1979 is a nostalgic look at young love, following a young couple as they meet as children, fall in love as teenagers then drift apart as young adults. The paper cutout, stop-motion animation is all set to the song of the same name by Sweden’s Pain of Salvation.
About the Film
1979 was first inspired by a trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum, where I viewed a tiny little peephole that showed a little, paper illustration of a whaling event.
Around the same time, I had started listening to the Swedish band, Pain of Salvation, and was hooked on their song also titled 1979. I thought that an illustrated, paper-cutout animation, set in a peephole, would be a great way to tell a nostalgic story that would emotionally resonate with the song.
And what’s more nostalgic than your first love?
A computer animator by trade, I am a huge fan of stop motion animation and wanted to challenge myself to see if I could create a compelling stop motion animation. Paper cutout puppets seemed much less daunting than fully armatured puppets, though, I’d soon discover, not without their own challenges.
With a shoe-string budget and some open space in my basement for the camera stand – the adventure began!
Awards
Award Winner
- Barciff Barcelona – 2022
- Best Director Nominee
- Short Film Factory – October 2022
- Best ‘Relationship’
- The Massachusetts Independent Film Festival – 2022
- Magnolia Independent Film Festival
- Best Animation
- Best Music Video
- Vermont Animation Festival – 2023
- Best Overall
Selected
- Stockholm City Film Festival – 2022
- Boston Short Film Festival – 2022
- Ashfield Film Fest – 2022
- Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Festival • BARCIFF – 2022
- Best Director Nominee
- Queens World Film Festival – 2022
Semi-Finalist
- AniMate – Australia Animation Film Festival – 2022
- Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival – 2022