“The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann has been nominated in the Short Film Animated section of the Oscars.
Here’s what Shaun has to say about the nomination.
It’s not every day that someone you know is nominated for an Oscar. Not that I know Shaun all that well, but I have met him. A couple of years ago, when I was on the Queensland Writers Management Committee, Shaun Tan ran a workshop for the QWC and I took him out to dinner. Since then, one of my sons has become a mad Shaun Tan fan and has all his books.
His artwork is quite haunting, so take the time to look him up.
Shaun is one of those quiet unassuming types and I have to confess I have a very dark sense of humour and no impulse control. When I took him out to dinner his books had won the Children’s Book Council award several times and he may have a won a World Fantasy award at that time too. I asked him about his family and he told me about a brother and sister, one was a lawyer and one was a doctor (or something like that). Gee, I said, Where did you parents go wrong with you?
He stared at me for a moment, then gave a dry little chuckle. I don’t think Sean gets teased much, but he took it in good humour.
So, here goes Shaun, wishing you all the best and I’m sure your parents are be very proud of you!
