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Ballad of a Bleeding Heart

A cockroach wants to prove that it's a good cockroach.

Capstone film, Pratt Institute

Coming Soon

This film is created for senior capstone project. It is a stop-motion film combined with live-action. By overlapping the handmade world and the real world,  For this project, I worked on visual development, fabrication, writing, directing (animation and voice actors), animation, cinematography, and editing. The story follows Roach, a cockroach who tries to prove to the world that it's not a bad cockroach. All its efforts seem to be in vain. But is there really no point in trying?

Trailer

Arthouse Festival of Beverly Hills, Best Animated Short, 2024

Luna Lumen Film Festival, Best Animation, 2024

International Cosmopolitan Film Festival of Tokyo, Best Student Animation, 2024

Denver Underground Film Festival, Best Animated Short, 2024

Finalist, New York Animation Film Awards, 2024

Semi-Finalist, NEW YORK INDIE SHORTS AWARDS, 2024

Semi-Finalist, Berlin Indie Awards, 2024

Semi-Finalist, Chicago Filmmaker Awards, 2024

Simi-Finalist, Edinburgh Film Awards, 2024

Semi-Finalist, Berlin Shorts Award, 2024

Semi-Finalist, Detroit Independent Film Festival, 2024

Official Selection, International Stockholm Film Festival, 2024

Official Selection, Golden Short Film Festival, 2024

Official Selection, #MoStopMo - Stop Motion Shorts Festival, 2024

Official Selection, City Of Arts Film Festival, 2024

Official Selection, Motion Pictures International Film Festival, 2024

Honorable Mention, Los Angeles Animation Festival, 2024

© 2025 by Fuzhi Zhao. 

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