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Ostora, an original 3D stereoscopic musical animation written by Emirati national and scriptwriter Faisal Al Sharyani, has been awarded the Special Picture prize at the 3D Korea International Short Film Festival. Produced by Blink Studios and supported by twofour54’s creative lab, Ostora, the first Arabic musical animated 3D film, was directed by Hani Kichi.

The story of Ostora combines the history of the Union of the Emirates, along with tales from Ancient Greek mythology, to tell the story of a mermaid in the Arabian Sea who falls victim to her own curiosity. With the expert support of Blink Studios, the story was re-written in a format that was produced into a mixed-media musical animated short film.

The animated short film is unique in that it was also created for 3D stereoscopic viewing. This new technology used by Blink Studios, required five months to complete with the efforts from 40 people including volunteers from twofour54’s creative lab community.

This prestigious international award follows Ostora’s nomination to film festivals including the New York Short Film Festival, the Los Angeles 3D and Music Film Festival (Hollywood) and Belgium’s 3DSM Film Festivals to name just a few of its 26 film festival nominations worldwide. Ostora also received a special jury mention at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2012.

Commenting on the Special Picture award, director Hani Kichi said: “It was very exciting to hear of this win for Ostora. We believe that our musical animated film was singled out for its treatment of 2D Cut-Out animation in 3D Stereoscopic. This encourages us to continue experimenting with new film-making technologies mixed with different artistic styles similar to Ostora.”

Through this wide range of animation work, the Blink Studios has been well placed to help Al Sharyani with Ostora. There may be further plans to roll out Ostora into educational sectors.

For more information about Ostora and to see the trailer, click here.

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