Matthew A. Cherry, writer, director, and former NFL player scoops an Oscar nomination for his short film, Hair Love. Hair love tells the heartfelt story of an African American father learning to do his daughter’s hair for the first time and through hilarity, the hair becomes a character of its own. It also embraces natural hair appreciation/pride for black and brown children. The animated short is based on his New York Times Bestseller picture book Hair Love which was released.
Matthew’s inspiration was drawn from viral videos of black fathers around the web sharing their challenges and improvements of doing their little girl’s hair to make it perfect the way their princesses want it done.
Matthew teamed up with illustrator Vashti Harrison on the creation of the characters – Father Stephen, and Daughter Zuri.
The film also features Issa Rae (“Insecure”) as Zuri’s mother.
Also check what started the journey, Hair love book and purchase for your little one.
The project became a collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation that was launched as a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 with a fundraising goal of $75,000. It’s word of mouth and growing community grew the campaign to $300,000, making it the most highly-funded short film campaign in Kickstarter history.
If you want to check out Hair Love or give your little one a copy check out at Penguin Publishing