Filmography
2024 A Fish Wandering in the Dark,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 72 min. 8K
2023 The Skytrain,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 9 min. 8K
2021 I am not an Angel, Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 11 min. 4K
2020 Birds,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 4 min. 4K
2020 Pray,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 5 min. 4K
2019 The Music Box,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 11 min. 4K
2017 The Mandarin Garden, Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 12 min. HD
2016 Rain Lotus,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 7 min. HD.
2015 The Magic Train,
Producer/Co-writer/Co-director/co-editor/Co-animator, 87 Min. Feature animated film.
2012 Fantasia China,
Producer/Co-writer/Co-director/Co-editor/Co-animator, 45 Min.HD
2008 A Long-distance Call, Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 12 min. HD
2007 Madame Zhang’s Dream, Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 12 min.
2006 Ink,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 3 min.
2005 Father and Son,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 5 min
2004 Pan Tian Shou,
Writer/Director/Editor/Producer/Animator, 6 min.
2000 The Chinese Violin,
Writer/Director/animator, 8 min.
Joe Chang is an animation director, artist and professor. He was born in Shenyang, Liaoning province, and graduated from the Printmaking Department of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in 1982, and then stayed on to teach at the school. 1988, he studied at the Graduate School of the Tama Art University in Japan, and then moved to Canada in 1990, where he worked as an animation director for the National Film Board of Canada, and he created an animated short film the Chinese Violin. In 2002, he went to Hangzhou, China, and founded the animation program of China Academy of Art. He was the vice president, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Media and Animation of China Academy of Art. He is now a freelance animation artist, living and working in Shanghai China and Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Joe Chang has independently created 16 animated short films, including Pan Tianshou, Mademe Zhang's Dream, A Long-distance Call, Moonlit Night of the Spring River, The Music Box, Pray and I am not an Angel as well The Skytrain etc. He co-wrote, directed, and producer for the animated feature film The Magic Train. Now, he independently created the theatrical animation feature film “A Fish Wandering in the Dark”. His animation works have won 66 international and domestic awards and have been selected for more than 200 awards, including Cannes Film Festival (France), Annecy International Animation Film Festival (France), Ottawa International Animation Film Festival (Canada), Zagreb International Animation Film Festival (Croatia), Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival (Japan), Stuttgart International Animation Film Festival (Germany), Animac Animation Film Festival (Spain), Anifilm Animation Film Festival (Czech Republic), DOK Leipzig - International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animation Film (Germany), and other important international film festivals. Joe Chang's paintings and animation installations have been joined for many international Art Exhibitions and he has held solo shows in Japan, Canada, and China, and his works have been collected by many art organizations and individuals.
Selected Awards
◆ The Skytrain won the Honorable Mention of Bordeaux Shorts Biennale, Bordeaux, France. October 18, 2024.
◆ Moonlit Night of Spring River won the Honorable Mention of the Hudson Animation & Short Film Festival, Hudson, QC,Canada. April 19-20, 2024.
◆ Pray won the Honorable Mention of Art Film Awards, Macedonia. March 22, 2024.
◆ Pray won the Honorable Mention Award of Best Animated Short Film of Nitiin International Film Festival in Juru, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. December 8, 2023.
◆ Bride's Dream won the AWARD OF THE “ANIMATED CULTURE” SPECIAL MENTION - RAM International Film Festival 2023, Rovereto, Trento, Italy, October 4-8, 2023.
◆ Pray won the Best Animation Video of Roshani International Film Festival 2023, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India, May 24, 2023.
◆ I am not an Angel won Honorable Mention of Aravali International Film Festival, New Delhi, India, April 6-7, 2023.
◆ I am not an Angel won Outstanding Achievement Award Animation Film of Reels International Film Festival in Aurangabad, India, February 27, 2022.
◆ The Music Box won 3rd Animation Marathon Award of 7th Animation Marathon 2022 in Athens, Greece from November 28-30, 2022.
◆The Music Box won the Best Animation Award of HECare Film Festival (Human-Environment Care Film Festival HECFF), Richmond Hill, Ontario , Canada from December 16-18, 2022.
◆ The Music Box won the Honorable Mention of Japan International Film Festival in Tokyo, Japan from October 2-8, 2022.
◆ I'm not an Angel won the Best Short Film - Animation Award of Dubai Festival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from November 26-27, 2022.
◆ Animated Film “Prayer” won the Best Animated Film Winner of Druk International Film Festival DIFF in Paro, Bhutan, October 18, 2022 from October 18, 2022.
◆ I am not an Angel Winner of Best Animated Film of Tagore International Film Festival, Birbhum, India, October 22, 2022.
◆ I am not an Angel” won Honorable Mention of Sydney Australian Film Festival in Sydney, Australia from October 10-21, 2022.
◆ Pray won the Silver Medal of Asia South East-South Asia Short Film Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, January 8, 2022.
