Creative takes on city's problems in frame for top animation awards
Spoiled children and global warming are among the issues on which city animators will focus at a prestigious annual competition being held in Tokyo next week.
Among the five shortlisted Hong Kong entries taking part in the 12th TBD DigiCon6 Animation and Movie Awards on Friday, two explore the issue of overindulged children.
'Several times, I have come across children asking their maids to tie their shoelaces instead of doing it by themselves ... and I am talking about kids who are studying in Primary One and Primary Two,' said Matthew Chow Wing-shiu, whose Temple Rider is up for an award.
In his animation, a girl named Yan is portrayed as a reflection of the new generation in Hong Kong - overprotected by her family, she does not even have the courage to ride a bicycle. When she finds a magic temple, a new life with fresh challenges begins for her.
'A child should experience and overcome various difficulties on her or his own in order to grow up. But nowadays, many children do not even have the opportunity to do so, as their parents or other adults around children solve all the problems for them,' Chow said.
'Children will become the pillars of society. What will our society be like when these spoiled children become grown-ups?'
In The Drifting Love, Franky Cheung Kam-shing explores how people react to adversity when most of the land disappears in a flood.
'It is a romantic and optimistic story in which two lovers are forced apart and are reunited years later after overcoming many difficulties over the years,' he said.
The 15-minute animation also attempts to look at how changes in culture, technology and lifestyle have led to people forgetting about old traditions.
The five animations produced by Hong Kong artists will compete with works from the mainland, Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
The TBS DigiCon6 Awards are organised by two Tokyo broadcasters. The awards ceremony will be held in the Japanese capital on Friday, with the winner of the top prize taking home 500,000 yen (HK$47,000) in cash, a trophy and a certificate of excellence.
John Chan Yu-fung won the top prize at the competition in 2008 with Hidden Elder, a 12-minute clip depicting the plight of the old.
Last year, two animations - Time to Say Goodbye produced by Elizabeth Wong Lo-tak and Lee Kwok-wai, and Such is Life by Emily Wong Lai-ming - received encouragement awards.
