Kuandu International Animation Festival (KDIAF) was founded when the Taipei National University of the Arts Animation Department was established. The Animation Department was established in 2011. During the primary establishment, given that the creative animation form is changing every day; therefore, animation education should not be locked in an ivory tower. It needs to combine with international animation directions and movements and connect with education, industries, and technologies to promote the domestic elite's upbringing. Therefore, in the same year of the Animation Department's establishment, the first Kuandu International Animation Festival (KDIAF) was founded. 

Former President Ju, Tzong-Ching promoted the Taipei National University of the Arts Animation Department and Kuandu International Animation Festival during his service in the office. Professor Jack Shih did the overall planning for the foundation, and Professor Joanne Chao has worked as the director in recent years. Many teachers provided assistance and guidance during the primary of the founding. Special thanks to the former Head of the Film Department Professor Lee, Daw-Ming, former Director of the Art and Technology Professor Hsu, Su-Chu, and former Dean of the Art Department Chu, Teh-I. Former President Yang, Chyi-Wen, and current President Chen, Kai-Huang, gave enormous help and support during the founding period. A significant appreciation goes to all the teachers and students for their participation so that the TNUA Animation Department and KDIAF can reflect on each other's growth and step into the twelfth year. 

During the first year of the Kuandu International Animation Festival establishment, the TNUA Animation Department admitted only forty students in September. Soon after, the students assisted the teachers with all the KDIAF-related activities in October. It was considered a mission impossible due to lacking funding and resources. With the growing experiences and learning every year, the third KDIAF in 2013 started to host the competition by calling the pieces internationally. Since then, KDIAF has synchronized with the International Animation Festival, starting from collecting only three hundred animation short films to two thousand six hundred short films delivered from nearly a hundred countries worldwide. Since every outstanding international and award-winning film would not be absent from KDIAF, we know that the Kuandu International Animation Festival gradually becomes a decisive role in the International Film Festival platform. 

A single institution cannot run the Kuandu International Animation Festival; it takes all the dedication of the TNUA full-time teachers to prepare together through the student's learning and participation to plan, execute, and complete. It takes ten months for an animation festival to initial planning until the end of the activity. The department's limited resources to host such an international event for up to one week is a pioneer both domestically and internationally. Only the department alone cannot be competent in this challenging task; therefore, special thanks to significant cooperated organizations: Xiexuying Foundation, Caihanyi Foundation, the Ministry of Culture, La France a Taiwan, Fuzhong 15 Animation Gallery, Kaohsiung Film Archive, Reallusion Inc, Hsin-Yi Foundation, and more. 

In retrospect, KDIAF plays a crucial role in the history of animation in Taiwan, nurturing more talents in animation and strengthening the bond between academia and the industry. The event holds international lectures, animation master class workshops, animation industry announcements, and forums. Moreover, there are hundreds of brilliantly selected films screened every year. The Animation Festival not only accompanies the student's learning and growth but also achieves the goal of promoting animation education. For this, the faculty and the students of the Department of Animation express their deep gratitude.