To Be Anything: Animating Possible Selves
by Marissa Dimitrion, MVA 2019
To Be Anything: Animating Possible Selves explores the creative processes of two young animators and the capacity of artistic storytelling to challenge dominant social dialogues and create new possibilities of being. Aaron, a freshman, having been born in the Caribbean and later moving to the United States, must come to terms with the imposition of his racial identity. He not only strives to tell stories that both serve to represent Blackness and himself as a Black animator, but he also wants to free himself from the categorical thinking of race in a profound way, one in which his protagonists can achieve unbounded universal resonance. Jenn has worked hard and always had the desire to be “the best”; working three jobs to support herself, she worked towards a "dream" job at Pixar. After she burnt out, her "dream" became a “search for calm,” one that would include a work-life balance, animating for a non-profit organization, and living serenely in a tiny house in the Pacific Northwest. Both Aaron and Jenn have sought to dismantle cultural constructs using potent, emotional storytelling to communicate, not only with their audiences, but with themselves.
Running time: 24 minutes