Celebrate the artistry of animated film and its unique ability to tell meaningful stories in unexpected ways.

A daughter in the womb hears her mother sing to her. She starts to wonder what their life would be like and creates scenarios like buying a toy at the store, making food together and her mother doing her hair. But as the memories replay, we find that those memories were not all hugs and kisses.The daughter cries to her mother, asking why she would ever do those things to her. But she soon starts to understand her mother. Although not fully forgiving her, she now understands that the love she had in the womb would never be the same as when she grows up. Director Biography - Alexandra "Lexie" Orr <a href="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/730/271/original/b4a7381944-headshot.jpg?1765575836" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/730/271/thumb/b4a7381944-headshot.jpg?1765575836" style="border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: none; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-language-override: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" width="214"></a> Alexandra “Lexie” Orr is a filmmaker who explores her identity and cultural upbringing through her work. As a mixed-heritage, queer individual, she has often felt caught between worlds, struggling with questions of belonging. Growing up in environments not entirely open to her background and sexuality, she has experienced rejection for both aspects of herself. For years, she grappled with others' expectations, questioning her own beliefs and sense of self.Through art and storytelling, she has begun to discover her true self and find her voice. Creating visual and auditory representations of who she is has been revolutionary, allowing her to assert her identity without external judgment.As an immigrant's daughter, she has felt pressured to conform, but her creative work allows her to connect authentically with herself. Her films are acts of self-discovery that will hopefully inspire others on similar paths. She aims to contribute to dialogues about identity, belonging, and authentic representation in media, challenging existing labels and creating new definitions for those like her. Through her work, she seeks to empower others to embrace their complex identities and find their own voices. Lexie is a digital arts instructor at the non-profit organization, Exceptional Children’s Foundation, and works with talented artists with disabilities.

Hugs & Kisses

Guardian’s Lament is a 3D animated short film about a dilapidated Robot who resides within a magical forest. Content in his solitude, the ancient guardian undergoes a meticulous routine tending to the Forest Heart: the embodiment of the forest’s wellbeing and the Robot’s life source. When his peaceful sanctuary is breached by a restless Creature, chaos and destruction follow suit. Will the two manage to set aside their differences and work together to save the forest they call home? Director Biography - Phoebe Chou <a href="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/946/629/original/eb75bcfeb1-headshot.jpg?1782189016" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/946/629/thumb/eb75bcfeb1-headshot.jpg?1782189016" style="border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: none; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-language-override: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" width="251"></a> Phoebe Chou is a Taiwanese-American director and illustrator based in San Jose, California. She is an alumni of San Jose State University's Animation/Illustration Program and proud ShrunkenHeadman member. Phoebe finds joy in careful attention to detail and nuanced storytelling; in addition to learning about all facets of filmmaking from the technical to the creative.

Guardian's Lament

When two lonely children from vastly different worlds clash over a magical Chinese wooden dragon, their shared imagination takes them on a surreal journey that reshapes their beliefs.

Little Fierce Loong

A superhero overcomes a past mistake in order to save the day once again. Director Biography - Alisa Ren <a href="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/937/298/original/6c9c080e2a-headshot.jpg?1781492866" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/937/298/thumb/6c9c080e2a-headshot.jpg?1781492866" style="border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: none; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-language-override: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" width="172"></a> Alisa Ren is based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, with a background in tech. She took a leap to study animation and pursue her passion of visual storytelling at the Master’s program at San Jose State University in 2024, where she embraced the challenge of directing a short film with an animation crew.

The Facade

Progress is a matter of perspective. One's progress can be another's poverty. How's the view from where you stand? Director Biography - Angela Wu <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/66e46109ea346b111aacbbf6c8022e19.jpg" width="163"> Angela Wu is a California-based artist and educator who has worked on a variety of creative projects, including short films, games, books, and illustrations. For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.adventure-on.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.adventure-on.org</a>.