◆ Participated in the documentary film Incorrigible “Irredeemable” won Best VFX and Colour of Hollywood North Film Awards in Toronto, Canada June 5, 2022.
◆ I'm not an Angel won the Awards of Excellence of Canada Shorts - Canadian & International Short Film Festival in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, December 18, 2022.
◆ I'm not an Angel won the 23rd season Outstanding Achievement Award of World Film Carnival - Singapore in Singapore from November 30, 2021.
◆ I'm not an Angel won the Best Sound Award of 2021 Mosaic Film Festival of Arts and Culture in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, November 19, 2021.
◆ I'm not an Angel” won the Best Music & Sound Award of Black & White Film Festival in Toronto, ON, Canada from December 2, 2021.
◆ The Birds won the Honorable Mention of Deep Focus Film Festival in NY, USA, September 18-19, 2021.
◆ I'm not an Angel won the Honorable mention of the Liberty Film Awards in NY, USA, August 15-21, 2021.
◆ Pray won the Best Animation Short Award of Cairo Indie Short Festival in Cairo, Egypt, September 29, 2021.
◆ The Music Box won the Outstanding Achievement Award of World Film Carnival Singapore, Singapore, May 21, 2021.
◆ Prayer won the Spring Winner of Best Abstract Film - Experimental and Non narrative, Animation Studio Film Festival in Paris, France, April 23, 2021.
◆ Pray won the Director's Choice 2021 Award of International Fine Arts Film Festival in Santa Barbara, CA, USA, May 4, 2021. 2021.
◆ Pray won the Outstanding Achievement Award of Tagore International Film Festival in Birbhum, West Bengal, India from May 28, 2021.
◆ The Music Box won the Best Animation Award of Tokyo International Short Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan April 1, 2021.
◆ Pray won the DRAWTASTIC “Golden Pencil Awards” 2020-21 in Seattle, USA, March 21- 28, 2021.
◆ The Music Box won the Honorable Mention Animation of Venice Shorts in Venice, California, USA, March 17-20, 2021.
◆ Prayer won the Best Animated Short Film for the month of January 2021 of Bridge Fest in Vancouver, BC, Canada, May 6-7, 2021.
◆ Pray won Honorable Mention of London Indie Short Festival of 24Frames, London, UK, January 16, 2021.
◆ Pray won Best Animation Award of Kosice International Monthly Film Festival in Kosice, Slovakia, January 11, 2021.
◆ The Music Box won the Best Animation Short Film Monthly Award of Moscow Shorts ISFF in Moscow, Russian Federation, April 9, 2020.
◆ The Music Box won the Best Animation Short film of IFA Istanbul Film Awards in Istanbul, Turkey, March 27, 2020.
◆ The Music Box won awarded the Best Animation Short film of IFA Istanbul Film Awards in Istanbul, Turkey from March 27, 2020.
◆ The Music Box won Best Animation Film of the International Film Festival Laurus, February 5 to 9, 2020 in Thailand, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Estonia.
◆ The Music Box won the Best Short Film Animation of Kosice International Monthly Film Festival KIMFF in Kosice, Slovakia, May 27, 2020.
◆ The Music Box won the Winner of Best Animated film Awards in Madrid Film Awards MFA, Madrid, Spain. January 11, 2020.
◆ The Music Box won won Honorable mention of Golden Pencil Awards of DRAWTASTIC 2109 in Seattle, USA. from November 12-16, 2019.
◆ The Music Box won nomination at the Semi-Finalist of Monterrey International Film Festival in Monterrey, Mexico, August 15 to 23,2019.
◆ The Music Box won the Best Animation Short Film of the Concepcion Independent Golden Film Awards in Concepcion, Bio Bio, Chile, August 6-9, 2019.
◆ The Music Box won Best Animated Film of Kadoma International Film Festival 2019 in Osaka, Japan, July 26-28, 2019.
◆ The Music Box won nominated for the Best Animated Film award at the annual Film and TV Leo Awards, Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 25-26, 2019.
◆ The Music Box won the Best Short film of Mosaic Festival of Arts and Culture 2019 in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, August 30,. 2019.
◆ The Music Box won the Special Mention of the 7th International Animated Film Festival "Constantine's gold coin" in Serbia, July 22-26, 2019.
◆ The Music Box won the Best Animation Short Film Award of Five Continents International Film Festival in Anzoategui, Venezuela, June 3, 2019.
◆ The Magic Train won the "Five-one" Project Award of Spiritual Civilization Construction in Hangzhou, January 2018.
◆ Rain Lotus won the Best Animation of the Moscowcity International Film Festival, Moscow, Russia, February 13, 2017.
◆ A Long-distance Call won Seven Summits Award Winner of Mountain Film Festival in Mammoth Lakes CA, USA, February 7, 2017.
◆ The Mandarin Garden won the Award of merit of animation in the Best Shorts International Film Festival in the USA, June 27, 2016.
