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On Tuesday, the Canadian filmmaker’s ‘Turning Red’ was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, and ET Canada’s Morgan Hoffman spoke to the director to get her reaction.
“I want to run around, jump in the air… Was a crazy morning,” Shi said.
When asked if she watched Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams announce the nominations, Shi said, “No. I was too scared, I was too nervous. I think I started this trend four years ago when [my short film] “Bao” was nominated for an Oscar, which I didn’t see because I was too nervous. I didn’t want to jinx it. Now I feel like I started this trend and I don’t want to break with tradition and somehow jinx it.
The director continued, “And it’s also so scary when they read the names very slowly. I think I would have had a heart attack if I had seen that live. So I just like to leave my phone by my bed and rely on friends and family to text me or call me in the morning to wait for them to wake me up. And that’s what happened.”
When asked if anyone from the cast reached out to celebrate, Shi said, “I got a text message from Sandra Oh, and I got a direct message from my Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. It’s just great for them too because this is such an Asian-Canadian film. And to do it with such amazing Canadian actresses was just really special.”
Turning Red is set in Toronto, which was very important to Shi, who grew up in the city.
“I’m so happy for Toronto to be celebrated on the big stage as Toronto, and not disguised as New York City or Chicago or any other random American city.”
She continued, “That was one of my favorite parts about making this film, it was revisiting the old neighborhoods that I used to visit. As a child, my parents and I shopped in Chinatown at Kensington Market to be able to replicate the Skydome as a Skydome rather than a Rogers Center and also as a CN Tower. Putting these landmarks and these childhood staples on a big screen for everyone to enjoy and experience is just amazing.”
Speaking of her inspiration behind the film, Shi said, “This story about this Chinese-Canadian girl going through a magical puberty, getting into huge, larger-than-life fights with her mother, and dealing with the messiness and awkwardness of growing up. I really just wanted to make this film for my 13-year-old self and for everyone’s 13-year-old me.”
She added that the nomination was “like the glittery cherry on top of an already amazing sundae.”
When asked if she’ll pop some champagne to celebrate, Shi laughed, “Not as much as last time. Last time I went a little too crazy, a little too fast. And at that point I’m going to pace it. Like champagne, water. champagne, water.”
