The 2025 Kuandu International Animation Festival (KDIAF) took place from from October 26 to November 1 at the TNUA Art and Ecology Center. Entering its 15th year, the 2025 edition’s theme was "The 15th Dimension Journey of Animation."
The annual KDIAF, organized by the Department of Animation, is a significant event that nurtures the development of Taiwanese animation and is also one of the most important international animation film festivals.
Members of this year’s final jury included, Nancy Denney-Phelps, a journalist writing about international animation film festivals; Waltraud Grausgruber, co-director and founder of the Tricky Women Tricky Realities animation film festival in Vienna, Austria; and Cécile Blondel, director of the Master’s in Storytelling and International Development at Gobelin Paris; and others.
Dean of the School of New Media Arts Prof. Shih Ming-hui noted that both the Department of Animation and KDIAF started from scratch 15 years ago: KDIAF was launched within six months of the Ministry of Education’s approval for the establishment of the department. Prof. Shih explained that, given the circumstances at the time, only by introducing the experience of international film festivals could the animation department continue to thrive and develop. He expressed special thanks to generations of faculty and students for continuing to hold and pass on the tradition over the years, and to all the cooperating organizations that have continuously supported the animation festival.
Prof. Chao Shun-wen, chairperson of the Department of Animation who served as director of the festival, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the many partner organizations for their assistance and to the student curatorial team for their hard work. Prof. Chao noted that they not only learned from the execution process but also found ways to improve the event by paying attention to details, making KDIAF a very important international animation exchange platform.
Prof. Chao further emphasized that since its establishment, the Department of Animation has seen many outstanding works by faculty and students gain international recognition. For example, this year, Huang Chien-ya stop-motion graduation animation "The Translation of Wilderness" was selected for the 2025 Annecy’s Mifa Student Pitch, which featured only eight teams, and TNUA was the only one from Asia.
The 2025 KDIAF also highlighted Gobelins Paris, a leading French school specializing in digital creation and visual arts and representing the creative cultural industry, and the Savannah College of Arts and Design (SCAD) from the United States, as featured schools. They showcased their diverse works and engaged in exchange with Taiwanese audiences.
At the closing ceremony held on November 1st, the winners of the GuanDog Awards competition were officially announced. This year's competition attracted a total of 2,419 submissions from 104 countries, ultimately selecting 61 shortlisted works and 18 selected films for screening, competing for various awards.
The "Best Animation Award" went to Florence Miailhe's "Butterfly" from France. The "Best Student Animation Award" went to Oscar Jacobson from Germany for his work "The Undying Pain of Existence." Huang Ping-an's work "Vor" received the "Taiwan Special Award." This year's "Taiwan Student Award" went to Chuang Yu-Chin's work, “Falling Mist.
This year's KDIAF will also be holding a touring film screening program around Taiwan from the end of October to December.