Daughter Animated Short
Daria Kascheeva´s bachelor film Daughter has won the Crystal Annecy Prize for Best Student Film, the Main Audience Award at the International Film Festival in Melbourne, and Best film Award in at the Festival of Animation, in Fantoche, Switzerland.
This week the animation short has its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
In their press release, the short co-producers MAUR film declares:
“The animated puppet drama Daughter by Daria Kashcheeva from the university FAMU (Department of Animated Film), co-produced with MAUR film company, has won the international competition of the best 1615 school films. Daughter was awarded the prestigious prize known as the Student Oscar for the best foreign animated movie which is awarded by the American Academy of Film Arts and Sciences. This most prestigious award was won in 1989 by Jan Svěrák’s “Oil Gobblers”, his graduate film. The Czech school of animation thus confirms the quality of its students.”
The director Daria Kashcheeva chose for her film an utterly unique art form, where she achieves very realistic shots with a hand-held camera, which is, in a puppet movie, a pioneering technique. In her work she drew inspiration from films by Lars Von Trier and the Dardenne brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre. The film is made completely by hand with no digital effects. This is also one of the reasons why it has been gaining so much worldwide recognition from critics and audiences alike. Today is one of the most important days in Daria’s student life. Not only was she awarded the Student Oscar, but she also graduated and achieved her bachelor’s degree by successfully passing her state exam.”
Daria Kashcheeva has already a degree as a pianist from the Moscow Conservatory of Music. She has made several animated films in different techniques, like a mix of pixillation and stop motion for her winning (International Nespresso Talents) 2017 film To Accept. Now, she´s preparing her MA subject film, to graduate in two years.
“About Daughter: A young girl has buried a painful memory inside her: When she was a small girl, she brought home an injured little bird and her father, burdened by various worries, hadn’t noticed her feelings and need for understanding. The girl took her father’s reaction as a rejection and locked herself into her inner world of longing for paternal love and its manifestations. Since that moment she and her dad were growing more and more apart and as an adult she is not able to accept her father’s expressions of love. The father, suffering from guilt, is searching for a way back to his daughter and aims to reclaim the lost relationship.”
If you can, catch the short while in Festivals. Meanwhile, check out the trailer!
