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Sakura Gansha

Sakura Gansha is a music video blending Showa-era aesthetics with handcrafted techniques, AI generation and live action, the piece celebrates female perspective and self-expression through stylised symbolism and layered media.
Set to a playful enka-inspired track, the visuals feature floral and fruit motifs, especially mangoes, a cheeky nod in Japanese pop culture, hinting at themes of intimacy and transformation in a subtle, metaphorical way.

  • Sijin Liu
    Director
  • Ruby Nian
    Animation
  • Hsin Hsin
    Animation
  • Siri Lee
    starring
  • Siri Lee
    shooting
  • Amuy Talus Mayaw
    shooting
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    李竺芯 Siri Lee - Sakura Gansha - Official Music Video
  • Project Type:
    Music Video
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Feminist, Women's Issues, Erotic, Sensual, Surreal, Animation, Mixed Media, Avant-garde
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 12 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 16, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    Taiwan, United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Taiwan
  • Language:
    Chinese - Min Nan, Japanese
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Sijin Liu

Sijin Liu is an award-winning director based in London with over fifteen years of experience in visual media. Her career spans prestigious roles at Grass Jelly, JL Design, and Bito, as well as a tenure as Senior Creative at the renowned London studio Art&Graft. She specialises in providing high-end aesthetic solutions for clients, with a portfolio encompassing music videos, design-led projects, and mixed-media films.

Her work has earned widespread acclaim within the international motion graphics and advertising industries, featuring in top-tier publications such as Motionographer and Stash. In 2026, she reached a significant milestone in her career when she was named one of the top fifty female AI filmmakers globally. Through her personal studio, SijinLab, she continues to push the boundaries of visual storytelling.

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Director Statement

In Sakura Gansha, generative AI was not a shortcut; it was a brush, a chisel, a provocateur. I approached AI not as a solution but as a collaborator, carefully coaxed into crafting surreal, floral dreamscapes. Each shot was designed using ComfyUI, Runway, Krea, Kling and others, then re-composed, colour-corrected and rhythmically restructured by hand. The result is a cinematic hybrid where algorithm meets authorship. Rather than mimic realism, I used AI to embrace the artificial, blurring the lines between femininity and fabrication, nature and illusion. The goal was not to let AI decide, but to push its aesthetic boundaries through intentional constraint and compositional control. The piece reflects my ongoing inquiry into how visual language evolves when machine learning meets the gaze of a woman.