Oscar Nominations 2020: Daughter [AUDIO INTERVIEW]

Synopsis: In a hospital room, the Daughter (Dcera) recalls a difficult childhood moment when as a little girl she tried to share her experience with an injured bird with her Father.

An Oscar-nominated animated short from Daria Kashcheeva, Daughter is the result of the director’s interest in psychology and her childhood experiences.

During our interview, Kashceeva explains psychotherapy has always been an interest and she wanted to use it to examine the bond between father and daughter. In her film, this relationship has become strained over time due to miscommunication.

In the end, the film has symbolism that will resonate with many to appreciate their parents while they are here because when they are gone, its too late.

Kashcheeva is ultimately able to grow closer in her relationsip with her own parents, through work on the film.

Silence was used poignantly throughout the film to help drive home the message of regret, guilt and misunderstanding between a daughter and father. This theme anyone can relate to based on times of misunderstanding and miscommunication in their own relationships with their parents.

Kashcheeva relied on hand held camera movements to drive the drama and emotion of the film, while shooting the characters in close-up. As part of her bachelor's puppet animation project, the entire process took approximately one and a half years. Being a student film, there was limited budget, so she had to do everything herself as she experimented with camera motion and created the set and puppets.

Through all of the long hours and hard work producing the film, Kashcheeva never expected the film to have the global success that it has had thus far. Recognition at Sundance 2020 was amazing and now to have received an Oscar nomination has been an incredible experience, she explained. She acknowledges the competition will be fierce, so there maybe a 50/50 chance of winning the big prize.

When asked if she had any advice for other student filmmakers, she explained that for her a big lesion was not to be afraid, so students should trust their own inspiration and through this all things are possible. For women in the industry, she thinks her current region offers her the best opportunity to continue to make independent films over moving to America. She looks forward to her next project and working on her master's degree.

For more visit: http://dariakashcheeva.com/ Oscars: https://oscar.go.com