Short Biography and Skills

Hannah Anderson is a Bay Area independent filmmaker and animator. Having received her bachelor’s in Cinema with an emphasis in animation, she shortly returned to San Francisco State University to complete her Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking. She has worked on documentary films, fictional narratives, and music videos. She enjoys many aspects of filmmaking including direction, art direction, editing, motion graphics, videography, and screenwriting. She traveled to Poland and worked as a cinematographer for the short documentary film Con Moto: The Alexander String Quartet, which aired on KQED’s Truly California series, screened at various festivals and won Best Short Documentary at the Classical Arts Film Festival. Hannah’s last short fiction film, Hui Ying, aired on KQED’s Film School Shorts and has screened at various festivals including the 15th Indiefest Annual Hole in the Head, Juggernaut Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival in Chicago, Cannes Short Film Corner and Scared for Your Liife Film Festival in Long Island where it won Best Screamwriting.

Hannah has a thorough knowledge of Mac computer systems. She is skilled in Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Mocha AE, Cinema 4D Lite, Maya, Da Vinci Resolve, Dragon Frame Stop Motion, HTML, CSS, Microsoft Office, Keynote.  She is also proficient with DSLR cameras and currently uses the Canon 5D Mark IV for both photography and videography. Hannah also gained valuable experience using the Canon C100 Mark I while shooting a documentary, Echoes of an Ensemble: The Alexander String Quartet, for two weeks in Poland in collaboration with the DocFilm Institute. 

Director Statement

Besides influences from my past experiences, I have found that film history greatly influences me as an artist and has allowed me to make more informed decisions. I discovered film styles that particularly resonate with me today from my studies of film history, German Expressionism and the blending between Italian Neorealism and Art Cinema (more specifically films by Federico Fellini). What fascinates me about German Expressionism, a highly stylistic film movement, is the way in which the mise-en-scène highlights the significance of the mind in relation to reality. This was also an idea that was cultivated in many of Federico Fellini’s films, the idea that dreams and imagination are a significant part of life, not necessarily having a definitive line between the two. In most of my films I use the story, production design, animation and effects to question this relation between reality and the imagination, which I intend to explore further.

My last two short films focus on two female heroines who find themselves faced with danger and must overcome their fears to persist. I am a fan of Italian Westerns, primarily for the themes, sound design, editing, pacing, score, animated intros, and narratives. This inspired one of my short films, Hui Ying (which just got accepted in the15th SF IndieFestʼs Annual Another Hole in the Head and the 2019 Juggernaut Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival in Chicago). Hui Ying takes different elements from both the Western and Fantasy genres and changes the perspective to an immigrant woman, a perspective that is rarely seen especially in Westerns. In my film, I incorporated animation with live action and did all of the special effects and compositing for the film.

I want to make films, whether they be animated or live action (or both), that explore the female perspective especially in non-conventional roles, challenging pervasive American gender stereotypes. In the current state of underrepresented female storytellers and female protagonists in the film industry, it is my goal to continue to work on my skills as a filmmaker/animator and educator, continuing to share stories with strong, well developed female characters. It is important to me to be a part of that change.