A FILM BY WU-CHING CHANG
《MY GRANDMOTHER IS AN EGG》
Taiwan, UK | 2021 | Dialogue: Mandarin | Subtitle: English
A film by Wu-Ching Chang
Officially Selected at Academy Award and BAFTA Qualifying Festivals—
Atlanta Film Festival (Special Jury Mention Award)
ANIMAFEST ZAGREB
Aspen Shortsfest
Spark Animation Festival
Doc Edge Festival
Chicago International Children's Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
Flickerfest International Short Film Festival
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
Bolton International Film Festival
Athens International Film and Video Festival
St. Louis International Film Festival
Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival
RiverRun International Film Festival
Guanajuato International Film Festival
SIGGRAPH Asia 2021
REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival
SYNOPSIS
The film reflects the fragility and resilience of a woman who faced oppression from unjust Confucian traditions in Asia. It aims to reflect upon women's oppression and struggle for freedom.
As a child, the director's grandmom was brought to another family to be raised as a future daughter-in-law in a productive role, known as the tradition of T'ung-yang-hsi. It is a tradition of pre-arranged marriage and she was assigned to do all the household chores and was not allowed to receive higher education. The narration is based on interviews with the director’s grandmother’s children. Egg is an important symbol in the film. As the metaphor for women in the film, the eggs are the symbolization of the productive roles in the male-dominated society. After labor and oppression experienced by a T'ung-yang-hsi, the film reaches its climax with Hakka 'Old Mountain Song' combined with turbulent waves. Behind the rail track, there is the sea. Across the sea, therein lies freedom.
From microscopic to macroscopic, from personal witnesses to the general phenomena in society, the audiences may glimpse the long past, imagine women's situation in our own times, and look forward to striving for real gender equality in the future. Egg is life per se. Eggs are fragile, but at the same time tough. My grandmother is an egg.
FILM STILLS
AWARDS & OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
★ 2022 Atlanta Film Festival, the USA｜Special Jury Mention Award
★ 2024 Orvieto Cinema Fest, Italy ｜Invited Screening
★ 2023 FFTG Award, the USA｜Grand Jury Choice Best Student Female Filmmaker
★ 2023 Canberra Short Film Festival, Australia ｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, the USA｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Lunenburg Doc Fest, Canada ｜ Semi-Finalist
★ 2023 Long Story Shorts International Film Festival, Romania｜ Nominee
★ 2023 Bentonville Film Festival, the USA ｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, the USA｜ Finalist
★ 2023 NorthwestFest International Documentary Festival, Canada｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Rainbow Visions Film Festival, Canada｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Ennesimo Film Festival, Italy｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Zlín Film Festival, Czech Republic｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Oslo Film Festival, Norway｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Manipulate Festival, the UK｜ Official Selection
★ 2023 Jacksonville Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 São Paulo Film Festival, Brazil｜Semi-Finalist
★ 2022 Women in Film and Television Film Festival, Greece｜ Invited Screening
★ 2022 Spark Animation Festival, Canada｜ Official Selection
★ 2022 Rome International Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Women's Worlds Film Festival, Germany｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Sedicicorto International Film Festival, Italy｜ Official Selection
★ 2022 Chicago International Children's Film Festival, the USA｜ Official Selection
★ 2022 Big Cartoon Festival, Russia｜ Official Selection
★ 2022 Aichi International Women's Film Festival Film, Japan ｜ Official Selection
★ 2022 Free Speech Film Festival, the USA｜Award Winner
★ 2022 Buenos Aires International Film Festival, Spain｜Official Selection
★ 2022 The Women's Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Bolton International Film Festival, the UK｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Plons! International Short Documentary Film Festival, Netherlands｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Vidlings & Tapeheads Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Paris International Lesbian & Feminist Film Festival, France｜Official Selection
★ 2022 San Giò – Verona Video Festival, Italy｜ Invited Screening
★ 2022 Viborg International Animation Festival, Denmark｜Official Selection
★ 2022 DOCUMENTARIST Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey ｜ Invited Screening
★ 2022 Doc Edge Festival, New Zealand｜Official Selection
★ 2022 La Guarimba Film Festival, Italy｜Official Selection
★ 2022 World Festival of Animated Film ANIMAFEST ZAGREB, Republika Hrvatska｜Official Selection
★ 2022 San Francisco International Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Athens International Film and Video Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 RiverRun International Film Festival, Animated Shorts Competition Section, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 AniMate - Australia Animation Film Festival, Australia｜Quarter-Finalist
★ 2022 Aspen Shortsfest, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival, Canada｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Karama Yemen Human Rights Film Festival, Yemen｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Tricky Women / Tricky Realities International Animation Film Festival, Austria｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Athens ANIMFEST, Greece｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Women's Voices Now Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Cardiff Animation Festival, the UK｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Athena Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Positively Different Short Film Festival, Greece｜Official Selection
★ 2022 British Shorts Film Festival, Germany｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Kaboom Animation Festival, Netherlands｜Official Selection
★ 2022 Short Film Breaks, Romania｜Official Selection
★ 2022 CASCADIA International Women's Film Festival, the USA｜Semi-Finalist
★ 2022 Spokane International Film Festival, the USA｜Best Animated Short Gold SpIFFy Award
★ 2022 Flickerfest International Short Film Festival, Australia｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Ulsan International Film Festival, Korea｜ Invited Screening
★ 2021 Present Future Film Festival MacauXTaiwanXJapan, Macau｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Ionian Contemporary Animation Festival, Greece｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Mindanao Film Festival, Philippines｜Official Selection
★ 2021 New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, Best Selection of Taiwan Ani-Cup, Japan｜Invited Screening
★ 2021 Virginia Dares Cinematic Arts Awards｜Award Winner
★ 2021 SIGGRAPH Asia 2021, Computer Animation Festival｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Euroshorts Festival, Poland｜The Aman Amirzai Memorial Award for Best Multicultural Film Award
★ 2021 St. Louis International Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, India｜Award Winner
★ 2021 Sunday Shorts Film Festival, the UK｜Audience Award
★ 2021 Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2021 33 Girona Film Festival, Spain｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Manchester Animation Festival, the UK｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Multicultural Film Festival, Australia｜Invited Screening
★ 2021 Taichung International Animation Festival, Taiwan｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico｜Official Selection
★ 2021 International Short Film Festival of Cyprus, Cyprus｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Ars Electronica, Garden Taipei Formosa, Austria｜Invited Screening
★ 2021 Kaohsiung Film Festival, Taiwan｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taiwan｜Jury Special Mention Award
★ 2021 Cultural Animation Film Festival, Online Event｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Indie-AniFest, South Korea｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Encounters Film Festival, the UK｜Official Selection
★ 2021 DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, South Korea｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Florida Animation Festival, the USA｜Official Selection
★ 2021 Screwdriver International Student Film Festival, Taiwan｜Bronze Award
★ 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Canada｜Official Selection
PRESS REVIEWS
“The fragility and resilience of a woman who faced oppression from unjust Confucian traditions.”
