THE GREATEST HOUSE MY FATHER BUILT
A father builds his dream home;
his son grows up watching it fall apart.
Synopsis:
A koi pond with a waterfall. A towering birdcage. Huge rooms.
Through a child’s eyes, a son remembers the grand house his family once lived in together in an autobiographical animated documentary. Not everything endured.
DATASHEET
| title | the greatest house my father built |
| category | short film |
| genre | animated documentary |
| duration | 11 minutes |
| format | 4:3 digital |
| techniques | hand-drawn 2D, game capture |
| thematic | family, childhood, coming-of-age |
| language | Hakka with English subtitles |
| country | Malaysia |
| year | 2027 |
“Given the outstanding theme and expressive style of this work, we thought it would be a wonderful film that no one had ever seen before and that we could aim for awards at short film festivals around the world.”
Kodansha Cinema Creators’s Lab
Selection Committee
OUR TEAM
KING YAW SOON
DIRECTOR • WRITER • ANIMATOR
EDITOR AT Electronic artsKing Yaw Soon is a Malaysia-born filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist based in San Francisco. His work spans animation, documentary, and experimental storytelling, often exploring memory, migration, and family history.
His films have won awards and screened internationally at Academy-qualifying film festivals, and have been broadcast in the United States on KQED Film School Shorts and in Japan via Pacific Voice Inc.
Alongside his filmmaking practice, he works as a video editor at Electronic Arts, contributing to trailers for The Sims 4 and EA Sports FC, reaching millions of viewers online.
Filmography:
Yello (2020) — Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia Premiere
My Mother, Myself & I (2019) — Cinequest Premiere
Something Carved And Real (2017) — Campus MovieFest Best Picture
Korean-born and based in San Francisco, Allison Kim works at Pixar Animation Studios by day while pursuing creative projects across film and music. As producer of The Greatest House My Father Built, she supports the film’s development and production.
Selected Credits (Pixar & Independent):
Hoppers (2026)
Wishing Trees (2025)
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Elemental (2023)
PRODUCER
SYSTEMS ENGINEER at PIXAR Animation studios