| Year of the Fish | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | David Kaplan |
| Produced by | Rocco Caruso David Kaplan |
| Written by | David Kaplan |
| Starring | Tsai Chin Ken Leung Randall Duk Kim |
| Music by | Paul Cantelon |
| Cinematography | Adam Silver |
| Editing by | François Keraudren |
| Release date(s) | 2008 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Year of the Fish is a 2008 American animated film based on Ye Xian, a ninth century Chinese variant of the fairy tale Cinderella, starring Tsai Chin (Joy Luck Club), Randall Duk Kim, Ken Leung and An Nguyen. Written and directed by David Kaplan, the film is set in a massage parlor in modern-day New York's Chinatown.[1]
The film was executive produced by Janet Yang (Joy Luck Club) and produced by Rocco Caruso (Judy Berlin). Kaplan's screenplay was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs and was the recipient of a 2005 Annenberg Fellowship. Year of the Fish had its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
The film was shot entirely on location in New York City’s Chinatown using live actors and then animated in post-production via rotoscoping, the process of tracing over live-action footage to create an animation; in this case, a painterly, watercolor effect.[1] Some of the make-up on the strange-looking characters were removed by the rotoscoping.
Year of the Fish premiered as the Official Selection of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was named "Best Film" at the 2007 Avignon Film Festival. It was also named "Best Film" at the 2007 Asheville Film Festival, won the Audience Award at the 2007 Independent Film Festival of Boston, and was nominated for the Piaget Producers Award at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards.