Julia Morizawa’s Household Historical past Brief ‘Dragonfly’ to Premiere at LA Asian Pacific Movie Fest

Author/producer/actor Julia Morizawa’s animated quick movie Dragonfly will premiere on the thirty ninth Los Angeles Asian Pacific Movie Competition on Sunday, Might 7 at 8 p.m., on the Japanese American Nationwide Museum. The movie shall be screened within the “Misplaced and Discovered” animation program, described as “Discarded desires. Forgotten recollections. Lacking items. These animated movies shall be the place we put all of it again collectively once more.”

Dragonfly tells the story of a younger lady who learns of her mom’s survival of the Tokyo Firebombing on March 9-10, 1945 via the eyes of her brother’s spirit. The movie opens in Komoro, Japan, 1956, the place 10-year-old Sumiko chases a crimson dragonfly via her household’s farm whereas her mom, Yoshiko, watches from a distance. Flashback to Tokyo, 1945: Yoshiko, her husband, Susumu, and their child boy, Kiyoshi, are pressured to evacuate their residence when lots of of B-29 bombers drop incendiary bombs on the town, erupting into an enormous hearth.

The story is impressed by the little-known lives of Morizawa’s maternal grandparents. Whereas researching her household heritage, Morizawa interviewed her mom, Sumiko, and was provided little or no details about Yoshiko and Susumu’s life throughout WWII, besides that they have been residing in Tokyo however a fireplace pressured them again to the household farm in Komoro. It wasn’t till Morizawa started researching fires in Tokyo within the Nineteen Forties that she realized in regards to the firebombing and the immensity of the tragedy. Along with being an homage to the grandparents she by no means met, Morizawa’s intention with Dragonfly is to lift consciousness about this occasion in historical past earlier than it, and the individuals who have been misplaced, are solely forgotten.

The script was awarded Greatest Brief Screenplay by Scriptation Showcase and Screenwriting Grasp in 2019, and was a semifinalist or quarterfinalist in a number of different competitions together with the Austin Movie Competition, Slamdance and WeScreenplay Various Voices.

Dragonfly is written and produced by Morizawa, with govt producers Brian Sturges, James Babbin, John Titchenal, Lucas A. Ferrara, Derek Kolterman and Christopher Luk. Maria Marta Linero served because the animation director with Eva Benita as lead animator. The music consists by Aiko Fukushima with sound design by Giorgia Garcia-Moreno. The voice expertise consists of: Morizawa, Erika Ishii, Miya Kodama and Thomas Isao Morinaka.

Morizawa’s produced writing credit embody the improvised function movie JesusCat (or How I By accident Joined a Cult), awarded Greatest Comedy Characteristic on the Asians on Movie Competition in 2014 and the Film Heroes Rising Star Award on the Motion On Movie Competition in 2013; the quick movie Sin & Lyle, which earned her a Greatest Feminine Filmmaker nomination on the Motion On Movie Competition in 2007; the play Twenty-Two, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2010; and the audio drama American Comedy Horror Story: Orphanage. As an actor, she has appeared in function movie (Judas Kiss), TV sequence (Scandal, SEAL Workforce), stage works (Masha No Dwelling, With out Annette), net sequence (Galactic Galaxy, Star Trek: Odyssey) and  fiction podcast The Shiny Classes.

LAAPFF will function an animated shorts program in addition to the U.S. premiere of Philippines-produced 2020 animated comedy function You Animal! (Hayop Ka!) by Avid Liongoren. Extra info and ticketing available online. The quick movie lineup consists of:

Misplaced and Discovered

• Echo by Sang Joon Kim
• Colorville by Ushmey Chakraborty, Wyatt Corridor
• The Sprayer by Farnoosh Abedi
• Meihouwang by Justin Ni
• Properly Needs My Love, Your Love by Gabriel Gabriel Garble
• Marionettes (and the Advantage of a Lotus Flower) by Prajdnik Awasthi
• Orion by Kyung Na Park
• Dragonfly by Julia Morizawa
• Stella by Steve Nguyen