Nan
a korobi, Ya oki , an animated short video with original music by Glenna Burmer, won the Outstanding Achievement Award for Animated Short in March 2021 from the IndieX Film Festival.
IndieX Film Festival is a Los Angeles-based international film festival that features monthly screenings and Q&A sessions with filmmakers at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, Cal. Projects are judged by a varied team of invited experts from academia and the Los Angeles-area film industry.
Films submitted for consideration came from 15 countries. The winning entries will go on to the next round of competition.
Nana korobi, Ya oki, or Seven Falls, tells the story of a young girl in Hokkaido who overcomes seven trials to save an orphan during a snowstorm. The film’s title is from a well-known Japanese proverb which says: “Seven times you may fall, but get up the eighth.”
This short video was created and produced by Glenna Burmer with assistance from artistic director Gaby Breiter of Deep Sky Studios in Portland, Ore. The original music featuring woodwinds and strings was composed by Glenna Burmer and recorded by Dynamedion in Germany.
The dreamy animation style reflects sumi-e art, a Japanese artistic style that employs black ink and distinctive brush strokes. The style was chosen as a tribute to Burmer’s mother, who was a sumi-e artist. The animated video will be released later this year.