One of the things I’ve always loved about animation are the endless possibilities the medium offers. It’s not just in the storytelling that these options exist, the techniques may not be limitless, but there are so many different approaches you can take. We’ve seen sand, wool, wood and people all put to use in animated shorts and while Yu Sun’s short Stay isn’t the first ever to use embroidery, it’s a welcome reminder of the creative possibilities available at the hands of talented animators.

Stay opens with a pair of hands manipulating a line of red thread and after they’ve intricately spelt out the short’s title, they’re passed to the hands of a young girl in the form of a cat’s cradle. As we pull out of the close-up, we see the owner of these young hands, as a wider shot reveals the girl sat a table with her mother and father. With the child eager to now play with her dad, she offers the string game to him, but unfortunately, he’s more interested in his phone. From here, we’re introduced to the themes of the short, as it unravels into a fascinating exploration of the cyclical trauma caused by an absent father.

“The idea is to remind us to spend more time with the people we love and to the impact of adults’ unconscious behavior on children”, Sun reveals as we discuss the origins of her short and the message is obviously one that is very personal to the director, considering her film is based on her own adolescent experiences. Explaining that she believes there’s a “healing” quality to animation, which has helped her “through many hard times”, although the premise of Stay is one Sun is intimately connected to, she also acknowledges the universal nature of the situation and hopes her short can connect with her audiences and make them feel less alone.

“The needle is used to repair the damage. It’s a claim to forgiveness”

While the subject matter isn’t particularly novel – the effects an unconventional upbringing has on a young adult seems prime material for emerging filmmakers – the decision to employ embroidery in bringing it to the screen certainly injects a unique angle to the short. With the choice to use this specific animation technique inspired by a quote by artist Louise Bourgeois, which claimed “the needle is used to repair the damage. It’s a claim to forgiveness”, Sun created around 726 pieces of hand embroidery in the short. Initially created as a digital animation in photoshop, the director then copied the frames to tracing paper before adding embroidery over the top. The images were then scanned back into the computer, with shading added to provide extra depth.

The effect is both truly mesmerising, especially as the pace/edit quickens in the film’s final third, and technically impressive, so it comes as no surprise to discover that Stay won the prestigious McLaren Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2022 and the Overall Best National Student Film prize at the NAHEMI Student Film Awards in the same year. For her next film, Sun is once again turning to the healing powers of animation, as she looks to create a new short animated film about traumatic memories.