Chongqing animation honored at 2025 Chinese American Film Festival

The animated film Phoenix in Fire has been awarded the prestigious Golden Angel Awards for Best Animated Feature Film at the 21st Chinese American Film Festival.

The film, a five-year endeavor, draws inspiration from the real-life experiences of Oscar-winning documentary producer Rey Scott. Renowned for his wartime documentaries, Scott received an Academy Award in 1942.

During the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), he documented pivotal moments in Chongqing and southwestern China, capturing the resilience of the Chinese people against Japanese invasion, which provided the foundational narrative for Phoenix in Fire.

The animation reconstructs the wartime scenery of Chongqing, employing a "wear-and-tear algorithm" to render the aged textures of wartime architecture. It also integrates artistic elements from the works of Chinese modernist painter Xu Beihong (1895-1953), transforming them into dynamic animation frameworks.