
ASIFA-Hollywood’s Short Film JASMINE

ASIFA-Hollywood took part in our first film production that asks how to rebuild after the destructive wake of war. This is a short based on the writings of our main character JASMINE who lived through the events during the war in Syria (2011).
“The desire to tackle this sensitive subject through a child’s perspective was what compelled everyone involved in making this film.” Says the film’s director Tom Caulfield, “Though the future of Syria and its inhabitants is unresolved, we wanted this film to offer hope and peace for its future.”
The film was completed in 2023 and features an incredibly talented crew of creatives (several of them ASIFA-Hollywood board members) including: direction and story by Tom Caulfield (director on Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure and Tangled: Before Ever After and story artist on Zootopia 2, Wish, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken, Orion and the Dark, and animator on The Illusionist, The Secret of Kells), and co-directed by Dave Baas, Music and Sound by Judith Gruber-Stitzer (Animal Behavior, Wild Life, When the Day Breaks, Two Sisters), Written by Charles Solomon (New York Times, Rolling Stone, LA Times, Variety, Animation Magazine) and Produced by Aubry Mintz (ASIFA-Hollywood’s Interim Executive Director) with Executive Producers Frank Gladstone (ASIFA-Hollywood’s VP) and Mark Jones (Sheridan College Dean of the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design) and production managing by Leslie Ezeh (ASIFA-Hollywood’s Director of Operations) with animation, backgrounds, compositing and effects by the talented artists from Seneca School of Creative Arts and Animation Summer Institute.
The film is currently on the festival circuit and has been accepted into :
- Children’s Cinema Awards (Semi-Finalists), Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Palm Springs Animation Festival, CA, USA
- Galway Film Fleadh, Galway, Ireland
- LA Shorts International Film Festival, CA, USA
- Montreal International Animation Film Festival – ANIMAZE – Quebec, Canada
- Anti-War International Independent Film Festival, Jõhvi, Estonia
- Breckenridge Film Festival, – Colorado, USA
- Kaaffilm Festival – Milan, Italy
- Awareness Film Festival – CA, USA
- MovievalleyFest – AWARD: FINALIST – Bologna, Italy
- International Social Change Film Festival – Illinois, USA
- SPARK Animation –Vancouver, BC, Canada
- International Children Care Film Festival – Paris, France
- Foyle Film Festival – Derry-Londonderry
- Helsinki Education Film Festival International – AWARD: BEST ANIMATION
- International Social Shorts Antwerp – Antwerp, Belgium
- Anti-War International Independent Film Festival – AWARD: BEST ANIMATION
- Los Angeles Animation Festival – AWARD: HUMANITARIAN AWARD
“We are all incredibly proud of ASIFA-Hollywood’s first film production” says ASIFA-Hollywood’s Interim Director Aubry Mintz “We hope this film will give its audience more compassion and empathy for all of those affected by devastation during times of war.”