
10/08/2025
USC alumna Xindi Zhang’s film, “The Song of Drifters,” received a gold win October 6 in the alternative/experimental category for the 2025 Student Academy Awards.
Zhang graduated in 2025 from the School of Cinematic Arts’ expanded animation research and practice master’s program. The award-winning film was her thesis.
The film blended many different animation techniques and tools, as well as “AI morphing,” with documentary-style interviews.
Zhang describes the film as “a mental journey for people who travel in different places and couldn’t settle down, and how they figure out how to find their own belongings throughout this drifting life.”
This film drew inspiration from her own personal experiences.
“This film actually is like a mental therapy to my identity issue,” Zhang said. “I couldn’t figure out where I want to settle down because I’m about to be in either that age or in that stage to live somewhere longer, not just in a transition or something. I figured it was just not possible to choose a place because I don’t get any sense of belonging to anywhere I’ve lived.”
Read more at the link in our bio.
📝 Kayla Xu and Ella R. Dunn
📸 Photo courtesy of Xindi Zhang