For the world-famous Festival de Cannes, running now through May 24, the film festival’s jury consists of famous names within the industry ranging from actress Robin Wright Penn (“State of Play”) to director James Gray (“Two Lovers”). However, this week students have a special opportunity to help decide festival winners as well.
Thanks to the festival’s Short Film Corner online competition, students at UCLA have the chance to nominate a fellow Bruin. Joaquin Baldwin, a graduate student in animation at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s, is a current nominee in the online competition for his four-minute film “Sebastian’s Voodoo.”
“Our students are extraordinarily talented,” said Teri Bond, the director of marketing and publicity for the School of Theater, Film and Television. “Their work is consistently selected to screen in the most prestigious festivals in the world such as Cannes, Berlin and Sundance.”
This will be Baldwin’s second year as a finalist in this category. Last year he submitted “Papiroflexia,” a short about an origamist who folds an urban world into natural beauty.
“Sebastian’s Voodoo” features a heroic voodoo doll that gives his life in order to spare his doll friends from a fatal needle-piercing to the heart.
“It’s a very dark scene and a very dark film in general, but I think that’s probably the big appeal of it,” Baldwin said. “(It’s a) very textured, dark, creepy world and a lot of people find that that’s a surprising quality. … People are sitting there expecting a laugh because it’s animated, and then it’s actually a sad, tragic story, though.”
Baldwin describes himself as self-taught. He said that he began learning computer animation in high school by just playing around doing “silly animations.” Originally from Paraguay, he eventually moved to the U.S. to get his B.F.A from the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio.
The animation is available for viewing at Baldwin’s Web site, pixelnitrate.com. Though the site was originally created to help him find contacts in the industry, it is largely responsible for jump-starting the film’s road to fame.
“Everything went viral, like 600,000 views on YouTube in just a couple weeks. And it’s just crazy. You get a lot more people seeing your film than you will ever will in all the festivals combined,” Baldwin said.
So far, “Sebastian’s Voodoo” has managed to snag a more than 40 awards since its release last year. However, Baldwin seems to be most proud of his Annie Awards nomination.
“That’s very big in the industry,” he said.
In order to win the online competition, Baldwin has to gather the most votes. Students that intend to show their support need can visit pixelnitrate.com to do so. The voting period lasts through May 20.