White

White (Bai) is an experimental animated short by Ao Chen that responds to the 2008 melamine-contaminated milk scandal in China. Centred on a baby affected by milk powder produced by the Sanlu Group, the film approaches its subject through a nightmarish world of fear and vulnerability. Rather than presenting a conventional documentary account, it uses metaphorical imagery to explore the human consequences of the events. Annecy Festival

Combining drawing on paper, 2D computer animation and mixed techniques, White brings an experimental visual language to documentary subject matter. Annecy Festival Its predominantly white and grey palette is interrupted by red and blue, with branching veins and antlers creating visual connections between children and animals. These recurring forms connect the body to a wider environment of danger, translating the film’s subject into a sequence of symbolic relationships rather than straightforward exposition. In her review for Zippy Frames, animation scholar Olga Bobrowska also connects its concluding sequence to the tradition of socially and politically engaged Chinese illustration and comics, or manhua. ZippyFrames

Produced by Red Feather Animation Studio as a China–United Kingdom co-production, the film was directed by Ao Chen and co-written with Fei Chen. Both are credited with animation and camera work, while Ao Chen also created the storyboards, music and sound, and undertook editing and compositing. Annecy lists its running time as seven minutes and twenty seconds. Annecy Festival White was selected for the Perspectives Short Films in Competition programme at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.