Chinese-American Siqi Song's film Sister was shortlisted by the Academy this week for its story about a boy losing his little sister due to China's one-child rule

The short imagines what it could have been like to have a younger sister in China, but a later development, the audience learns the sister was never born and was a victim of China's one-child policy. Sister is nominated for a 2020 Oscar and has already won over a dozen awards for the production.

Sister was written by Siqi Song while she was a student at the California Institute of the Arts. The film parallels the loss of a tooth to the loss of a baby to reveal that his sister was never born in this emotional short. It is based on the common experience of families living in China who conceived multiple children but were only permitted to keep one by law. The film has received various praises for the relatability of growing up in China without siblings.

Sister was screened in Canada at the Ottawa International Animation and the Spark Animation Festival in Vancouver.