Movie Notes

Vancouver story artist Pearl Low's illustrations helped Hair Love win Oscar as best animated short film

by Charlie Smith on February 10th, 2020 at 7:52 AM
    1 of 2 2 of 2

      It wasn't easy for Pearl Low to figure out how to do her hair as a child.

      The Vancouver story artist and author grew up with a single mom of Chinese ancestry. But because Low was also of Jamaican heritage, she had very curly hair.

      Last month, the Huffington Post reported on how this experience inspired her drawings in the short animated film "Hair Love", which was directed by Matthew A. Cherry and produced by Sony Pictures Animation vice president of creative Karen Rupert Toliver.

      And last night, Low was thrilled to see that "Hair Love" had won this year's Oscar for best short animated film.

      "I'm in tears," Low tweeted this morning. "I'm really just so grateful to have been part of the team to create something so beautiful and impactful."

      Watch the film below.

      Video: Watch the Oscar-winning short film Hair Love, about an father of African ancestry doing his daughter's hair for the first time.

      The news hasn't gone unnoticed in Vancouver.

      Stephanie Allen, a leader in Vancouver's African Canadian community, tweeted the following message.

      The director, Cherry, is a former star college football player and NFL wide receiver.

      He didn't have enough time on-stage to deliver his full speech, so he put it on Twitter.

      Cherry dedicated his award to recently deceased NBA star Kobe Bryant, who also won an Academy Award after ending his pro sports career.

      Comments