Adventures of Malia is a 2015 independent animation short film directed, animated and written by Shubhavi Arya. The film was completed by Shubhavi Arya at the age of 16 years.
Adventures of Malia held its US premiere on 21 March 2015 at the School Daze Movie Fest in Oregon. As of November 2015, it has been accepted in competition by more than 30 international film festivals including the 51st Chicago International Film Festival, the 2015 Arlington International Film Festival and the ENIMATION Little Elephant - International Children and Youth Film Festival. The film got nominated for 11 international film awards, winning 3 of them including the Honorary Mention Foreign Film Award at the ColorTape International Film Festival, Australia and Best Under 18 Filmmaker at the Global Independent Film Awards, United States.
Plot In order to save her home from rampant pollution, a little girl goes in search of a magical spell and transforms into a mermaid.
Development After Shubhavi Arya worked as an animator at the age of 12 years in the short film "ZAP" and received critical acclaim at numerous international film festivals including Viborg Animation Festival, Denmark and Golden Snail International Animation Film Festival, Serbia, she set about developing her own material for her own next project. After an unusually long development period, the film was completed by Shubhavi Arya in February 2015 at the age of 16 years. The trailer of the film was released online on 11 February 2015. Adventures of Malia is created using cutout and stop-motion animation techniques.
Critical reception and reviews The film gained national and international recognition. The film has received mostly rave reviews. Jury members from the CINE Golden Eagle Awards noted "There are some fantastic details captured in this stop motion. The sound design really adds to the visual environment. This is very impressive for a 16-year-old!" and "Amazing talent. Great use of sound". Rock and Roll Film Festival 2015, Kenya agrees by saying "16-year-old, Shubhavi Arya, shows great promise as she writes, directs and animates "The Adventures of Malia". If she carries on like this, it won't be long before she is winning a lot of awards for her work." Other praise included jury of the Underexposed Film Festival who said "There is something great about seeing a film which celebrates its naive style. I was delighted by some of the treatments that the filmmaker brought to the piece. The smoke was well done for example and I really liked the fact that not everything was just a straight visual representation of what was being said. I also liked the fact that the underwater sequences were graded differently to give those scenes a distinctive look. It also had an excellent use of colour and the vibrant style was good to see. Once Shubhavi hones her craft, she may well produce some very interesting work." Insight Curation Scheme, United Kingdom noted its key influences "I like the animation style very much and the clear and bold shapes in the film (e.g. the green clouds and wind farm), reminding me of Richard Scarry and the original Moomins animated series. It's a warm and witty world to travel through with a strong eco-theme. There are some wonderful creatures here and I love the lo-fi Mighty Booshness of the film's aesthetic and its slow pace." The general consensus praised the film's animated setting, vibrant visuals and pleasant undertones.
The film received numerous international awards and was selected for screening at several international film festivals. It was the only selection from India at many international film festivals including the 51st Chicago International Film Festival – Cine Youth 2015, US and Kratka Forma – The International Festival of Short Films 2015, Serbia. Adventures of Malia was the only film directed by an Under 18-year-old at the Twister Alley Film Festival 2015, US. It received critical acclaim all around the world and was screened in over 48 film festivals in over 18 countries. Adventures of Malia made it into the quarter-finals at the ColorTape International Film Festival 2015, Brisbane, Australia. Adventures of Malia made it into the Top 16 films for the Foreign Film Award at the ColorTape International Film Festival 2015, Brisbane, Australia. It was the only Indian film to be a winner in the Global Independent Film Awards, US in August 2015.
Awards and nominations Awards and nominations for Adventures of Malia Year Association Country Award category Status 2016 Scout Film Festival Best in Animation 2015 Twister Alley International Film Festival Best Family Short 2015 Twister Alley International Film Festival Best Animated Short 2015 Awareness Film Festival Merit Award of Awareness 2015 ColorTape International Film Festival Honorary Mention Award for Best Foreign Film 2015 TOFUZI -7th International Festival of Animation Films Best Children Film 2015 International Chinh India Kids Film Festival and Forum Best Kids for Kids 2015 Global Independent Film Awards Best Environmental Film 2015 Global Independent Film Awards Best Under 18 Filmmaker
Official selections and screenings Year Association Location Country 2015 Chicago International Film Festival – Cine Youth Chicago, Illinois 2015 Kratka Forma – The International Festival of Short Films Gornji Milanovac 2015 ENIMATION Little Elephant - International Children and Youth Film Festival Maribor 2015 Mobographia – Mobile Film Festival São Paulo 2015 Arlington International Film Festival Cambridge 2015 Global Independent Film Awards Henderson, Nevada 2015 San Diego International Kids Film Festival Carlsbad, California 2015 Ithaca Pan Asian American Film Festival Ithaca, New York 2015 Twister Alley International Film Festival Oklahoma 2015 Superman Celebration Fan Film Festival Illinois 2015 Underexposed Film Festival South Carolina 2015 Red Dirt International Film Festival Oklahoma 2015 Los Angeles Cine Fest Los Angeles 2016 Ridgefield Independent Film Festival Ridgefield, Connecticut 2016 11th REDCAT International Children’s Film Festival Los Angeles 2017 International Film Festival of Oranjemund Oranjemund, Karas 2016 Ekofilm Festival Nowogard 2016 Wiper Film Festival New York, New York 2016 18th Backup Kurzfilm Festival Weimar, Thueringen 2016 Bonita Springs International Film Festival Bonita Springs, Florida 2015 The Monthly Film Festival Glasgow 2016 Love International Film Festival Encino, California 2015 Steam House Entertainment Independent Film Awards Modesto, California 2015 EyeCatcher Film Festival McAlester, Oklahoma 2015 Salt Flats Film Festival Bountiful, Utah 2015 Chinh India Kids Film Festival New Delhi 2015 IN.S.A.N.E. International Society Animation Noted Event Malmö 2016 Near Nazareth Festival Afula 2015 StarBest Film Festival Melbourne 2016 Ozark Shorts Lamar, Missouri 2015 Visionaria Sienna 2015 Festival Angaelica Pasadena, California 2015 Frame By Sound Festival Santo Domingo 2015 Phoenix Film Festival Melbourne 2015 Chiyoko International Children and Youth Film Festival Zurich 2015 Brighton Youth Film Festival Brighton 2015 TOFUZI – 7th International Festival of Animation Films Batumi 2015 AnimaSyros – Videotheque Section Athens 2016 Children’s Film Fest Seattle Seattle 2015 Universal Film Festival Missouri 2015 School Daze Movie Fest Oregon 2015 Three Cities International Film and TV Conference Los Angeles 2015 Columbia Gorge International Film Festival Los Angeles 2015 Flixx Fest Los Angeles 2015 Student Art Festival Goldenrod, Florida
References
External links
Adventures of Malia at the ENIMATION Little Elephant, Slovenia Adventures of Malia – Social Seam Adventures of Malia at IN.S.A.N.E., Sweden