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Grace An
Cabbage Daddy
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL | 2026
JAN 22 – FEB 1
World Premiere | Animated Shorts
CABBAGE DADDY
Writer, Director, Animator: Grace An
Images © Grace An
JAN, 21, 2026
When the mind of a bilingual child mirrors absurd translations, their poetic misinterpretations can accidentally produce multiple meanings — and create puns.
Hi Grace, thank you for taking the time to talk with us about your short animation Cabbage Daddy, which is going to have its World Premiere at Sundance 2026. What does it mean to be at the festival with your short animation?
Thank you for having me. What an honour this selection has been! I’m still in disbelief.
It’s reinvigorated my drive to continue making films. After so many rejections, I had nearly given up in 2025, so this means a lot to me. Especially as my first international ‘official selection.’ Cabbage Daddy is such a small, indie project that I animated all alone in my apartment. I didn’t think a big festival like Sundance would look at it at all!
Any nerves setting in ahead of the festival?
Absolutely. Thankfully, there’s been so much to do before my trip that I’m not thinking about it too much. Rather than excitement, up until the announcement, I kept having nightmares that my acceptance would be withdrawn.
How much do your commercial projects like For the Culture, Bag Lady, and Walk with Me inform your creative approach to your animations?
Yes, I think so. For a long time, I thought that having had to do different types of projects set my practice behind. However, my reality is that I need to make a living. I’m proud that I have been able to do so, mostly through animation. I enjoy collaborating with other people, seeing how they approach their vision, and helping them bring it to life. Especially when it comes to topics, I believe I can handle more sensitively than others. Most of all, it has taught me to work fast and cheap. Take notes, edit down, and deliver on time. So, in my own projects, I know where to put in more effort. I hope that in my next film, I am afforded even more time to work carefully and return to my craft with beautiful animation.
During the making of Cabbage Daddy what have been some of the most interesting things you’ve discovered about yourself?
Working on Cabbage Daddy has taught me that I actually love animation. This is my first independent film, and it was also my first time going through a project so peacefully. Every day had a routine that it became meditative. I love directing, looking at the overall picture, but I’ve also learned to enjoy animating again. Perhaps because the style was easy to execute. Although there are still shots I don’t like, I finally felt like I could put my pen down and say, “It’s finished!”
Will you continue to make Kimchi?
Yes! It’s hard to come by good kimchi in the area I live in Montréal. But I have to say, my kimchi is pretty good (I use my mother’s recipe). It’s not as hard as everyone had told me it would be.
Can you tell me a little bit about how Cabbage Daddy came about?
Around 2018, I was working on an experimental short film on Super8 with the National Film Board of Canada, about language. At that time, I was thinking about ephemerality and miscommunication a lot. Reading Jacques Derrida and Oulipo writers.
I was born in Toronto, but spoke Korean with my family at home. Like many second-generation immigrants, my Korean is not the best. What arose from our broken conversations in Konglish, were interesting homophones. I started writing them down until eventually, I felt I had enough to build a script. At first, I wanted the film to be entirely text, like the educational videos I had to watch as a child, taking Korean lessons in a church basement. My mother always used to say that even when I was a child, she didn’t understand where the connections I was making between the languages were coming from.
The synopsis of the film is, “Why am I so bad at Korean?” because I’ve had to explain myself so often to people who’ve never met a second-gen before. Now, I can just play Cabbage Daddy!
Did you have any apprehensions about writing a script that came from a personal space?
It’s funny, I did a talk last year that was critical of personal narratives, especially in animation. So, I’ve thought about this a lot.
It’s important to me that I don’t tell narcissistic stories. Making films, just for myself, telling MY story. However, I believe every good script comes from a personal place. It has to come from an honest place in order to have any sort of substance to the audience. There’s a difference between specific perspectives and dumping performative trauma onto viewers. I understand and take seriously that whatever I make needs to be worth watching. Especially in an attention economy with so much out there to kill your time with.
You’ve said in making this film you wanted to create something that was funny and playful, do you think you have achieved that?
I didn’t know how much I liked making people laugh. I hope I’m funny! I’m glad people can see that side of me. The process of making the film was lighter than what I was used to. So in that sense, I think I was successful.
How different was that translation from Korean to French? I ask this because of the bilingual nature of Canada and I was guessing that you might have French subtitles for a Canadian release.
Oh, that has been a lot of fun. The French version is not ready yet, but I hope audiences get to see it here in Canada or other French-speaking countries. I went back and forth with my friend Thy Anne, whose children voice the film. We tried to make the curse words Québécois. I think our choices add to the script, creating a different experience. There’s a lot you can insinuate with the choice of determiners and capitalisation. Apparently, I like to play with words in various languages.
Also, I think the French title, Papa chou, is very cute. The Korean title is translated to ‘Bad Daddy’ because it rhymes.
What have been the biggest challenge you’ve faced bringing Cabbage Daddy to the big screen?
