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Prayers for Peace

Synopsis
Prayers for Peace is a narrative stop-motion animation confronting the memory of the artist's younger brother killed in the current conflict in Iraq. Four years have passed since his brother was killed when an IED was detonated beneath his diesel tanker while on a convoy to the active combat area of Fallujah. In this animation the writer/animator stops to think about who his brother was, how he identified him, as well as work through issues of guilt for not thinking about him as often as he feels that maybe he should. The piece reflects back on the days of the funeral and tries to recall what those days were like for him and his family. An introspective journey, through the heart and soul of a difficult experience, the artist's conclusion proves very different from his original hypothesis.

Drawn using pastels on a slate chalkboard, the entire film is shot in two continuous scenes, with the current image drawn directly on top of the previous, leaving the memory of the previous drawings to continue into the present. Much of the footage was borrowed directly from images off of the soldier's laptop that was returned to the family. Also taken off of the laptop was an audio file recorded in the active combat area of Najaf, where the young man expresses his feelings on the experience.

Film notes

Dustin Grella created a stop-motion animation by drawing with soft pastels on slate, and recording the image once every sixty-seconds. He used a technique similar to rotoscoping, where each frame was projected onto the slate, drawn on top of, the projection was removed then the image recorded. The final product is a compilation of the hand drawn images. He decided on rotoscoping because he wanted the visual imagery to be easy to digest in order for the storyline to be the primary focus. The narrative stems from a letter the animator wrote on December 7, 2007, as part of an ongoing letter-writing project titled 'notes to self', involving over two thousand letters, written by and mailed to himself. The story is about the artist's younger brother, Devin Grella, who was killed in Iraq on a convoy to deliver a diesel tanker of fuel to the active combat area of Najaf when an improvised explosive device was detonated beneath his tanker and was killed instantly. He chose the materials of the pastels, with its impermanence, drawing and erasing, overdrawing, and final erasure, to represent the temporality of the physical body. The voiceover was the foundation for the project and was originally designed as a stand alone piece. The animator gathered most of the original footage from videos and still images off of the laptop that belonged to Devin. The images are relatively simple so the viewer can focus on the progression of the drawing and follow the narrative, rather than the using the images to tell the story. After the artist was comfortable with the shots and the movement of the piece in video, he took it into the animation studio to start rotoscoping using iStopMotion and a custom camera system that he had designed. The software has the capability to project one frame at a time, giving him the opportunity to sketch over the marks that helped to tell the story.
dustin grella dusty stop motion iraq soldier killed brother kia

Related news

Prayers for Peace has received a new award at Talking Pictures Festival. | more...
18 May 2010
Prayers for Peace has received 2 new awards at Atlanta Film Festival. | more...
2 May 2010
Prayers for Peace has received a new award at Citrus Cel Animation Film Festival. | more...
20 April 2010
Prayers for Peace has received a new award at Imago Film Festival. | more...
13 April 2010
Prayers for Peace has received a new award at Fallbrook Film Festival. | more...
13 April 2010

Filmmakers

Director
Sound Designer

Companies

Production Studio

Copyright

Copyright © 2009 Dustin Grella

Awards and nominations

Bronze Jury Prize
Best Short Film
Best Film
Best College Short Film
2nd Place - Audience Choice
Standing Rock International Short Film and Video Festival | 2010
Best of Fest - Jury Choice
Standing Rock International Short Film and Video Festival | 2010
Best Animated Film - Director's Choice
Best Animated Film - Audience Choice
Short Jury Award
Best Animation
Best Student Film - Student Jury
Monstra: Lisboa Animated Film Festival
Runner-up
Best Animation
Runner-up - Student Film
Audience Award
Honorable Mention - Animated Short Film
Best Animation
Best Documentary Short Film

