The Swan of Tuonela

film, 4 minutes
Haukijärvi, Finland, 2014
made on residency at Arteles Creative Center, Finland
co-director, producer, editor; performer

The Swan of Tuonela is a lyrical allegory with playful sensibility through performance and brushwork. Inspired by the Finnish landscape and drawing upon the Finnish Kalevala myth of the birth of the moon as well as Pierrot’s timeless role, the stop-motion animation is set to Sibelius’s mystical classical piece of the same title. A deletion of one’s creation as self-confrontation is a lesson in responsibility and acceptance of loss in the natural cycle of life.

- Nominee, Best Editing & Best Experimental, 6th Singapore Short Film Awards (2015)
- Winner, Best Experimental, CUNY Asian American Film Festival 2015
- 38th Asian American International Film Festival 2015, Art House Shorts
- Tropfest South East Asia 2015, Coffee Shorts
- 12th Singapore Short Cuts, 2015
- co:lab by Asian Film Archive

Directed/produced by Julie Zhu & Ng Xi Jie
Painting by Julie Zhu
Pierrot by Ng Xi Jie
Music by David Ornette Cherry and Julie Zhu