Lei Lei
Lei Lei, born in 1985. His works are based on the organization and research of ready-made and found images, combined with digital shooting and parody, weaving together abandoned images, oral histories, fragmented online videos, official documentaries, commercial product catalogs, myths or legends, etc., to create visual poetry and prose. Lei Lei's art works include films, live music and drama. His video installation works have been exhibited in institutions such as the UCCA in Beijing, Shanghai OCAT Art Museum, Xi'an OCAT Art Museum, Shanghai MOCA Art Center, Tokyo TOP Museum, and Rencontres d'Arles International Photography Festival in France, and have been collected by important art institutions and art galleries. In addition, Lei Lei's film works have been selected and won awards at important international film festivals including the Berlinale Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, New York MoMA NFND, Melbourne Film Festival, and Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Education
2009 MFA Art & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
2007 BFA Art & Design,, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Fellowships
2015 Cai fellowship of Asian cultural council grants, New York, USA
2018 Academy Member for the Short Films and Feature Animation branch, New York, USA
Prizes & Grants
2010 Awarded The Best Narrative Short 2010 on Ottawa International Animation Festival
2013 Awarded The Grand Prix shorts - non-narrative on Holland International Animation Film Festival
2013 Winner of the Special Mentions of the Jury on 12th Countryside Animafest
2013 Awarded The Nenarativní animace on 12th Anifest International Animation Festival
2014 Awarded of the Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica 2014
2014 Laureate of the Asian Cultural Council Grant 2014
2014 Awarded with the Special Mention of the Program Director (Michal Bobrowski) on 4th StopTrik IFF in Maribor
2014 Awarded The Best Experimental at TOFUZI 2014 Festival.
2015 Awarded Best Animated Short Film in Fantasia Film Festival.
2015 Awarded "Silver Dove" in International Short Film Competition at DOK Leipzig 2015
2016 Awarded "Jury Award of Recognition" at Transilvania Shorts 2016
2016 Awarded "WTF Award" in 10th Flatpack Film Festival 2016
2016 Awarded Best Animation Film at Black Sea Film Festival 2016
2016 Awarded Jury Award of Recognition in Transilvania Shorts 2016
2017 Awarded Wouter Barendrecht Award at IFFR Cinemart
2018 Awarded Best Music Video at Anifilm International Animation Festival 2018
2018 Video Installation Weekend was the winner of the Jimei x Arles discovery award 2018, Xiamen, China
2019 Awarded Grand Prix Images Vevey - Special Jury Prize, Switzerland
2019 Awarded Best Medium Length Documentary at Cinema Verite, Iran
2022 Awarded Best Animated Film at Anibar International Animation Festival 2022, Kosovo
2022 Winner of the Jury Special Prize at the Anifest Independent Animation Festival in South Korea
2022 Awarded Best Non-Narrative Short Film at Dunhuang International Animation Week 2023, China
2022 Awarded Best Commissioned Project at Dunhuang International Animation Weak 2023, China
2023 Awarded Best Commercial Animated Short Film at LINOLEUM International Animation Festival 2023, Kiev, Ukraine
2024 Awarded Special Jury Prize at Ribalta Experimental Film Festival 2024, Italy
Events, Talks and Presentations
2010 Speech in UCCA Beijing <Animation is easy>
2011 Workshop in TED*BLCU <One person's animation studio> 2011 Speech in UCCA Beijing < One person's animation studio>
2012 Heartstrings talkshow at Holland International animation film fesitlval. Holland 2012 Speech in TED@Shanghai: < One person's animation studio >, China
2012 Presentation and film screening at cinema d'animation de Quebec, Canada
2013 Presentation and film screening at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, The USA
2014 Presentation and film screening <Recycled >at UCCA, Beijing, Chin
2015 Presentation and film screening at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, The USA
2015 Presentation and film screening at Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2015 Presentation and film screening at Hao Space, Beijing, China
2017 Speech at TOP Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2017 Presentation and film screening: Ecstatic Truth symposium at RCA, London, UK
2017 Presentation and film screening < Coming Soon > at OCAT, Xi’an, China
2017 Presentation and film screening at Jiangxi Museum. Nanchang, China
2019 Presentation and film screening < Breathless Animals > at Film Society Lincoln Center. New York, The USA
2019 Artist Talk as international review at Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2019 Presentation and film screening < Breathless Animals > at ICA. London, UK
2019 Maester class at Ottawa International Animation Festival <Memory Clash>, Canada
2020 Artist Talk < Films and Natural Processes > at Logan Center for the Arts University of Chicago. The USA
2020 Presentation and film screening < Memory Clash > at Xie Zilong Photography Museum, Changsha, China
2022 Presentation and film screening <Recycled >at the Crossing Signals: Animation as Documentary Form
2022 Participated in the World Animation Day at the French Cultural Center in Beijing, China, as a guest of "Louis of Winter" on October 28th. Beijing, China
2022 Winners of the Gen.T Asian New Generation Artists List.
2023 Presentation and film screening at Alternative Cinema Lecture on Cinematic Art, Colgate University, USA
2023 Presentation and film screening at Digicon6 Asia Awards Ceremony, Hong Kong, China
2023 Selected for the China Academy of Art's Young Scholars Forum for the paper < Voice over in the film >, Hangzhou, China
Artist Residencies:
2009 Artist Residencies at the Lijiang Studio, Yunnan, China.
2012 Artist Residencies at La Bande Video, Quebec, Canada
2013 Artist Residencies at Macdowell Colony, The USA
2013 Artist Residencies at Yaddo, The USA
2014 Winner of ACC Cai Fellowship, NYC, The USA
2014 Artist Residency Program at The Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China.
2015 Artist Residency Program at Abbaye de Fontevraud,France
2015 Artist Residency Program at VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2015, Austral
2016 Locarno Filmmakers Academy
2016- 2017 Artist Residencies at Macdowell Colony, The USA
2022 Shanghai UCCA Ran Ran Artist Residency Program, Shanghai, China
2023 Chengdu a4 Art Museum Artist Residency Program, Chengdu, China
2024 Berlinale Talents, Berlin, Germany
Miscellaneous Activities
Jury member of the International Animation Festival in Sagolab, 2014.
Jury member, Netherlands International Animation Festival, 2014
Jury member, Taichung Animation Film Festival, Taiwan, China, 2016.
Jury member of the Oscars for Animated Shorts and Feature Films, 2018.
Jury, Washington Chinese Film Festival, 2018
Jury member of Ottawa International Animation Festival, 2019.
Jury member of the Super Short Film Section of Xining FIRST Film Festival in 2022
2022 Jury member of the 4th 1839 Photography Award Review
Jury member of the Final Review of Beijing Fernandes Animation Week in 2023.
2023 Guest of Honor and Jury Member, Digicon6 Digital Awards, Hong Kong, China
2024 Jury Member, International Competition, Beijing Independent Short Film Festival
