TWO BLACK BOYS IN PARADISE has been nominated for the
@bafta for Best Short Animation, to join its
@bifa nomination for Best British Short and
@criticscircle nomination for Best British/Irish Short.
Eden and Dula are two black boys on a journey of self-acceptance. Their love for each other, and their refusal to hide it, lands them in a paradise free from shame and judgement.
Supported by the
@britishfilminstitute and narrated by
@jordanfstephens , it's been a five-year journey with studio
@one_6th to adapt
@deanatta 's incredibly powerful poem into a stop motion short, and when we set out, we could never have envisaged the reaction we've had from audiences.
Having premiered at the 39th BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, the film has gone on to win audience and jury awards at festivals around the world, including
@encounterssff and
@woodstockfilmfestival , while also streaming on
@channel4 having won the
@irisprize audience award.
Incredibly proud of nominees writer/exec producer
@deanatta , writer/producer
@germanbenjack and writer/director/co-DP
@bazsells , and delighted their relentless hard work, dedication and talent has been recognised. Thank you for the opportunity to collaborate with you to bring Eden and Dula's vital story to life on screen.
I love stop motion dearly, so it was an honour to work with these rushes, made by over 100 crew members pouring themselves into every detail for thousands of hours - seeing the animatic transform frame by frame into full-blown animation was majestic.
Special thanks to
@aviascheltsbrown for the phenomenal storyboards which formed the bedrock of our animatic, co-DP
@jonathan_garvey for collaborating on the workflow, exec producer Aoife Hayes for incisive feedback throughout the edit, and the entire post crew - VFX artists
@affixxius , Andy Kiernan and
@elioteden , colourist
@nedeem_colour , sound and music
@picturesonix , and re-recording mixer
@alex_bird_audio - for their collaboration and wizardry weaving the final film together.
Making of filmed by
@leonagasperr and edited by
@joe.eckworth .
You can watch the full 9-minute film for free on
@channel4 here:
channel4.com/programmes/two-black-boys-in-paradise
