Thanks to Malaysia being a multi-racial country, we are able to admire lots of different cultures. Part of each culture is a style of art which is unique such as the Malaysian batik. Batik Girl is a short film by The R&D Studio which explores the beauty of batik.
Many of us can instantly recognise batik for its floral motif patterns and bright colours. It’s beauty and unique design is such a Malaysian treasure. In fact, our government endorses Malaysian batik as a national dress!
So it makes complete sense that The R&D Studio would create a short film based on the magic of batik. Batik Girl is the story of a young girl who loses her parents and moves in with her grandmother.
In an effort to cope with the loss of her parents, she discovers her grandmothers batik workshop. Despite her difficulties in the beginning, she eventually falls in love with the art of batik. In addition, she also finds a way to bond with her grandmother.
Moving on, a lot of research and hard work was put into creating this masterpiece. The team behind Batik Girl spent many months studying the art. In fact, they discovered so many different and interesting stuff about batik.
For example, the learned of the different design styles that could be used to represent different elements. They used Daun Berjalan as the vines in the forest, Retak for the textures of rocks, and Cantings for the waves in the ocean.
Of course animating this short film was no easy feat for the team. After discovering more patterns and designs, they had to figure out how to apply it. One challenge was being able to use a 2D art to create a 3D world.
Their hard work definitely paid of. The R&D Studio submitted Batik Girl to different film festivals around the world and everyone loves it! The short film has won several awards including Best Animated Short Film and Gold Medal in the Regional category.
It’s great to see people around the world appreciating the beauty of our Malaysian batik! You can also watch the short film on YouTube.
