Hair Love’s writer and co-director Matthew A. Cherry predicted that he’s simply going to be nominated for an Academy Award just won an Oscar. The animated project nabbed this year’s Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. The movie bested Sister from Siqi Song, Daughter from Daria Kashcheeva, Kitbull from Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson and Mémorable from Bruno Colle and Jean-Francois Le Corre.
Clocking in at six minutes and 47 seconds, Hair Love is about the story of an African-American father learning to do his daughter Zuri’s hair for the first time. It features the voice of Issa Rae as the mother. The whole scene is quite funny and endearing, with the father feeling so anxious about getting down to it the first time. With a mix of fun and emotional bits, the brief narrative is impactful. And now, it’s an Oscar-winning movie - something that Cherry may have spoken into existence.
In light of Hair Love’s win during last night’s Academy Awards celebration, people tracked down Cherry’s tweet from 2012 declaring that one day, he’ll be nominated for an Oscar. Eight years later. he’s not only nominated, but also a winner. The writer/director also reposted his tweet from 2016 as he was looking for 3D artists for “an Oscar worthy short film idea.” People in the comment section were happy for this win, but some of them are also using this opportunity to openly declare their goals - just like Cherry did in 2012. Check out the tweets below:
Other than the fact that Cherry seemingly predicted his Academy Award win eight years ago, what makes this win sweeter is the fact that he went to great lengths to have Hair Love made. The film was produced thanks to a Kickstarter campaign in 2017. Initially, Cherry was only aiming for a $75,000 goal, but contributions easily surpassed that. In the end, it was bale to raise over $300,000. According to Kickstarter, this is the highest amount raised by a short film on their crowdsourcing website. Last year, it was picked up by Sony Pictures Animation, and was released on August in conjunction with The Angry Birds Movie 2. Aside from its theatrical roll out, it was also adapted into a children’s book written by Cherry and illustrated by Vashti Harrison.
While Cherry may not have exactly predicted his win for Hair Love, it’s a testament to his belief in himself. Couple that with hard work and determination, and he’s now an Academy Award winner. The film’s undoubtedly emotional, but people can also take the story behind it and make it as their inspiration to keep on reaching for their respective goals.
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Source: Matthew A. Cherry, 2
