understand these audio-visual artworks as much as possible. Even though I cannot always be as clear as I wish, sometimes deliberately, I try not to deliver all the information, in order to avoid making a story too explicative. I know the feeling of incomprehension may disturb many people, like producers, investors, film and TV exhibitors, audience, and even myself. If you are interested in this topic, let’s talk about how to be clear, or to be clearly unclear."
Hefang Wei 

Hefang Wei, art director and filmmaker, a Chinese resident in France. She had been practicing Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy since her infancy. After obtaining her degree from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, Hefang worked as a storyboard artist in Beijing. She then joined La Poudrière in Valence, France, for two years, training in animated film direction.She has made three short films: Chant des klaxons, It’s Mine and Chroniques du pont, which received the Best French Animated Film at the 2011 International Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand. Her Le Banquet de la concubine was nominated for the César Award for Best French Animated Film in 2014 and she co-directed Bird Flu with Estonian filmmaker Priit Tender. Hefang now mostly works as a filmmaker at Folimage studio and she is preparing a new short film, part of a collection of horror films, along with six other filmmakers. Meanwhile, she is working as art director, supervising a CCTV (China Center Television) production Chinese feature film and teaching at different art and animation schools. With two partners she recently founded Weilaï Productions, a production company based in Valence, specialized in short animations, live-action and commercials.