The View

Hello Maggie is based on a true story by Shigeru Yabu. A great story about the love and friendship between a little boy, Shig, and a bird he named Maggie. The family’s survival under difficult circumstances in a Second World War Japanese Internment Camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming.At its core, Hello Maggie reflects Tony’s belief that art offers meaning shaped by the experiences and perspectives we bring to it. While he cannot fully grasp what the story might mean to descendants of Japanese Americans incarcerated at Heart Mountain, he hopes the film resonates universally through its central message of identity, loss, and injustice: that even in times of hardship and despair, hope, friendship, and love endure. Through the innocent bond between a boy and a bird, the film affirms that while loss is inevitable, those we cherish remain with us through memory. Ultimately, Hello Maggie is a meditation on remembrance and the beauty of human resilience and interspecies connection through traumatic events. Director Biography - Tony Tarantini <a href="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/716/682/original/21728cce45-headshot.jpg?1765925183" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/003/716/682/thumb/21728cce45-headshot.jpg?1765925183" style="border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: none; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-language-override: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative;" width="228"></a>﻿Tony Tarantini is an accomplished artist-filmmaker, educator, and researcher whose career spans professional animation production, academic inquiry, and interdisciplinary creative practice. Born in Abruzzo Italy and holding dual citizenship, he is a self-described renaissance man driven by insatiable curiosity. Tarantini has seamlessly blended his passion for creation with teaching and scholarship, using research to deepen his understanding of the attitudes, skills, and behaviors that fuel creative and intellectual pursuits.Born from a foundation in fine arts and design, Tarantini earned a four-year diploma in Communication &amp; Design from the Ontario College of Art &amp; Design (1985), two years of study in Florence, a Bachelor of Design (2006) and an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Animation Studies) from York University (2011), where his dissertation on the impact of digital technology on Toronto’s animation community was passed with distinction.With over two decades of industry experience (1986–2010), Tarantini worked extensively in animation as a layout &amp; storyboard artist, supervisor, designer, assistant director, and project manager on award-winning series such as Little Bear, Rupert, Babar, George Shrinks, Franklin the Turtle, and The Magic School Bus, as well as short films - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1061372/. He also provided training and consulting for studios, including Nelvana and its subcontractors.Since 2000, Tarantini has been a cornerstone of Sheridan College’s renowned Bachelor of Animation program, progressing from partial-load to full-time professor (2010–2024) and serving as Third-Year Production Supervisor and Industry Day Coordinator. He has designed and delivered key courses in layout, art direction, storyboarding, and production management, while mentoring countless student films—several of which garnered awards. Beyond Sheridan, he has taught at institutions including Accademia Nemo (Florence), Max the Mutt Animation School, and the Art Institute of Toronto, and led intensive international workshops in Italy, India, and China.As a filmmaker, Tarantini has directed animated shorts and documentaries, often in collaboration with top industry talent. Notable works include the 2025 short animated film Hello Maggie (produced by Willie Ito and the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation) and a series of co-directed projects at Nemo Academy, with former Disney artists such as Sandro Cleuzo, John Nevarez, Tom Bancroft, and John Pomeroy - Life a great Adventure (2017), Yujo (2018), Wish (2019).His research bridges practice and theory within the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in animation. Tony has presented widely at international conferences, chaired the 2014 SAS conference in Toronto, and contributed to animation curriculum innovation at Sheridan. Projects include field research at various Greater Toronto Area (GTA) studios, the conceptual “Anivator” platform for accessible animation collaboration, and a 2012 documentary on digital technology’s influence on Toronto’s animation community. He has also secured funding, including an NSERC research grant, and served on the Sheridan College Senate and committees.Tarantini continues to organize industry events, and foster global partnerships that enrich animation education and production. His work reflects a lifelong commitment to nurturing resilient, versatile creators capable of thriving across disciplines in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Hello Maggie

Shorts Collection: Animation 

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