Fragments of Us
A meditative exploration of memory, consciousness, and the impermanence of self. Fragmented particles visualize the drift of thought and the dissolution of identity, reflecting the intimate yet universal experience of mental and temporal fragility.
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Chih Hao ShenDirector
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Chih Hao ShenWriter
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MFX FilmsProducer
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Chih Hao ShenCinematography
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Chih Hao ShenAnimator
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Project Type:Animation, Experimental, Short
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Genres:Experimental, Sensory Documentary, Sand Animation
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Runtime:10 minutes
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Completion Date:February 1, 2026
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Country of Origin:Taiwan
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Country of Filming:Taiwan
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Language:No Dialogue
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:4:3
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Digital Cinema Package:Unavailable
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42th Asolo Art Film FestivalAsolo
Italy
Official Selection
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.
This experimental short film explores the fragility and resilience of memory, identity, and consciousness. Human figures, animals, and abstract landscapes appear as drifting, particle-like forms in darkness—emerging, dissolving, and reassembling in uncertain rhythms.
Inspired by experiences of cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and other forms of memory loss, the film portrays forgetting not as tragedy but as an intimate, continuous transformation. Animals—migratory birds, land mammals, marine creatures, and domestic species—appear briefly as carriers of memory, instinct, and emotion, highlighting how consciousness and recollection are distributed across time, bodies, and environments.
The surrounding black void functions as a mental space where memories float, overlap, and vanish without warning. Faces are withheld, voices absent. What remains are traces: motion without direction, presence without certainty.
Through particle-based abstraction, the film invites reflection on mental fragility, memory preservation, and human vulnerability. It also resonates with international initiatives emphasizing psychological well-being, empathy, and care for the aging population, bridging aesthetic experimentation with social reflection and creating a contemplative experience that honors the impermanence of memory while suggesting the universality of human cognition and emotion.
