Interview with director/animator Nyan Kyal Say (MY LIFE I DON’T WANT)

Nyan Kyal Say’s short film was the winner of BEST FILM at the March 2017 ANIMATION Short Film Festival.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Nyan Kyal Say: The reality that I saw and heard in my surroundings, and the news that I read, and my friends’ experiences what I felt together, motivated me to make this film.

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

I think it was about 9 months.

How would you describe your short film in two words!?

Two words!

Women Rights.

What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

The ‘time’ was the biggest obstacle for me I think, because, I made this film while I was attending the final year in the medical university, which is also one of the hardest year of the medical education for us. The other ones are ‘budget’ and ‘techniques’. I have no money to start it. Also, I’m just a self-learned animation artist, so that I need many many things to know about the animation techniques.

What were your initial reactions when watching the Toronto audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I love it really really. I wanna hear the audience voices especially for this film since this film was made to deliver to the public for public awareness.

WATCH the Audience FEEDBACK Video

How did you come up with the idea for this short film?

The factors that motivated me are the fundamental things for me to get some ideas to make this short film. However, there are too many data, true events and stories for me to put in the film. So, I have to select only a few of them to fit in the story. I took about 3 months to make the story and thought many ways to make it stronger. Another important one I mainly thought was the language. Since my target audience was the people around the world, with different nationalities using different languages, I was thinking how to make them understand easily what I want to say. Finally, the language I used was the very common language, the “Visual Language”, which is the main language to put the message in and the other language is the “Musical Language”, which is the main language to help the audience to feel the stories behind the message identically with the film.

What film have you seen the most in your life?

Well… ummm… it’s quite difficult me to choose one from the films that I’ve watched frequently and that I love, including the old ones since my babyhood, till the new ones published yesterday.

What song have you listened to the most times in your life?

It’s also hard for me to say. There are many songs, and many types of songs I love. Most basically, I love to listen to the vocal songs as well as the instrumental songs.

What is next for you? A new film?

More precisely, a new studio… to make many new films. It’s coming soon. You’re very welcome to wait and see. Thank you so much.