A team of final-year student animators from Cape Town won a gold medal for best
student film at the New York Festival’s International Advertising Awards ceremony this week.
Dayaan Abarder from Mitchells Plain, the lead compositor for the award-winning five-minute short film Hewn, was one of seven The Animation School students who submitted the film for consideration at the International Advertising Awards.
Kelly McCarter directed the film, which deals with the experience of parents raising children.
Abarder said: “I was responsible for the visual storytelling, taking the images and turning it into a story-board.
“It’s a really special story for me.”
Abarder’s love for the art came from his interest in drawing, art and storytelling.
“The Animation School has a good reputation on the African continent. When I got in there it was a dream come true,” he said.
After finishing his diploma he managed to get an internship at one of the biggest animation studios on the African continent – Triggerfish.
“I’m working on one of their productions, which is a big deal for me,” said Abarder.
Asked about his new status as an award-winning animator, he says: “Adults don’t take animation as seriously but my little cousins think I’m a rock star.”
Other members of the team are Tyler Solomon, Kent Mayne, Kyle Maier and Sebastian Kristiansen.
Toni Andrews, responsible for production and lighting, said the award was all due to teamwork. “We spent many hours at the college.
‘‘This award echoes the hard work of the team,” said Andrews, who works as a lighting artist at Sunrise Productions, which is in Westlake.
Earlier this year the film also won a best story award at the Cape Town International Animation Festival.