The short film Safari by Vietnamese students Nguyen Hoang Phuc Nghi and Nguyen Cat Vu has won the Award of Excellence in the Animation category at the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival (NWBIFF) in the US.

This award was given to "entries of exceptional artistic and technical merit".

Safari is a stop-motion animated short film that takes viewers on an exploratory journey through natural habitats. The journey is told by a traveler who witnesses a landscape being ravaged by humans through deforestation and hunting. By showing the destruction of plants and animals due to human needs, the film raises awareness of the urgency of protecting the environment.

The short film will also be submitted to other international film festivals in the hope of spreading its powerful message.

“Safari” is a stop-motion animated short film that takes viewers on an exploratory journey through natural habitats. Photo: RMIT

Nghi and Vu originally developed the film as part of the Pixilation Animation course, one of the specializations offered by the Digital Media program at RMIT Vietnam.

Using a mix of paper cutouts, shadows, and pixilation animation techniques, the project was challenging and time-consuming, requiring careful attention to detail.

Nghi explained: "Most of the objects used in this project were created using the paper cut-out technique. We chose this technique because it represents the destruction of nature caused by human activities.

"To emphasize this point, we added texture to the paper. The cut paper was used to create shadows, which are the main objects in this project. Shadows usually have a negative connotation, and in this case, we used them to highlight the negative impact of inhumane activities on the environment," Nghi added.

Vu said it was very difficult to shoot in the dark for some special effects, noting that they encountered many problems, such as lack of time, poor quality of the sequences (which required reshoots), and balancing it with the heavy workload. 

Lecturer Ricardo Arce-López, the project's mentor, said the result is an exceptional artistic and technical achievement that serves as a reminder of the effects of deforestation and wildlife hunting. He commented that Safari shows the power of creativity in addressing environmental issues.

Nguyen Hoang Phuc Nghi (L) and Nguyen Cat Vu (R), authors of the short film Safari. Photo: RMIT