photo by flickr user cliff1066™
By Daria Kochevaia
Last Sunday, a proud surprise for San Diegans unraveled itself at the Academy Awards. The short film documentary, Inocente, directed by local Andrea Nix Fine and her husband, Sean Fine, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject. “Last night still sinking in” the couple’s company’s Twitter updated on the Monday morning after. Indeed, the couple have a lot to be shocked about. They owe the release of their documentary to the online funding company Kickstarter. It’s a website that people can use to set a goal fundraising total for their project of interest, and collect donations from others on the website to get to their set objective. The couple raised over $52,000 for their film through the website, which provided the major funding behind the film. Inocente is the first Kickstarert funded film to even get nominated for an Academy Award.
The couple met during their years at Colby College after having taken the school’s first video production class. Their first documentary together was called “War/Dance” and they’ve worked together since then. They’re said to be the first Colby graduates to receive an Oscar nomination, according to their former professor Phyllis Mannochi.
Innocente follows a 15 year old homeless girl from San Diego of the same name, who realizes her passion for art and follows it to create a career for herself. She faces problems at home, including her siblings entering foster care during her introspective journey. Her passion for color is reflected in her often eccentric choice in makeup, which she draws around her eyes with paint in vibrant hues. The story is told entirely from her point of view as she goes on a life changing journey that ends with her being able to open her own art exhibition. Her work is displayed and eventually helps her jumpstart her career in the art world, helping her poor family get out of poverty and settle down with a roof over their head. Inocente is a compelling journey that keeps you watching until the end, like a brilliantly portrayed page turner. Today, Inocente herself is living with her family in a shelter, however the demand for her artwork is very high as she’s selling pieces of work by the thousands of dollars. Inocente hopes to continue her schooling and her art career to one day own a place of her own for her and her family.
Full episodes of the documentary Inocente can be viewed on MTV’s online website.