[Aniwow!2025] Introduction to the Judges of the 20th China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival
The submission phase for the [Aniwow!2025] 20th China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival has been successfully concluded! Throughout this period, the organizing committee received numerous outstanding works in animation, comics and picture books, digital art, and digital games from around the world. In this update, we are pleased to introduce the judges of the preliminary evaluation panel！
Brief Introduction to Preliminary Judges
(Listed in alphabetical order)
Category A: Animation Short Films
Chen Lei 陈雷
Lei Chen is a Tenured Associate Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, and Animation Director at the Department of Information Art & Design, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University. He holds master's degrees from Tsinghua University and Bournemouth University (UK). He once worked at internationally renowned animation studios such as Framestore (UK) and Aardman (UK), where he participated in the production of multiple Hollywood animated films. Since 2010, he has been teaching at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University . His works have been shortlisted for prestigious events including the Annecy, SIGGRAPH, Animex, Imagina Festival, Stuttgart，Los Angeles，Montreal International Animation Festival ， Etc. His representative animated short film The End of War won the Jury’s Choice Award at SIGGRAPH 2022.
Chen Tianren 陈天任
Lecturer at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China.Executive Director of the KungFu Bunny series and involved in the development of theatrical animated films.
Has supervised over 40 undergraduate graduation projects, which have won the Golden Dragon Award (CACC) and numerous other animation festival awards.
Chen Zanwei 陈赞蔚
Key Founder and Discipline Leader of the Animation Program at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts . Member of the Animation and Digital Media Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education.Secretary-General of the Guangdong Province Artists Association for Animation and Comics . Both his personal works and those created under his supervision have received numerous awards in national competitions and have been selected for the National Art Exhibition . He has been invited to conduct academic lectures and exchanges at prestigious international institutions, including the Vancouver Film School in Canada and the École supérieure d'art d'Aix-en-Provence in France.
Duan Wenkai 段雯锴
Duan Wenkai, Associate Professor, Master’s Supervisor, and Head of the Animation Department at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China. In 2012, he directed the animated short Lion Dance, which received over 20 awards and honors, including the Golden Monkey Award for Chinese Animation and the Special Jury Award at the Tokyo International Anime Festival. He later directed the AIGC animated short Dragon Gate, which earned more than ten international festival awards and nominations, among them the Best Production Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. His key works—such as Tacit Blue, Kim & Jim’s Wormhole, Wool Wool Town, and The Mirage House in the Clouds—have been selected and awarded at over 120 animation and film festivals across more than 40 countries, including recognition from the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Achievements in Cultural and Arts. In 2022, he was honored with the title of Young Chinese Animator at the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival.
Hong Yu 红雨
WaHong Yu has dedicated over two decades to the teaching and creation of 3D animation, standing as a senior expert in the field of 3D animation education. He has successively compiled and published 12 academic works, and holds the qualification of Autodesk National Education Expert. His creative works have garnered multiple awards at prestigious international animation events, including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Stuttgart International Animation Festival, Czech International Animation Festival, and Korea PISAF Animation Festival.
Li Jiajia 李佳佳
LI Jiajia，Director of the Animation Department, School of Animation and Games, China Academy of Art; Associate Professor and Master's Supervisor.
Wang Yi 王漪
Wang Yi, professor of the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China, animation director and art designer. Animation works have been shortlisted and won prizes in many international film festivals and animation festivals, including the Chinese Culture and Arts Government Award Animation Award, 10 excellent domestic animation awards of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the annual excellent art awards and more than 10 international film festivals with Oscar qualifications. Representative works include TV series animation Kim and Jim‘s Wormhole (art), Wool Wool Town series (director, art), etc.
Zhang Zige 张自歌
An animation director, musician, and lecturer at the Communication University of China's Animation Department. She directed the musical short The King of the House, which was recognized at global festivals and nominated for a Golden Goblet Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Her directorial, storyboarding, and music supervision credits include the animated series Wool Wool Town, Kim&Jim's Wormhole, and The Mirage House in the Clouds.
Zhao Bing 赵冰
Zhao Bing , Associate Professor, Master Supervisor, School of Animation and Digital Art, Communication University of China.From 2012 to 2013, she was a visiting scholar at Yale University in the United States, and was funded by the Special Art Talent Project of the China Scholarship Council to engage in C2 (Computer and Art) project research in the Computer Department of Yale University.
The main research directions are animation narrative and cultural communication, animation art aesthetics.
