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Here's the trailer for The Glassworker, Pakistan's first hand-drawn anime film

Here's the trailer for The Glassworker, Pakistan's first hand-drawn anime film

Looks like composer turned animator Usman Riaz put his Kickstarter money to good use
26 Oct, 2016

Looks like composer-turned-animator Usman Riaz put his Kickstarter money to good use.

Riaz, who managed to fully crowdfund his passion project of creating Pakistan's first completely hand-drawn anime, has just released the first trailer of the film's prologue.

The Glassworker, which is being made under the banner of Mano Animation Studios, is a coming-of-age story about a young boy named Vincent, who is learning the art of glassblowing from his father in their Glass Shop. As he grows older he begins to fall in love with a frequent visitor of the shop — a young girl named Alliz.

In an earlier interview with Images, the youngest TED fellow ever shared: "The film will follow [main characters, the glassworker] Vincent and [his regular customer/violinist] Alliz through their developing years as life gets more complicated and inhibits their relationship. It will be a comment on the effects of war on children and just explore the bond between the two main characters."

If all this wasn't impressive enough, the orchestral score for the project has also been done by the 25-year-old artist.

Within an hour of sharing the trailer on their Facebook page, the team has already gotten the seal of approval from one of the industry bigwigs.

The Moor director is not so easy to please
The Moor director is not so easy to please

Here's hoping this budding superstar keeps blazing a trail for animation in Pakistan!

Comments

Azhar Oct 26, 2016 12:27pm
Amazing production! May you succeed in your mission.
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Tahir Oct 26, 2016 12:35pm
Animations = Brilliant Trailer = Could have been better Overall = Good effort
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Oct 26, 2016 12:38pm
Keep up the good work Usman.
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Khan Oct 26, 2016 12:42pm
Great work! Really impressed by the animation quality
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Waleed Oct 26, 2016 12:52pm
WOW. Just Amazing
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Hassan (Karachi) Oct 26, 2016 12:54pm
Getting a strong "Hayao Miyazaki" vibe from this, his earlier works. Love the work. Long way to go to match the masterpieces of the Japanese and American Animation, but a step in the right direction. Anyone interested in knowing the best Animation works by the Japanese, look up "5 centimeters per second" , "Garden of Words" and "Your Name". You guessed it, all 3 are by the same director, Makoto Shinkai . There are subtitles available on Youtube. No Animation can match them at the moment, not yet atleast.
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PakPower Oct 26, 2016 12:58pm
Great stuff, though I would have liked it more if it had a Pakistani setting and Pakistani characters. But I understand that he wanted to make an 'international film'.
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Acorn Guts Oct 26, 2016 01:19pm
@Hassan (Karachi) This is close to Miyazaki? Have you actually watched any Ghibli or you just know his name because he's the first animator newbies to the animation world would learn about? Did you even spot the soft glow?
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johnpauljones Oct 26, 2016 01:22pm
Very nice animation.Love his play and fascination with the element of light. Best of luck Usman Riaz, we need more dreamers like you.
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impressed Oct 26, 2016 01:28pm
Wow
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ali302 Oct 26, 2016 03:31pm
If these are hand made,why are the characters seem to be european origin,Made in Pakistan for Pakistan,but with foreign characters.
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UN Oct 26, 2016 03:57pm
Felt like a studio ghibli movie
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Allie Khan Oct 26, 2016 04:13pm
0wsomee G0oD lucK (y)
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KK Oct 26, 2016 04:16pm
Great work, really impressed. A critique! If everything is in Urdu then why the story is not about our own culture... Perhaps an innocent kid, victim of drones!
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Hassan (Karachi) Oct 26, 2016 04:33pm
@Acorn Guts, My dear friend. There is no need for hostility. Look up Miyazaki's earlier works, "Castle in Sky", "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Kiki's Delivery Service", works from the early 1990s. You will see the resemblance. If not, we can atleast agree to disagree. Have a pleasant day.
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nadeem Oct 26, 2016 04:48pm
I can't understand the reason for having smoking scene in this movie.
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Arisha G Oct 26, 2016 07:29pm
It's here! Good on you, Usman for completing the project. May you gain bountiful rewards for your hard work, determination and dedication.
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Mehreen Chandan Oct 26, 2016 10:00pm
Just had a look at the trailer and it has a gorgeous old world feel about it. I simply cannot wait for it to be released so me and my two girls can go and watch it. Super proud of you Usman for not giving up on your dreams! It gives me inspiration to follow my dreams.
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Bilal Ansar Khan Oct 26, 2016 10:04pm
OH THIS ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOOOOOOOOOOOD (and not clichéd, and I know you wouldn't go all the way like spirited away in the first production but I see potential!) :)
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Optimistic Pakistani Oct 26, 2016 11:16pm
Great job.... waiting for the release.
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Zeshan Oct 26, 2016 11:19pm
Amazing effort, May you find more and more success It is one of the most awaited movies for me
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SFZ Oct 26, 2016 11:58pm
This is a truly beautiful work. However, I am a little disappointed to see that Pakistan's first hand drawn animation shows not a single aspect of Pakistani culture! Even the names of the characters are foreign. It is very sad to see our artists abandoning our traditions and culture in favor of Western culture, deeming it superior to ours. I hope our future generations can overcome this inferiority complex and embrace our own cultural values, and showcase them instead of writing stories about westerners and white people. I was, however, glad to know that at the very least, the language of this animation seems to be Urdu, which is indeed quite a pleasant surprise, given how much our Pakistani nation hates Urdu and loves to speak in English, considering the Western language superior over its own mother tongue.
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Seedoo Oct 27, 2016 12:57am
Very impressive. Keep up the great work! We are very proud of you.
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Abdurrehman Khan Oct 27, 2016 09:47am
imagine when this studio is rolling out movies down the road. Pakistan will have it's own Studio Ghibli in Urdu!!! it will be so awesome! The quality was outstanding and considering that the music was composed by Usman himself is also a great aspect of this project. The music is great. The Urdu made me feel really relaxed. I watched the trailer like 10 times already.
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Aziz Oct 27, 2016 10:46am
Looking forward to watching it. Am a little concerned though about the concept of little kids 'falling in love.' Though Disney exploits such emotions on a regular basis, Pakistani parents still cringe at those scenes in cartoons, so not sure how Pakistani parents of young children will react to it. About the 'foreign' visual and look of the movie, I would've also loved to see a total 'desi' story line- and we have no shortage of our own original stories- but I guess it's a commercial venture and maybe the producer will experiment with a local story later, as this is a crowdfunded venture and its international success in also very important.
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m@k Oct 27, 2016 12:23pm
From a percussive guitarist to hand drawn animations for this Glassworker project.....This boy nails it!
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Bupi Oct 27, 2016 03:29pm
Tallent of any form should be encouraged. As its all hand drafted hats off to Artist.
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Bupi Oct 27, 2016 03:32pm
@Tahir Dear its esey to say or comment difficulties are seen by Artist only. To comment is a easy job
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mahnoor Oct 27, 2016 08:57pm
It's amazingggggggg,,,, I like it veryyyy much,,, mind blowing,, I appreciate every person who put his effort from the core of my heart,,, background artist voice is also amazingggg,,, sweet ,,,, I love the way in which dialogues are delivered in "" Urdu"" ,,,
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Faiza Oct 27, 2016 10:05pm
Such a skillful work! the background music and voices are very soothing. All the best!
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Chinto Minto Oct 31, 2016 02:15pm
Very Nice :)
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Chinto Minto Oct 31, 2016 02:17pm
Great ,Classy,just amazing best of luck bro
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