Filipino-Australian animation director and producer Robertino Zambrano’s film LOVE IN THE TIME OF MARCH MADNESS has been shortlisted in the short animation category for the 2016 Academy Awards.
Narrated (and co-produced and co-directed) by the USA’s Melissa Johnson, the 9-minute animated short film is based on Melissa’s own life story. A lifetime in the making, LOVE IN THE TIME OF MARCH MADNESS was written by Melissa and draws from her unique and unusual life vantage point as a tall woman on the dating scene. After hitting 6’4″ in the 8th grade and becoming a college basketball star, the film follows her hilarious and awkward misadventures in romance as she dates shorter men and gets cheered or jeered wherever she goes.
It is one of ten short films to be shortlisted for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar.
Blazing with honesty and dark humour, LOVE IN THE TIME OF MARCH MADNESS is a ‘tall short’ – a true story that dip’s into Melissa’s thoughts and memories and is all about embracing difference.
Melissa Johnson describes it best when she says: “After all, we don’t see other people the way that they are, we see them the way that we are.”
Powerful storytelling and narration is brought to life by Australian animators KAPWA Studioworks. With Aussie director and animator Robertino Zambrano at the helm, KAPWA used a combination of traditional 2D animation techniques, hand-generated textures and digital 2D and 3D animation techniques. The result is a stunning frame-by-frame oil paint-like technique giving the short film an amazing hand-made look and feel.
The film was selected from 60 other entries that had qualified in this Academy Awards category, with five nominees ultimately being selected from this shortlist in January 2016.
This is the latest in a long list of awards and accolades for the short film. These include: Tribeca Film Festival (Best Online Short Film), Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Winner, Best Short Documentary), Sydney Underground Film Festival (Winner, Audience Choice Award), Flickerfest (Honourable Mention), 4th Annual AACTA Awards (Nominee, Best Animated Short Film), Annecy International Animation Festival (Best Animated Documentary), Official Competition Selection at the Annecy International Animation Festival, and Animatou International Animation Festival (Best Animated Documentary) and selection for the 17th Animation Show of Shows.