Category B: Comics & Picture Books
Cheng Xing 成星
Xing Cheng, Ph.D, is a Lecturer in the Animation Department of the School of Animation and Digital Arts. She was a Visiting Scholar at the Animation Department of the Korea National University of Arts. Her main courses include Animation Sketching, Illustration Creation, and History of Comics. She has published a monograph titled Research on Animation Teaching for School-Age Children. She served as the Director of Interactive Animation for the ice hockey sports venues at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Dr. Cheng is also the Project Leader of the Campus Asia Program initiated by the Ministry of Education—a collaborative animation creation project (Co-work) among university students from China, Japan, and South Korea. Her series of paintings, In Korea, was exhibited at the International Cultural and Academic Exchange grand exhibition organized by the Ministry of Culture of South Korea.
Wang Fahua 王发花
Wang Fahua: Professor and Master's Supervisor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China. In recent years, she has dedicated herself to theoretical research and creative work in picture books, comics, and illustrations. She has led and participated in multiple research projects and creative initiatives in related fields, published numerous professional research papers, and authored several children's picture books and professional works, including Little Troublemaker Pipi Picture Book and Picture Book Creation Tutorial. Her original picture books have received several prestigious awards, such as the National Most Beautiful Picture Book Award and the Crowned Book Award. At the university, she teaches courses on picture book and comic creation and has guided students in winning over a hundred professional awards at domestic and international levels.
Zhuo Ying 卓莹
Zhuo graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco with a master degree in Animation. She is currently teaching in the Animation department at the School of Visual Arts Design of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Serving as the head of the Visual Development Research Center, she has been deeply engaged in the research of visual arts in film animation, game design, and illustration, focusing on uniqueness and differentiation as their primary research directions. She explore the boundaries and possibilities of visual arts in animation and game design. She has been invited to participate in exhibitions such as the Shanghai Duolun Youth Art Exhibition, the First China Illustration Art Exhibition, the Academic Nomination Exhibition for Young Artists at the Guangdong Museum of Art, Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Shenzhen International Urban Image Festival, and We Like 'Em Short Film Festival, and have held solo exhibitions in China and the United States.
Category C: Digital Art
Song Leiyu 宋雷雨
Song Leiyu is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China. He was selected as a 2023 National Youth Innovation Talent in the broadcasting and online audiovisual industry and received the 2025 CSMPTE Science and Technology Talent Award. His courses are recognized as National First-Class Undergraduate Courses . He has published nearly 20 papers in CSSCI and EI-indexed journals and led 16 research projects. His work focuses on digital humans, virtual production, and virtual reality. With extensive experience in digital visual effects, he has served as VFX supervisor and colorist for over 10 film and TV productions, winning awards including the Feitian Award and Golden Eagle Award . He also holds memberships in several professional associations and is certified as an Epic Games Gold International Instructor and DaVinci Resolve Training Master.
Zhu Xiaofeng 朱晓枫
Zhu Xiaofeng，Associate Professor, Department of Digital Media, School of Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University; Research Fellow, Digital Creative Media Research Center . He has presided over the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project of the Ministry of Education and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation Project. He has also participated in the Major Project of Art Science under the National Social Science Fund and a number of General Projects of Art Science. His works have won the Gold and Silver Awards at the National Exhibition of Fine Art, and have been selected into the Animation Creation and Publishing Project of Chinese Classic Folk Tales.
Zheng Yi 郑屹
Zheng Yi, Associate Professor at the Communication University of China. He has worked in the virtual reality and internet industries for more than ten years, with professional expertise in the interdisciplinary fields of art and technology.
Category D: Digital Games
Gao Erdong 高尔东
Gao Erdong , Associate Professor, School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China
Ph.D. in Design, Central Academy of Fine Arts . His main research focuses on virtual immersive media. He has been granted projects under the National Social Science Fund and the Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Sciences Fund. He authored the book Becoming a Virtual Reality Image Creator on VR content production . His virtual reality animation works have been selected for international platforms and events such as SIGGRAPH 2018, Cannes Animation Day, Mexico VR FEST MX Film Festival, and the China Student Film Festival.
Li Meng 李萌
Li Meng is an associate professor and Ph.D. serving as the Party Branch Secretary of the Game Department at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China. Her work focuses on film and television art design, game art design, and animation. She has served as art director for numerous commercial film and television projects, with her works receiving nominations and awards including the Golden Rooster Award and Feitian Award. She has guided over twenty student projects to win awards and has published eight academic papers on animation and virtual reality. Additionally, she has participated in 23 national and provincial-level research projects.
Xue Shaohua 薛少华
Xue Shaohua, Ph.D. in Philosophy, is an Associate Professor at the School of Education, Beijing Institute of Technology, and a researcher at the interdisciplinary platform for Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Renmin University of China. Several of his policy consultation reports have been adopted by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and other organizations. He is currently leading a project supported by the National Social Science Foundation.
[Aniwow!2025]
The Organizing Committee of the 20th China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival
School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China
October 2025
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Aniwow International Student Animation Festival
Official WeChat Account: Aniwow Animation Festival
Official Website: http://aniwow.cuc.edu.cn/
