Glenna Burmer’s animated short film, Nana korobi, Ya oki, recently received an award for Best Animation at the Alpine International Film Festival in Bern, Switzerland.
The film tells the story of a young girl in Hokkaido who overcomes seven trials to save an orphan during a snowstorm. It was created and produced by Glenna Burmer in collaboration with artistic director Gaby Breiter of Deep Sky Studios in Portland, Oregon. The original music featuring woodwinds and strings was composed by Burmer and recorded by Dynamedion in Germany.
The Alpine International Film Festival, expanded to a virtual format in 2023 to encourage more participation from producers and movie viewers, holds a monthly competition dedicated to short films of all genres. Burmer’s film was sought out by festival organizers after they had seen it at a partner festival.
Nana korobi, Ya oki has received some 60 awards from around the globe for best animation, best female composer and outstanding achievement, among others. The film was chosen to tour Great Britain in 2022 by the Women Over 50 Film Festival. The following year, Burmer received the Best Music Composer Award from the Tokyo Film Awards as well as the Award of Excellence for Best Animation from the Vegas Movie Awards where festival organizers called the film “beautiful.”
Nana korobi, Ya oki uses a dreamy animation style that reflects sumi-e art, a Japanese artistic style which employs black ink and distinctive brush strokes. The style was chosen as a tribute to Burmer’s mother, who was a sumi-e artist.