WOMEN IN RAGE, 2019.

COLLABORATION | SINGLE CHANNEL VIDEO

Women in Rage
5 minutes short animation film
YANYUN CHEN / SARA CHONG

Women in Rage imagines the anger of mythical female monstrosities—Medusa, Pontianak, Rokurokubi, Venus, Lilith and many other ladies—from whom we have inherited the figure of the supernatural woman. By turning the lens away from the myth towards the antagonist, this animated short film rages with their injustices, prejudices, subjugation, and bodies.

Stories are our inheritance. To dismiss the formation of a hero or villain is to lose an understanding of our culture and values. We know of female monstrosities, yet rarely hear of the suffering that made them the antagonist. By foregrounding their pain and anger, we learnt to listen deeply and give consideration to their bodies and pain. Art is a humane practice in imagining the Other.

These women are angry.

So are we.

Writer: Yanyun Chen
Director and animator: Sara Chong
Music: “Jabberwocky” by Endless Roar
Rush Hush LP - Side B, Track 1
Produced by Jersika Records, Riga, Latvia
(c) 2019

Commissioned by Objectifs Singapore for Women in Film and Photography Short Film Programme 2019, themed “Remedy for Rage” in October - November 2019.

Awards and Screenings

Selected for Biennale de L’Image en Mouvement BIM, Buenos Aires, Argentina (postponed to 2022)
Moscow Indie Film Festival, Moscow, Russia (25th January - 29th January 2021);
Cartoons Underground, Singapore, Singapore (9th - 13th December 2020);
Los Angeles Animation Festival, LA, USA (5th December 2020);
Montreal International Animation Film Festival Animaze 2020, Montreal, Canada (19th November 2020);
Prague International Indie Film Festival Q3 “Best Animation Short” winner, Prague, Czech Republic (19th September 2020);
Leiden International Short Film Experience, Leiden, Netherlands (10th - 12th September 2020);
Nefiltravanae Kino Short Movie Club Film Festival “Unfiltered Cinema”, Minsk, Belarus (13th March - 15th March 2020);
Clouds: The 6th International Exhibition and Publication on New Media Art, CICA Museum, South Korea (25th March - 12th April 2020);
Women in Film and Photography Short Film Programme 2019, Objectifs, Singapore, Singapore. (October 2019)

Publication

Into the Clouds: New Media Art 2021, editor Leejin Kim, published by CICA Press, Gimpo, Korea, 2020. ISBN 979-11-88671-15-1 03600 (paperback), ISBN 979-11-88671-16-8 05600 (ebook)