Author/producer/actor Julia Morizawa’s animated quick movie Dragonfly will premiere on the thirty ninth Los Angeles Asian Pacific Movie Competition on Sunday, Might 7 at 8 p.m., on the Japanese American Nationwide Museum. The movie will probably be screened within the “Misplaced and Discovered” animation program, described as “Discarded goals. Forgotten reminiscences. Lacking items. These animated movies will probably be the place we put all of it again collectively once more.”
Dragonfly tells the story of a younger lady who learns of her mom’s survival of the Tokyo Firebombing on March 9-10, 1945 via the eyes of her brother’s spirit. The movie opens in Komoro, Japan, 1956, the place 10-year-old Sumiko chases a purple dragonfly via her household’s farm whereas her mom, Yoshiko, watches from a distance. Flashback to Tokyo, 1945: Yoshiko, her husband, Susumu, and their child boy, Kiyoshi, are pressured to evacuate their residence when a whole lot of B-29 bombers drop incendiary bombs on the town, erupting into a large fireplace.
The story is impressed by the little-known lives of Morizawa’s maternal grandparents. Whereas researching her household heritage, Morizawa interviewed her mom, Sumiko, and was supplied little or no details about Yoshiko and Susumu’s life throughout WWII, besides that they had been dwelling in Tokyo however a hearth pressured them again to the household farm in Komoro. It wasn’t till Morizawa started researching fires in Tokyo within the Nineteen Forties that she discovered in regards to the firebombing and the immensity of the tragedy. Along with being an homage to the grandparents she by no means met, Morizawa’s intention with Dragonfly is to boost consciousness about this occasion in historical past earlier than it, and the individuals who had been misplaced, are totally forgotten.
The script was awarded Finest Quick Screenplay by Scriptation Showcase and Screenwriting Grasp in 2019, and was a semifinalist or quarterfinalist in a number of different competitions together with the Austin Movie Competition, Slamdance and WeScreenplay Numerous Voices.
Dragonfly is written and produced by Morizawa, with govt producers Brian Sturges, James Babbin, John Titchenal, Lucas A. Ferrara, Derek Kolterman and Christopher Luk. Maria Marta Linero served because the animation director with Eva Benita as lead animator. The music consists by Aiko Fukushima with sound design by Giorgia Garcia-Moreno. The voice expertise consists of: Morizawa, Erika Ishii, Miya Kodama and Thomas Isao Morinaka.
Morizawa’s produced writing credit embody the improvised characteristic movie JesusCat (or How I Unintentionally Joined a Cult), awarded Finest Comedy Function on the Asians on Movie Competition in 2014 and the Film Heroes Rising Star Award on the Motion On Movie Competition in 2013; the quick movie Sin & Lyle, which earned her a Finest Feminine Filmmaker nomination on the Motion On Movie Competition in 2007; the play Twenty-Two, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2010; and the audio drama American Comedy Horror Story: Orphanage. As an actor, she has appeared in characteristic movie (Judas Kiss), TV sequence (Scandal, SEAL Crew), stage works (Masha No House, With out Annette), internet sequence (Galactic Galaxy, Star Trek: Odyssey) and fiction podcast The Vivid Classes.
LAAPFF will characteristic an animated shorts program in addition to the U.S. premiere of Philippines-produced 2020 animated comedy characteristic You Animal! (Hayop Ka!) by Avid Liongoren. Extra data and ticketing obtainable on-line. The quick movie lineup consists of:
Misplaced and Discovered
- Echo by Sang Joon Kim
- Colorville by Ushmey Chakraborty, Wyatt Corridor
- The Sprayer by Farnoosh Abedi
- Meihouwang by Justin Ni
- Nicely Needs My Love, Your Love by Gabriel Gabriel Garble
- Marionettes (and the Advantage of a Lotus Flower) by Prajdnik Awasthi
- Orion by Kyung Na Park
- Dragonfly by Julia Morizawa
- Stella by Steve Nguyen