Previous screenings

2009
17 Jul – 26 Jul | Sacramento, United States
24 Jul – 30 Jul | Hollywood, United States
8 Sep – 12 Sep | San Francisco, United States
Bronze Jury Prize
10 Sep – 12 Sep | Los Angeles, United States
Best Animation
18 Sep – 24 Sep | Boston, United States
1 Oct – 4 Oct | St Helier, United Kingdom
15 Oct – 18 Oct | New York, United States
19 Oct – 25 Oct | Greenbelt, United States
Best Short Film
DOK Leipzig: International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film
26 Oct – 1 Nov | Leipzig, Germany
5 Nov – 15 Nov | Luton, United Kingdom
5 Nov – 8 Nov | Reading, United States
Best College Short Film
7 Nov | Seattle, United States
Best Film
11 Nov – 15 Nov | Wilmington, United States
2010
8 Jan – 17 Jan | London, United Kingdom
Standing Rock International Short Film and Video Festival
30 Jan | Kent, United States
2nd Place - Audience Choice
Best of Fest - Jury Choice
17 Feb – 21 Feb | Denton, United States
21 Feb – 28 Feb | Sedona, United States
Best Animated Film - Director's Choice
Best Animated Film - Audience Choice
23 Feb – 7 Mar | San Jose, United States
5 Mar – 7 Mar | Sebastopol, United States
Short Jury Award
5 Mar – 13 Mar | Byron Bay, Australia
Monstra: Lisboa Animated Film Festival
10 Mar – 21 Mar | Lisbon, Portugal
Best Student Film - Student Jury
11 Mar – 14 Mar | Gympie, Australia
12 Mar – 14 Mar | Corvallis, United States
Best Animation
Workshops
25 Mar – 28 Mar | Strovolos, Cyprus
26 Mar – 27 Mar | San Diego, United States
26 Mar – 28 Mar | Santa Monica, United States
5 Apr – 9 Apr | Elgin, United States
Runner-up
8 Apr – 11 Apr | Fort Worth, United States
9 Apr – 11 Apr | Fallbrook, United States
Best Animation
9 Apr – 11 Apr | Jacksonville, United States
Runner-up - Student Film
15 Apr – 23 Apr | Atlanta, United States
Audience Award
Honorable Mention - Animated Short Film
15 Apr – 18 Apr | Madison, United States
15 Apr – 18 Apr | Sonoma, United States
16 Apr – 25 Apr | Buffalo, United States
International Student Film Festival sehsüchte
20 Apr – 25 Apr | Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany
20 Apr – 25 Apr | Rincón, Puerto Rico
22 Apr – 25 Apr | Memphis, United States
22 Apr – 24 Apr | Rochester, United States
23 Apr – 30 Apr | Newport Beach, United States
23 Apr – 30 May | Melbourne, Australia
27 Apr – 1 May | New York, United States
4 May – 9 May | Bethel, United States
Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film
4 May – 9 May | Stuttgart, Germany
6 May – 9 May | Evanston, United States
Best Animation
12 May – 16 May | Washington, United States
Best Documentary Short Film
14 May – 16 May | Hill City, United States
Annecy International Animation Film Festival
7 Jun – 12 Jun | Annecy, France
16 Jun – 20 Jun | Maui, United States
16 Jun – 27 Jun | Edinburgh, United Kingdom
16 Jun – 20 Jun | Provincetown, United States
17 Jun – 19 Jun | Philadelphia, United States
22 Jun – 28 Jun | Palm Springs, United States
16 Jul – 1 Aug | Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil
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Latest press reviews/articles

REVIEW
Powerful Prayers for Peace
9 Dec 2009 | E. Karp | Cinesource Magazine
ARTICLE
Brother's film tribute to fallen soldier showing at museum
5 Nov 2009 | Jim Carney | Akron Beacon Journal
REVIEW
“... and think about the fact that every single frame is drawn on a chalkboard, with each image slowly drawn over the last as the film progresses. Unreal. ...”
28 Sep 2009 | William Winchester Claytor | Nineteenth State Productions
ARTICLE
Filmmaker Grella's work to be showcased at Standing Rock International Short Film Festival in Kent
15 Jan 2008 | Julie Washington | Cleveland Plain Dealer

Dialogue languages

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Classification

PG (United States)

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Flag of United States
Production country
New York
Completion date
Running time
7 min 38 s
User rating
19 awards

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Information on this profile is provided by the film owners and/or compiled from available sources | Profile updated 13 Jun 2010