Writer: Er-chueh, Chou

Beyond the boundary between life and death lies a realm known as “Another World.” Only by shedding one’s earthly attachments within this illusion-like space can a soul pass through the waterfall and enter a new cycle of rebirth. Spanning a thousand years in its narrative and crafted over seven years, this Hong Kong animated feature has finally stepped onto the international stage. Another World, directed by Tommy Ng Kai-chung, is the first Hong Kong animated feature ever selected for the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival’s “Midnight Special” program, and it has also been invited to the 2025 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. In this talk, director Tommy Ng and art director Step C. share the project’s full journey—from their early days making short films, to collaborating with a 100-member international team, to shaping the film’s distinctive visual language. Audiences are invited into the creative birthplace of Another World, uncovering how the film was built from the ground up.

A Seven-Year Creative Journey: From Inspiration to the Big Screen

The origins of Another World go back to 2018, when Tommy, already a seasoned animator, was invited to begin exploring the idea. A 14-minute short film was completed in 2019, and full production on the feature officially began in 2022 after funding was secured. Seven years later, the film finally premiered at Annecy in June 2025. “I didn’t think it would take seven years,” Tommy recalled. “Later, I realized many films do take seven or eight years—from scriptwriting to finding investors.”

The story is inspired by Naka Saijo’s novel Sennenki. The 2019 short focused on the themes of letting go and forgetting, while the feature expands the tale into a millennium-spanning saga about life, death, reincarnation, and the weight of lingering resentment. Tommy also shared the ending sequence of the short film—a scene absent from the feature—where Yuri, unable to release her past life, sinks into a dreamscape. There, she dissolves into mountains and rivers, recognizes the impermanence of all things, and on a mirror-like lake, bids farewell to her loved ones, to the world, and finally to herself before stepping through the waterfall into her next life.

Fusing Life-and-Death Imagery with Cultural Influences: Building the Aesthetics of Another World

When designing the character Gudo, Tommy’s goal was to strike a balance between adorable and eerie. While searching for references, the team came across the “shmashana adhipati” (lords of the Cremation Ground) from Tibetan Buddhism. Their flowing robes and skull masks became the foundation for Gudo’s design. “When I first saw it, I thought it was really cute—almost like a bad cosplay,” Tommy said. “That’s the feeling I wanted to capture.” For color design, Step C. wanted audiences to instantly recognize whether a scene was set in the human world or in Another World. To achieve this, the two realms use sharply contrasting palettes: the human world is grounded and subdued, while Another World bursts with highly saturated colors that defy the typical somber associations of death.

The set design also plays with contradictions—beauty coexisting with death. In the opening sequence, Gudo and Yuri race through what appears to be a forest, but a closer look reveals it is actually a colossal skeleton. Meanwhile, the human world blends culturally diverse elements and strikingly different eras—ranging from a British factory during the Industrial Revolution to Princess Kulan’s flower city, which mixes influences from Tibet, India, Japan, and Morocco. “Animation gives you the freedom to create a world from scratch,” Tommy said. “I added many elements simply because I liked them.”

Much of the film’s multicultural landscape came from Step’s travels around the world, which served as her main source of inspiration. “When designing, it helps to give yourself a reason to travel,” she said. “What you find online is never the same as being there in person.”

A New 3D Workflow: Bridging Mediums with Creativity

To blend 3D animation with 2D elements seamlessly, the team simulated hand-drawn textures and even asked 3D animators to sketch 2D drafts before animating in 3D—creating a new hybrid workflow. Some shots were redesigned to use a single perspective, and others intentionally distorted the environment during running sequences to heighten tension and visual impact. Tommy highlighted a particularly inventive scene in which a character runs across a monster’s body. The team used a looping texture on the monster’s skin—similar to a treadmill—to lengthen the visual distance of the run and amplify the momentum.
Cross-Border Collaboration Through the Pandemic

The seven-year production spanned the COVID-19 pandemic. With almost 200 team members scattered across the world, the crew built a virtual studio in Gather Town. There, members met as avatars, worked together, and maintained a sense of community. Over time, this digital space became a source of emotional support. Many team members, having never met in person, now associate each other primarily with their Gather Town characters.

Tommy also emphasized the necessity of English. Because the team members came from different countries, English naturally became the default—down to internal documents and everyday communication, even when collaborating with Taiwanese teammates. In the future, Tommy hopes to learn Japanese to better connect with more animation talent.

Challenges for Hong Kong and Taiwan Animation: Creating Through Passion

To appeal to a wider audience, Tommy—who personally favors minimalistic poster designs—had to embrace a more commercial key visual featuring multiple characters and dense imagery. He acknowledged that the animation industries in Hong Kong and Taiwan are still developing, and promoting new IPs remains an uphill battle. Compared to Japanese adaptations of already-popular works, Sennenki, the novel behind Another World, is still relatively unknown. Throughout production, Tommy juggled music video and commercial projects to support himself. The film survived largely through the team’s passion and perseverance. Fortunately, Another World has secured global distribution, giving the team hope for wider reach and better financial returns.

When asked about what comes next, Tommy revealed that he started exploring ideas for a new project even while finishing Another World. The new work is also planned as a feature film, and he is now preparing its short-film version—meaning he must balance new production responsibilities while promoting Another World, keeping him extremely busy. Despite the long and difficult journey, Tommy’s dedication to animation remains unchanged. He hopes that the regrets and compromises made during Another World can be resolved—and transformed—through his next creation