“A touching, insightful and beautifully made animated documentary, My Grandmother Is an Egg explores the Chines tradition of T’ung-yang-hsi, the practice of selling a young girl to another family to be raised as a future daughter-in-law.”
“In Chang’s triumph of a film, ancestral memories allow us to wonder what cycles of oppression have broken or, indeed, continue for women. Skillfully, the piece allows us to muse upon whether gender inequalities may just mutate. Rather than ending, they spiral into new forms as adeptly as Chang moves between animation styles.”
“Chang’s deeply personal tale of her Grandmother’s unusual upbringing combines delicate animation with an equally fragile story to create an insightful and impacting short. ”
“Chang’s film expresses the Pursuit of Gender Equality.”
“Using a variety of animation techniques, including egg yolk as paint, filmmaker Wu-Ching Chang creates a stirring tribute to her grandmother who, as a T’ung-yang-hsi, was sold as a young girl to another family and raised as their future daughter-in-law. Forced to perform the household chores and denied an education, this hardworking woman found freedom through financial independence.”
“In Taiwan, T’ung-yang-hsi was the traditional practice of pre-arranged marriage, in which a young girl was sold to the family of her future husband. From then on, the majority of domestic labour befell the child, who hardly had time to study or play. In this compact animated documentary, Chang Wu-Ching recounts the story of her grandmother, from her stolen childhood to her days spent boiling and peeling eggs for a business that wasn’t truly hers.
My Grandmother is an Egg opens with a foreshadowing statement, “Eggs are fragile, but at the same time tough”. This simple statement conceals a larger truth. Throughout the film, Chang’s grandmother is often visually associated with an egg – the smooth surface of it transforming into a canvas on which the woman’s face reverts back in time – and trapped inside it to signify her lost freedom. Though this practice might have died out with time, My Grandmother is an Egg asks us to remember the women whose lives were sacrificed to inequality and relentless labour, but whose resilience should inspire us all to fight for permanent change.”
“My Grandmother Is an Egg is a beautiful film. We learned new things from a distant culture while being transported to different experiences through the amazing animations. The interviews with your family gave a personal touch to a universal matter: women and freedom.”
“Using a variety of animation techniques, including egg yolk as paint, filmmaker Wu-Ching Chang creates a stirring tribute to her grandmother who, as a T’ung-yang-hsi, was sold as a young girl to another family and raised as their future daughter-in-law.”
CREDITS
Director ｜ Wu-Ching Chang
Producer ｜ Wu-Ching Chang
Screenwriter ｜ Wu-Ching Chang
Art Director ｜ Wu-Ching Chang
Animator ｜ Wu-Ching Chang
Animation Assistant ｜ Lok Yi Tsoi, Bouchra Fadil
Editor ｜ Wu-Ching Chang
Audio Advisor ｜ Alan Chung-An, Ou
Sound Designer ｜ Wu-Ching Chang, Chuan-Chi Lin, Markus Andreas
Composer ｜ Nahum Strickland
Title Music Composer ｜ Jen-Shuo Chen
Additional Sound Effects Editor ｜ Alston Hsu
Photo in the film ｜ Chang Hu Hsu Chin-Mei
Voice ｜ Yung-Yu Chang, Yu-Lin Chang, Yu-Chin Chang, Yu-Jan Chang
Talent ｜ Yu-Hsia Chang
Lyricist ｜ Wei-Fang Jia
Singer ｜ Xue-Ying Chang
The music 'Old Mountain Song' in the film is authorized by Hakka Affairs Council.
Audio Post Production Services Provided by FORGOOD SOUND
Re-recording Mixer, Dialogue Editor, Sound Effects Editor, Foley Recordist, Foley Editor ｜ Shu-Yu Chen
Foley Artist ｜ Jin-De Lin, Shu-Yu Chen
Sound Post-Production Coordinator ｜ Fumi Yang
Translator ｜ Léon Moh-Cah, Alice Valbon, Zi-Hui Yu
Story about Chang Hu Hsu Chin-Mei
Made at Royal College of Art , the UK and Taiwan