◆ The Magic Train won the Grand Prize for Animated Film at the Near Nazareth International Film Festival (NNF), Ha-Brigada, Afula, Israel, May 12, 2016.
◆ The Magic Train won the Gold Award of California Film Festival for Best Animation, LA, CA, USA, May 12,2015.
◆ The Magic Train won the Award of Merit of Animated film in the San Francisco Film Awards, San Francisco, CA, USA, February 26, 2015.
◆ The Magic Train won the 3rd Prize of Feature Animated Movie of 10th Athens AnimFest 2015, March 26 - April 1. 2015.
◆ Rain Lotus won Honorable Mention of AOF Asians On Film Festival in West Hollywood, CA, USA, May 15,2015.
◆ The Magic Train won the Kodiak Awards of Alaska International Film Awards in Alaska, USA. June 15, 2015.
◆ Rain Lotus won the Best Original Score of Top shorts Online Film Festival 2015, USA, July 1-15, 2015.
◆ The Magic Train won the Gold Kahuna Award of Honolulu Film Awards 2015, May 5, 2015.
◆ Rain Lotus was nominated for the Best Animated Film Award of the Month of 12 Months Film Festival in Romania May 30, 2015.
◆ The Magic Train won the Best Animated Feature Film Award of Yosemite International Film Festival in Yosemite, CA, USA, October 30, 2015.
◆ Rain Lotus won the Grand Prize (Audience Choice Award) of the 4th Azores Fringe AZORES FRINGE SHORTS@FRINGE International Film Festival, Portugal, June 1-30, 2015.
◆ Rain Lotus won People's Animation Choice Award of Colortape International Film Festival, Brisbane, Australia, October 5, 2015.
◆ Rain Lotus was nominated for Best International Shot Anime of Wendy's Short, international short film and video competition in Austin, Texas, USA, December 2-31, 2015.
◆ The Magic Train won the Diamond Animation Award of the California International Film Festival, San Diego, CA, USA, December 30, 2015 .
◆ Rain Lotus won the Best Animated Film Award at the International Art-House Film Festival, Lublin, Poland, March 27-April 2, 2014.
◆ Rain Lotus won the Best Animated Short of Golden Monkey King Award for the 10th China (Hangzhou) International Cartoon Festival, Hangzhou, China. April 28, 2014.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the first prize of animation competition in the 7th Annual ReelHeART International Film Festival (RHIFF), June 20th to 25th, 2011.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the First Prize of the 2011 Kids First International Children's Film Festival (Independent Animation, 12-18 years old section), Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, December 1-5th, 2011.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the Best Animation at First Detroit Independent Film Festival, Detroit, USA, March 2-7,2010.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the Gold Kahuna Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at the 2010 Honolulu International Film Festival, Hawaii, USA, April 24 to 24, 2010.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the Denali Award at the 2010 Alaska International Film Festival, Jun 18 to 22, 2010.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the Best Animation Award in 10th annual Crossroads Film Festival, USA, April 2 - 5, 2009.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the Best International Animation Film Award of Okanagan International Film Festival, BC. Canada. April 22-26, 2009.
◆ A Long-distance Call won the Tenth China Sichuan TV Festival “Gold Panda” Award for Special Nomination of International Animation Works. November 6, 2009.
◆ Madame Zhang's Dream” won the Hangzhou Spiritual Civilization Construction “Five One Project” Award. December 10, 2009.
◆ Father and Son was nominated for the Golden Cat Award at The International izmir Short Film Festival, Turkey. May12, 2008.
◆ Pan Tian Shou won the Best Animation award of Retas Animated film Contest, Tokyo. Japan.April 22, 2004.
◆ The Chinese Violin won the Bronse Plaque of 51st Annual Columbus International Film & Video Festival, U.S.A.November 8, 2003.
Solo and Group Screenings
2018 Joe Chang Art Animation Film and Picture Documents Exhibition Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
2012 Joe Chang Animation Show, Kiev National Academy of Fine Arts, Kiev, Ukraine.
2011 Joe Chang and Friends, REDCAT Children's Film Festival, Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater LA, USA.
2010 Joe Chang Animation Flicks, Museum of Fine Art in Houston, TX, USA.
2010 Special Showcase of Joe Chang Animation Film, New Asia Film Festival, Richmond, BC., Canada.
Published Books
2018 Chinese animation part for book Animation: A World History by Giannalberto Bendazz, published by Taylor & Francis Group CRC Press.
2003 Joe Chang and Madeleine Thien Illustrated and wrote a picture book The Chinese Violin, 32 pages, published by Whitecap Books, Vancouver, BC., Canada.
Education
Tama Art University, worked toward MFA, Printmaking Major, Tokyo, Japan, May 1988.
Lu-Xun Academy of Fine Arts, Shenyang, China BA, Painting and Printmaking Major, September, 1982.