Deandra Asara

Born and raised in Indonesia, Deandra Asara is an animator and illustrator now based in London.

She graduated with a first-class honours degree in Animation from the University of Westminster, before coming to the Royal College of Art to further develop her style and voice as an artist and a filmmaker.

She has produced several short films, both narrative and documentary, which have been screened in various festivals around the world. Last year, her BA graduation film Cold Fish (2019) was nominated for the Royal Television Society London Award 2020.

Within my practice, I like to explore themes of memories, dreams, and the way we as humans try to manifest our desires. I am inspired by the people and the things immediately around me. However, being stuck in my London flat for the most part of the year has made me want to look further, both in terms of space and time, for inspiration. It has instead led me a little closer to home.

I work with digitally hand-drawn 2D animation combined with analogue textures. I like the vibrancy and the flexibility that comes with working digitally but also the warmth and tactility of paper textures.

What I aim to do through my work is to give a shape and a voice to emotions and thoughts that we tend to overlook amidst the cacophony of modern adult life.

The Place That Left Me (The password is rca2021) — 2021

A story about a girl, her loved place, memories, and change.

Musical Composer

Guillermo Pita

Sound Mix

Mikolaj Szatko

Animation Assistants

Aakankshya Rai, Anayis Der Hakopian, Dikesh Rai, Finn Woodruff, Kamal Ismail, Lei, Nayuma Rai, Noyo, Sahanshil Dangol, Szu-chun Chen, Tanaka Tiriboyi

Supported by

Passion Pictures & Strange Beast 2021

Medium:

2D digital animation, paper animation

Size:

16:9, 04:12

In Collaboration with:

Guillermo Pita

Musical Composer

01 — Quick sketches, notes, and ideas

02 — Draft scene ideas

03 — Concept art

04 — Concept art

05 — Photographs taken in Indonesia as part of my research

This film is based on the time I found out that my favourite place on earth – the rice field in front of my grandparents' house – had disappeared seemingly overnight, and the loss and shock that I felt when it happened.

While the film is not a documentary, I wanted to use elements from my childhood in order to tell this universal story of this feeling of longing to be in another time and another place.

01 — Animation showreel