The heartfelt animated short film from director Matthew A. Cherry that focuses on the relationship between an African-American father, his daughter Zuri, titled Hair Love is now available online. This comes after the short film’s initial theatrical run—which premiered before theatrical screenings of Angry Birds 2.
Hair Love, directed by Cherry, Everett Downing Jr. and Bruce W. Smith, is a collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation. The film was launched as a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 with a fundraising goal of $75,000, but the strong support led to the campaign amassing nearly $300,000, making it the most highly-funded short film campaign in Kickstarter history.
Hair Love features the voice of Issa Rae (Insecure) as the young girl’s mother. The short is produced by Karen Rupert Toliver, Stacey Newton, Monica A. Young, Cherry, and Lion ForgeAnimation’s David Steward II and Carl Reed. Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and Frank Abney (animator, Toy Story 4) serve as executive producers.
The short was published as a children’s book and released under Penguin Random House and Kokila Books in May 2019 and immediately found itself on The New York Times Bestseller List, before it hit theaters later in August 2019.
