Southeast Asian animation is truly on the rise right now, from big studios like Disney creating films like Raya and The Last Dragon to indie studios like Studio Heartbreak from the Philippines with The Lovers. Adding to the list is the Malaysian animated film, Horologist.
Horologist is the passion project of Grim Film CEO Jared Lee, who is known for his shorts on YouTube including his journey as a cancer survivor. With Grim Film and their short films, Lee has flexed his creative muscles with professional advertisements in live-action and animation.
Through Grim Film, Lee and his team’s series of short films won a handful of awards including Best Drama at America’s Soul 4 Reel International Film Festival 2013 for ‘The Long Distance Relationship’ and two awards at the 2018 Vancouver WebFest in Canada for ‘The Last 7’.
Speaking to Tattler on the development of Horologist, Lee explained that it began taking shape in 2015 when he felt burnt out from doing YouTube content. This led him to publish fewer videos as he looked for a passion project to pursue.
Soon came the Covid-19 pandemic, which gave Lee the spark to make Horologist as a comic book, only because animation was a bit too expensive to produce. Lee envisioned this comic book to be an anthology of four short stories.
Collaborating with Malaysian comic artist and lecturer Cross, the pair pitched Horologist to MDEC in 2021, which led to the animated version being funded. By the end of 2022, Lee began sending the film to festivals worldwide.
When the initial manga version was released in December 2022, Horologist was immediately sold out when it was sold physically at the local manga and anime convention, Comic Fiesta. Lee has promised fans online that more volumes will be coming in the future.
So far, the animated version of Horologist has been selected for the Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner, the Atlantic Bridge International Film Festival 2023, and the Court Metrange International Film Festival 2023.
As for awards, it has won the 'Best Animation' at the USA International Film Festival 2023 and was nominated for 'Best Animation' and 'Audience Choice Award' at Poland's International Animation Festival 'Animator' 2023.
Hopefully, we will see the animated version of Horologist make its local debut soon. In the meantime, follow Jared Lee on Instagram to keep up to date with Horoligist and its developments.
