Held from June 17 to 21 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the 22nd China International Cartoon & Animation Festival was co-hosted by China Media Group and Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government. As a shortlisted institution for the Golden Monkey Award, China’s top animation honor, Jilin Animation Institute (JAI) attended the festival with its original 3D sci-fi adventure animated film Zap's Last Stand. The school also took part in the Cross-border Cooperation Matchmaking Session for Golden Monkey Award Finalists, introducing its industry-education integration model and signature IPs including Zap's Last Stand, the Classic of Mountains and Seas - Land of Birds, and Legend of King Yu to global industry partners, connecting industrial resources through original intellectual properties and advancing integrated teaching, research and industrial development.
Activity site
Golden Monkey Nomination Recognizes Pioneering Original Sci-Fi Animation
The Golden Monkey Award is a prestigious international competition honoring outstanding original animation works, evaluating entries on creative conception, technical standards, artistic quality and industrial value.
Zap's Last Stand, co-created by JAI faculty and students, is China’s first animated feature centered on electronic devices. Adopting a cyberpunk aesthetic, it builds a surreal circuit city based on everyday digital gadgets. The film has earned wide international recognition: it premiered at MIPCOM Cannes, was shortlisted at the Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, and won Best Animated Feature at the Vancouver Chinese Film Festival. Released nationwide on October 6, 2025, it delivers a fresh vision of Chinese sci-fi to global audiences.
Its Golden Monkey nomination serves as authoritative recognition of the film’s craftsmanship and artistic core, and validates the market competitiveness of student works cultivated under JAI’s industry-education integration system. Following a complete development path featuring student creators, faculty mentorship and professional industrial standards, the film proves the school’s model can produce commercially viable, culturally influential finished works beyond classroom teaching materials.
Integrated Teaching, Research and Industry Cultivates the Classic of Mountains and Seas IP Universe
At the matchmaking session, JAI showcased its distinctive school-running philosophy of integrating teaching, research and industry, alongside its full industrial chain project incubation capacity. Adhering to the principle of teaching as foundation, research as support and industry as orientation, the institute leverages its affiliated enterprises to deliver hands-on training, enabling students to participate in real commercial projects and realize deep integration of talent cultivation, artistic creation and market commercialization.
Matchmaking site
JAI presented three flagship IPs: Zap's Last Stand, the Classic of Mountains and Seas - Land of Birds, and Legend of King Yu. As a cornerstone of the school’s Shanhai Universe strategic layout, Shanhai Universe: Kingdom of Birds, together with Legend of King Yu, forms an original IP matrix rooted in the ancient Chinese classic Classic of Mountains and Seas. The series blends prehistoric myths, contemporary culture, futuristic technology and artistic creation, forming a closed-loop cultural industrial chain covering content production, communication, derivative development and operation.
on-site discussion
JAI put forward cooperation intentions covering copyright licensing, derivative authorization and joint development, drawing strong interest from Golden Eagle Cartoon, Zhongnan Cartoon, Youku, Lightyear Studio and other enterprises. Many participants praised JAI’s complete full-cycle IP incubation system and mature industrialized operation thinking, and preliminary cooperation intentions were reached for multiple projects on site.
Participation in this animation festival marks another high-profile showcase of JAI’s integrated teaching-research-industry achievements and an effective channel to link industrial resources via original IPs. Moving forward, the institute will further deepen industry-education integration, transform more student creations into market-ready productions, and incubate more original works with both artistic merit and commercial potential. It will respond to industrial demands through innovative creation and fuel cultural prosperity with high-quality talent cultivation.
