Ejun Mary Hong

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Ejun Mary Hong, currently based in Philadelphia, PA, is a Korean-Canadian animator and storyteller who brings dreams and lost stories to life through her work. Inspired by childhood vision challenges and the refuge she found in animated worlds, she creates films that explore deeply personal yet universal themes.

Her works include A Broken Star (2019), about discovering beauty through her vision challenges; Mother (2019), honoring her grandfather’s journey from loss to love; 38th Parallel (2021), portraying the pain of separated Korean families; Echoing, it doesn’t stop (2023), inspired by a Ukrainian poem on war resilience; and Footprints in the Sand (2025), sharing the stories of Korean lymphoma cancer patients. Her films received 14 awards and 40 official selections, including three Academy Award and BAFTA Qualifying Film Festivals. 

Hong is a Co-Founder and the Director of Programming of the LensBright Initiative, an award-winning, Philadelphia-based arts education nonprofit supported by the University of Pennsylvania's President's Engagement Prize, dedicated to building bridges between under resourced high school students and lens-based creative industries. For the past summers, she worked at Sony Pictures Entertainment (Los Angeles), Walt Disney Family Museum (San Francisco), and All Ages Productions (Philadelphia). 

Hong graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2025 with a B.A. in Fine Arts and Cinema and Media Studies, along with a minor in Design. 

Hong's email address: ejunhong@alumni.upenn.edu.


Left is a zine about me and my love for animation! And the right is my children’s illustration book, Sketchbook Dreams, that shares the story of how animation helped me overcome my fear of losing my vision as an artist.