Liyana releasing soon!

The trailer for Liyana is here!

LIYANA releases theatrically on the 10th of October in 25 cities across America. It will make a run in several countries internationally as well in the coming months. 

First of all, late news. Liyana won the jury award for Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2017. I accepted the award on behalf of the team -

The festival run over the last year has been incredibly inspiring and fulfilling. Over the course of the last year, Liyana picked up over 25 awards including the one above, and notable awards at The New York Children's film festival, Heartland, Denver, Durban, Giffoni, and Miami. I also was lucky to attend the Liyana premiers in Durban, Swaziland, Italy, Denver, Mexico, London, Doha, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Ohio. 

That's the dream team below (Amanda+ Aaron+Shof+1 little one) at the very magical Bushfire Music Festival in Swaziland. There are so many anecdotes and photos to share, but I prefer to keep things brief here on the blog. My instagram also has more, and as Liyana's journey into the world progresses, I'll continue to post updates. Thanks to all the wonderful people I've met along the way.

Liyana Premiere

June 06.17.17 

A SOLD OUT show at the LA Film Festival in Culver City!

And what a happy and memorable day it was to share. Liyana's journey into the world has just begun.

A Luta Continua

'A luta continua' is a Portuguese phrase the translates roughly to 'the struggle continues.' The co-director for Liyana, Aaron Kopp adopted it as a rallying call for us, 'A Luta Continua.' Of course it's a lovely Miriam Makeba song as well.

My work on Liyana is winding down and this past week marked a major milestone in the production of the animation of the project. It's a surreal feeling to reach this point on what has been the most creatively fulfilling project I've worked on. It was equal parts challenging and rewarding and worthwhile in ways that I haven't processed yet. The team and I have high hopes for the story's outreach, but personally, right now I feel a deep sense of relief and pride for doing something so worthwhile with my career. The loved ones in my life that supported me along the way, and Aaron and Amanda cannot be appreciated enough.

Unfortunately, I can't show any artwork just yet. You can check out updates on the Liyana site. Of course, I too hope to soon post updates along with some insight into the production over those 2 years.

Liyana

Been a while since the last post and over the past year, of course I've been working on Outcasts of Jupiter and all things Coker CoOp related, but I've also had the immense satisfaction of working on the most creatively fulfilling project of my career so far. I've been working with Aaron and Amanda Kopp on the documentary film, Liyana. It's a unique documentary animated film in which a group of bright Swazi kids narrate the tale of a brave heroine of their own creation. The co-directors, Aaron and Amanda (two of the best human beings whose presence you'll ever be graced with) interviewed these wonderful kids and worked with them in structured workshops with Gcina Mhlophe on a homestead for orphaned children in Swaziland a few years ago. 
















I'm an art director and the principal artist on the animated parts of the film. We're in the throes of production right now, but I wanted to take a break to let you all know what a special project I've been involved with. Hopefully, we'll be releasing more news soon. A release date hasn't been set yet, but of course I'll post that news as soon as I get it. If you'd like to read more about the project you should visit the link below. Thanks for reading people of ye olde internet.

http://www.liyanathemovie.com/