DIRECTOR STATEMENT

Needles are used to repair the damage. Stay is a 5-minute animated film made using hand embroidery on tracing paper, depicting the relationship between a daughter and her absent father. The message is: Don’t forget to spend more time with the people you love even though you are busy.

The film explores the unspoken emotions between the absent father and daughter and extends the possibilities of animation in terms of the materials. The film was inspired by my own experience.

On a visual level, I chose the technique of sewing on tracing paper to match the film's visual metaphor and make the audience feel genuine emotion through the tactile quality of the handmade work. Sewing on tracing paper gives the image a slight blur, which perfectly matches my vague childhood memory of my father. Due to this time-comsuming technique, I followed a minimalist approach to the visual treatment, i.e., simple lines, and chose black, white, and red as the only three colours to reflect the sad atmosphere of the film.

Another reason for me to using hand embroidery is a quote from Louise Bourgeois. She said: The needle is used to repair the damage. It’s a claim to forgiveness. While I was studying in the UK, I missed my family in China so much. It also made me rethink the bond between my parents and me.

Stay is a film filled with my personal feelings. At least for me, it is worth it to do it through hand sewing. I've recovered from my childhood during the whole making process. I hope people can feel the genuine emotions I put in the film. And hope the audience will start to consider the importance of company and communication after they finish the film.

Needles are used to repair the damage. Stay is a 5-minute animated film made using hand embroidery on tracing paper, depicting the relationship between a daughter and her absent father. Don’t forget to spend more time with the people you love even though you are busy.

Meet THE DIRECTOR: Yu Sun

Yu Sun is an animation director, freelance 2D animator, and Spark AR creator from China, currently based in London. She is a recent graduate from London college of communication (MA Animation). Before she came to the UK to improve her skills in animation, she worked as a concept artist for animation series and feature films in China for two years.

As a freelance animator, she works in 2d, 3d(grease pencil), stop-motion, and AR; she enjoys animating frame by frame through her visual language. Her style is variable and dynamic.

As an animation director, she has her unique voice for storytelling. She believes simple stories can convey strong emotions. Her films are subtle and touching.