A YouTube filmmaker, Jared Lee, has made Malaysia proud of his achievements at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. Jared Lee’s film Horologist received the ‘Best Animation’ award.
Horologist Won Best Animation @ San Diego Comic-Con 2023
Images via @jaredle3
Jared alongside his sound engineer, Ivan Cheong has bagged the ‘Best Animation’ award for their short film ‘Horologist’ at Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI-IFF) in San Diego. This annual event is an integral part of the San Diego Film Foundation.
Furthermore, CCI IFF serves as a platform for filmmakers, distributors, and critics to meet. Here, they can discuss their opinion and the current artistic developments in film.
Read too about Adele Lim who is in the list for 2023 Asian Hall Of Fame.
The First Malaysian To Bag An Award At San Diego Comic-Con
Image via Tatler Asia
On the 23rd of July, the CCI-IFF premiered the Malaysian-made animated short film, Horologist. Being internationally recognized has been a lifelong dream of Jared Lee.
In a Facebook post of his, he stated:
Growing up only dreaming about the possibility of ever attending THE San Diego Comic-Con came to realization this weekend with more than I can ever hope for: having a film we made selected to premiere and given the chance to be on the panel to share about the film. It’s surreal.
Jared Lee, Writer & Director Of Horologist
Behind The Scenes Of ‘Horologist’ By Jared Lee & Ivan Cheong
Image via Mashable SEA
The Horologist originally began as an animation authored by Jared Lee amidst the Covid-19 lockdown. Furthermore, the narrative was influenced by his own life journey.
Horologist animation is adaptation of Jared Lee’s The Grimoire. It is the story of Sand, a shopkeeper who finds a way to sell time at a heavy cost. It is also based on an inspiring moment of Jared Lee’s time in self-reflecting during the lockdown.
In partnership with local comic artist Cross, they jointly crafted the Horologist animation. Remarkably, within a span of the year, the film was finalized and its initial limited release promptly sold out.
Jared Lee & His Achievements
Images via Free Malaysia Today
As reported by Malay Mail, Lee discreetly submitted the movie to several global film festivals. He was astonished when the Cannes Film Festival chose to include it, finding it hard to believe that his film had been accepted.
Jared Lee shared his experience receiving the news, he stated:
Honestly, when I first got the email that our short was selected for the Cannes Short Film Corner I thought it was a scam. I wrote a reply to them asking ‘Is this for real?’ and Cannes wrote back to me saying ‘Yes, indeed. Your film is chosen.’
Jared Lee, Writer & Director of Horologist.
Horologist was a finalist for Atlantic Bridge Film Festival running for the Best Animation. Then, at Poland’s Film Festival, Horologist was also the finalist for Audience Choice Award.
Jared Lee and Iven Cheong hope and plan to expand Horologist into a series. His second installment of the four-part comic collection, Omakase will be out soon.
Rise Malaysia sends our heartiest congratulations to Jared Lee and Iven Cheong. In essence, we hope their story has sparked an inspiration to all filmmakers out there to keep creating and pushing towards their goal.
