The Daemen University Animation Program can add another feather to its already robust hat with the news that 2021 graduate Tessa Santillo ’22 received laurels for placing as a semifinalist in AniMate, an Australian international film festival.
The festival hosts a growing community of animation professionals and filmmakers and accepts submissions of short and feature films from all genres.
“Tessa’s film ‘Dusk’ shows the universal language of animation and its connection to the audience,” said Mike Jones, associate professor of animation and program director. “Being recognized on an international level is an amazing achievement and takes things to another level.”
He added, “The fact that her film is a semifinalist in an Australian film festival is an indication of not only her incredible work and talent, but also the high caliber of the animation program at Daemen.”
Through her film, Santillo said, “My goal was to have the audience have fun watching it, yet feel different emotions. For example, when my character—a hedgehog-like creature from Madagascar—sees a flower for the first time, I want the audience to be excited with him.”
Santillo’s film takes the audience through a journey of wonder and anticipation. It is meant to make the viewer feel they are walking the path with the character, taking in the beauty of a flower for the first time in parallel.
“Professor Jones, my mentor, helped me narrow down some of the best festivals to submit my work to. We decided on AniMate because it has a category specifically for animation students,” said Santillo.
Winning the award brings international eyes, including recruiters, to Santillo’s work. “I am very excited to have more people see and enjoy my film out in the world,” said Santillo, “Right now, I am a semifinalist; however, there is still a chance I could win. That would be amazing, but I am thrilled to be recognized regardless.”
At Daemen, Santillo said she learned the value of hard work and perseverance—lessons that she is seeing the fruits of post graduation.