What’s there before life, and what comes after death? One of the many philosophical conundrums that make up the foundation of every religion, the afterlife takes the form of a tranquil, picturesque landscape in the animated film Another World (2025), with floating flowerbeds, gentle waterfalls, and little spirit guardians that guide lost souls to reincarnation. Gudo, one of these spirits called ‘soul keepers’, happens to meet a young girl named Yuri who has been separated from her little brother. He embarks on a journey with her, trying to guide her towards her next life.

If this sounds like the premise of a Studio Ghibli film, you’d be sorely mistaken. Having just premiered in England and Ireland at the cusp of February, Another World is brought to the silver screen by a team based in Hong Kong. Just before their afternoon Q&A screening at The Light Cambridge, I got to speak to producer Polly Yeung and director Tommy Ng.

Polly got the idea for Another World after reading the Japanese novel by Naka Saijo, Sennenki (Thousand-Year Ghost) around ten years ago. Struggling to come to terms with the intensifying anger and conflict that plagued the world, she found solace and insight in the novel and wanted to address these complexities through art.

“I wanted to do something about it,” she recalls. “I think this novel really gave me a lot of motivation to create something that echoes what my heart feels.” While searching for an animator suitable for the project, she happened to watch the movie Zombieology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight (2017); amidst the live-action excitement on screen, the two brief animated sequences caught her eye, leading her to the perfect match: Tommy Ng. A team was formed over dinner. “I thought that Polly was a very interesting person,” says Tommy. “She has a lot of unique thoughts about animation, and topics like reincarnation and the supernatural. That intrigued me a lot.”

This wasn’t just another project, but a chance for Tommy to realize his dreams of being a true animation artist. “When I studied animation back in 2010, I already knew my goal was to make animated movies. So when Polly approached me, I thought that this was the chance that I had been looking for for so long.”

“Encouraged by the positive response, they wanted to share the fruits of their labour with international audiences, which is why they have now brought the film to the UK”

The pilot short of what would become Another World was launched in 2018, but the seven long years in between were marred with difficulty. Advancing from a short film into a large-scale project, the team had to create work of high quality while working under tight schedules and high pressure. Polly points to their lack of experience, comparing their stumbling naivete to the fully matured Japanese animation industry. “[Their] system is really complicated because they have a lot of talents that make up a strict tiered hierarchy, so they can work in a very systematic way. But with only a few people on the team, we had to invent our own production line that fits our process. There was also no one that could help with the production of the movie, since [a Hong Kong-based animation] is so rarely made.”

The process, though strenuous, has paid off. “I think that the next time we do it, we can probably do it better and quicker.” Polly emphasises how the lack of hierarchy has actually benefitted their morale, allowing any member of the team to reach out directly. “It’s one of the ways that we make the animator feel more close to the project. We always keep them informed, making sure everyone is on the same page.”

One of the greatest challenges that the animation team faced was the visual aspect of Another World. Since the novel doesn’t offer a rich description of the universe, Tommy was tasked with creating the landscape from scratch. “The way I interpret Another World is that everything is transforming. In this strange world, the next time one visits the same place, it might already look different.” He conveys that with water motifs such as lakes, waterfalls, icy terrains, and misty plains, using the ever-changing properties of water to evoke the feeling of impermanence and mystique.

They also put their own creative twist on the characters. “[One of the characters] Dark Sky has a plume of smoke for a face, so we tried to distinguish between facial expressions through different shapes of smoke. As a Samurai-style fighter, he also leaves behind a smoke trail whenever he runs, so that’s very cool to me. He’s a fan favourite too,” says Tommy.

Another World has garnered critical acclaim, winning the Best Animated Feature at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards, but the highlight of the journey to Polly and Tommy was being selected for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. “Walking the red carpet with the team [at the Golden Horse Awards] was encouraging, but [Annecy] was the first time that we felt our movie was up to standard, that we could be seated with other internationally acclaimed filmmakers.” Encouraged by the positive response, they wanted to share the fruits of their labour with international audiences, which is why they have now brought the film to the UK.

“This is a Hong Kong movie made by Hong Kong people,” Tommy stresses. “We were really touched to showcase a story spoken in Cantonese in the cinema. It’s a beautiful experience that we want to share with audiences around the world.”

When asked if a story like Another World, rooted in Buddhist ideas like karma and reincarnation, might meet resistance with foreign audiences, Polly is confident that these concepts are no longer strange to the Western world. “Maybe 10 years ago, it would have been,” she says, “but now I think they can come and enjoy the story itself.”

“This is a Hong Kong movie made by Hong Kong people”

Ultimately, they hope that audiences can find self-love, acceptance, and kindness through the film. “There’s a quote from the movie: ‘You can be kind, you’ve just forgotten how.’ I hope that audiences can find their own Gudo, someone who protects and treasures them. But perhaps the first step is to be that Gudo, keeping other people company and believing that kindness still exists, even though the world is sometimes a little crazy.”

Catch Another World at The Light Cambridge, or follow @movieanotherworld for more information.