Animation, persian poetry in primary Oscar shortlist

The primary list of 26 animations for the 90th Academy Awards has been published which includes an animation related to Iran.

‘Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming’ directed by Ann Marie Fleming is a Canadian full-featured animation telling the story of a 20-year-old poet, Rosie Ming, living at home with her overprotective Chinese grandparents.

When she is invited to a poetry festival in Shiraz, Iran, she meets poets and Iranians, and finally learns more about the Iranian father who she had assumed abandoned her.

Rosie embarks on an unwitting journey of forgiveness, reconciliation and understanding, as she discovers her father’s past and her own cultural identity.

The animation takes a sensitive, subtle and playful look at building bridges between cultural and generational diversity. It is a film about identity and imagination, being curious, staying socially open and finding one’s own voice through the magic of poetry.

Fleming is an award-winning Canadian independent filmmaker, writer and artist. Born in Japan to Chinese and Australian parents, Fleming creates work that addresses themes of family, identity, history and memory.

In the animation, the director uses English adaptation of poems from Gulistan, a collection of poetry written in 1258 by the Persian poet Sa’di. Also poems from ‘Masnavi’ by theosophist and poet Rumi, are used to tie the animation with Persian culture.

Window Horses has been a successful animation for the award winning director. It received the Best British Columbian Film Award and Best Canadian Film Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada, as well as the Jury Prize at the Bucheon International Animation Festival, South Korea.

Male actor Peyman Moadi performs the voice act of a character in the animation named Peyman who is a Rumi interpreter reciting from the Masnavi. Voice of the main character, Rosie, is by Sandra Oh, Korean-Canadian actress.

The animation is an adaptation based on Fleming’s graphic novel ‘Window Horses: The Poetic Epiphany of Rosie Ming’. Beyond the awards, Window Horses has also received good feedback from critics. The movie has a perfect rating of 100% in Rotten Tomatoes, a movie critique website.