‘Hair Love’ Creator Knew 8 Years Ago That His Short Film Would Be Worth An Oscar
The Academy Awards just rolled by, honoring the best movies and the people who create them. Oftentimes it can be quite apparent who is going to receive the golden Oscar statues, however, at times, completely unexpected things happen and surprise winners emerge, snatching the award, like this year’s most awarded movie and crew did. “Parasite” made history during the 2020 Oscars when it became the first movie not in English to win Best Film.
This story is not about unexpected twists, however. It’s about putting your word out there and then working hard to turn it into reality. Matthew A. Cherry did just that when, back in 2012, he posted a tweet saying: “I’m gonna be nominated for an Oscar one day.”
Matthew A. Cherry recently received his first Oscar for his short animated movie ‘Hair Love’
Image credits: matthewacherry
Then, in 2016, the man came up with an idea for an “Oscar-worthy” short film and sought out people to help him turn that idea into an actual visual story. A Kickstarter campaign to fund the movie was launched a year later by Cherry and raised over $300,000, way over its initial goal of $75,000. “Hair Love” came out last year and was nominated for Oscars. The film was written and directed by Cherry in collaboration with Karen Rupert Toliver.
Turns out, he predicted the nomination 8 years ago
Image credits: MatthewACherry
As well as the win when he first started bringing “Hair Love” to life
Image credits: MatthewACherry
“Hair Love” tells the story of a man who must do his daughter’s hair for the first time. The protagonist’s 7-year-old daughter is shown struggling to style her thick, unruly hair, all while watching a video tutorial narrated by her mother. Her father then tries to help her out, and, after putting in much effort and care, succeeds. The duo then arrives at a hospital, where the mother is wearing a scarf and sitting in a wheelchair. At the end of the short film, the mother removes the scarf to reveal her bald head. The family embraces each other.
Image credits: MatthewACherry
The short film was competing against 4 others in the Animated Short Film category: Dcera (Daughter) by Daria Kashcheeva, Kitbull by Kathryn Hendrickson & Rosana Sullivan, Memorable by Bruno Collet & Jean-François Le Corre, and Sister by Siqi Song. As the film received the prestigious Oscar award, Cherry looked back at his original tweets and triumphantly exclaimed: “Nailed it!”
Image credits: MatthewACherry
The artwork that inspired Cherry was done by Julian Santiago
Image credits: Julian Santiago
You can watch the Oscar-winning animated short here
Here’s how people reacted to Cherry’s prediction
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Matthew Cherry if your reading this, thank you for such a wonderful gift.
The cool thing is that Matt Cherry was an NFL football player before he became an artist.
Hair Love is an uplifting, life-affirming joy to watch. You will be blessed! Share it with a friend and you will be making the world a better place.
This gem of an animated short had me in tears. So beautifully realistic and emotional. Congrats Matthew Cherry and certainly well deserved! As we all can see, it takes more than creative talent. You have to truly believe in yourself and put it out there in the Universe. Well done, Matthew Cherry, well done.
I read this and I basically cried when I found out that her mom had cancer like it was so heartwarming but that was a long time ago but because of this I watched it again when I did I cried again.
Awwww, it;s lovely! Made me laugh, and tear up. No wonder you got the Oscar, well deserved.
I despise racists. They embody the perfect combination of stupidity and evil. They are a loathsome scourge on society.
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Matthew Cherry if your reading this, thank you for such a wonderful gift.
The cool thing is that Matt Cherry was an NFL football player before he became an artist.
Hair Love is an uplifting, life-affirming joy to watch. You will be blessed! Share it with a friend and you will be making the world a better place.
This gem of an animated short had me in tears. So beautifully realistic and emotional. Congrats Matthew Cherry and certainly well deserved! As we all can see, it takes more than creative talent. You have to truly believe in yourself and put it out there in the Universe. Well done, Matthew Cherry, well done.
I read this and I basically cried when I found out that her mom had cancer like it was so heartwarming but that was a long time ago but because of this I watched it again when I did I cried again.
Awwww, it;s lovely! Made me laugh, and tear up. No wonder you got the Oscar, well deserved.
I despise racists. They embody the perfect combination of stupidity and evil. They are a loathsome scourge on society.
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