Experiencing Interruptions?

V & Dot

In a silent forest where the world has never known color, a black bear and a clouded leopard meet during a mysterious nighttime festival. Wanting to give each other a name, they begin to paint their bodies with signs borrowed from the forest itself — a white mark made of moonlight, and spots woven from shadows and leaves.

As colors slowly spread across their bodies, the sleeping island begins to awaken.

Inspired by Indigenous mythology and endangered animals from Taiwan, the film is a dialogue-free animated fable about friendship, identity, and the quiet ways we protect one another. Through minimalist character design, flowing colors, and sensory storytelling, it invites children and adults alike into a gentle world where being truly seen by another can transform everything.

  • CHIH HAO SHEN
    Director
  • CHIH HAO SHEN
    Writer
  • MFX Films
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Animation
  • Genres:
    Watercolor Animation, Taiwanese Indigenous Myth
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    Taiwan
  • Country of Filming:
    Taiwan
  • Language:
    No Dialogue
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • SCINEMA International Science Film Festival
    Australia
    Australia
    Official Selection
Director Biography - CHIH HAO SHEN

Chih Hao Shen is an animation and documentary filmmaker whose work explores human existence, memory, and time through restrained visual storytelling.

His debut work received recognition from Rhode Island IFF. His short film 10 Seconds was selected by In The Palace, Fantasporto, and Asolo Art Film Festival (2026). His documentary YinYang Sea won the Grand Prix at Asolo Art Film Festival (2026).

His projects have been presented in international industry contexts, including Clermont-Ferrand, Visions du Réel, Cannes Short Film Corner, Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, and Oberhausen.

Beyond filmmaking, he has worked in visual design and digital product development, including licensed merchandise design for The Lord of the Rings franchise in the Chinese-language market, visual work at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and founded and leads a software development company developing animation and visual effects tools within the Apple ecosystem.

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Director Statement

I wanted to create a film that could be understood through feeling before language.

As a child, I often imagined that colors, marks, and symbols carried emotions that words could not explain. The act of painting becomes a way for two beings to recognize and protect each other without speaking.

The film draws inspiration from Taiwan’s forests, Indigenous mythology, and two animals deeply connected to the island’s ecological memory: the Formosan black bear and the clouded leopard. One still survives. The other has disappeared. Rather than telling this history directly, I wanted children to sense it through atmosphere, absence, and care.

Visually, the film contrasts a dense dreamlike wilderness with minimal character design, allowing emotions to emerge through movement, texture, and color transformation. Without dialogue, the story unfolds as a sensory experience about coexistence, trust, and the small gestures that allow us to belong to one another.

I hope the film reminds viewers — especially younger audiences — that kindness can also be a form of protection.