When imagining the release, I wasn’t even thinking about Sundance. I didn’t think that was possible! Therefore, I wasn’t thinking about what it would look like in theatres. Maybe just the internet. Near the end, my co-producer, Jo, suggested I scale down certain scenes because it would be overwhelming on a big screen, and she was right! I felt nauseous while testing the DCP, continuously rewatching the film, because it goes by so fast!
When working on an animated short how do you keep yourself focused and motivated during the process?
Not to brag, but I don’t have an issue staying focused. That’s probably why I was drawn to animation in the first place. Slower tasks such as reading and animating keep me grounded.
To me, burnout comes from other people, not the work itself. So, it’s important to continuously protect myself in order to protect the work.
How early in the production did Oliver Lewis come on board?
Initially, I wanted to find a collaborator in sound and music before I started production. I started to look as early as 2018. However, a film becomes what it needs to become, and Oliver was a huge part of that. I think he brought in his own unique take to the images and turned them into a zany experience! All while being incredibly patient with me. He’s the partner of my friend, whose films he also scores, so it was fun to hang out together during our meetings in their home studio.
How essential is the collaborative nature of an animator and composer when working on a short like Cabbage Daddy?
For this project specifically, I knew it was going to be important. One of the first things that sprang from this project, before a script, before any sketches, was a playlist. I told Oliver I wanted to animate some parts as if it were a music video, relying on the music. Oliver made the whole experience easy. For every cut, he made multiple scores, going in all directions. I think he made enough songs to make an EP!
What was your inspiration behind using crayons?
I knew I was going to be using crayons to animate pretty early on. Cabbage Daddy is trying to reflect the experience of a child grasping fleeting words in multiple languages, so I wanted the style to be a bit juvenile. Which was hard to do! I wanted it to be messier, but the animation kept becoming figurative, so I let it become what it is. Crayons weren’t as saturated as I had hoped, so I did boost it with some pastels. Making colour-correcting difficult.
Have you always had a passion for animation?
I’ve always had a passion for art. My parents are artists—ceramicists. My father taught me to draw, and my mother brought me to every show at the AGO. I was introduced to animation by a family friend and started animating on paper, testing my lines on VHS, while my mother did her second degree at Sheridan College. I must’ve been around 13 years old.
What have been the biggest changes to your work since your debut animation Sorry?
Sorry is a student film from 2014 that I made with a broken tablet. It wasn’t even my graduate film but an exercise I did in my 2nd year at Concordia University. I was too broke to buy a Wacom tablet and used a cheap one that didn’t last very long. I also didn’t like working in front of others, so I didn’t use the school’s facilities. I had slacked off that year and missed a bunch of my coursework. So, to make up for my grade, I decided to make a fully coloured film and ended up with a good grade. Much to my other classmates’ annoyance. My friends thought it was so funny. They joked, “You should submit it to Ottawa.”
I’ve experimented and changed a lot since then, but in some ways, I think I’m trying to return to that time. When I didn’t know how to censor myself and wasn’t thinking about what were “important subjects” that jurors or grant officers would want to see. I was just being so myself that I think there’s some truth in there. It was funny! Me, before all the heartbreak!
Was there any one animation you saw growing up that had a real impact on you?
For me it was a very bleak one called When The Wind Blows, still haunts me to this day.
That’s a beautiful example. I never know how to answer this question, but speaking of staying true to myself, I’ll be honest and admit that I was greatly shaped by the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. Whether I try or not, you can see its influence on my editing and love for text on screen.
"I think if you want to be a good animator, it’s integral to study something else… also. Even if that means going for a walk to look at birds."
What does your work say about you and the types of stories you want to bring to the world?
To those coming to my work for the first time, I’m curious about how it’s perceived, but I also think it’s bothersome to think about that too much. Sometimes I think there are not many similarities between my projects, which becomes a fault because it’s not recognisable. I approach each film as a unique story with different concepts.
Rather than what they have to say about me as an artist, I’m attempting to add to a larger dialogue. Overall, I hope to tell gut-wrenching stories that are sometimes funny and a bit melancholic. All while remaining sincere.
Do you have any advice or tips you would offer any one wanting to get into animation?
Don’t do it!
I’m just kidding… in the classes that I teach at OCAD University, I’m always surprised at how many students are into watching animation (mostly mainstream), and just that. I think if you want to be a good animator, it’s integral to study something else… also. Even if that means going for a walk to look at birds.
The act of animating has been glamourised with pretty character turnarounds and BTS videos. Which is great for marketing a film, but most of the process is incredibly dull and arduous. In my opinion, those who just keep going and continuously create, regardless of accolades, are the ones who last.
And finally, what would you like your audiences to take away from Cabbage Daddy?
From the few people who have seen it so far, I’ve been receiving a lot of stories about their struggles learning their respective languages. I’m glad Cabbage Daddy can generate more stories. I hope the audience laughs, resonates with it, and genuinely just enjoys it.