An animated short film by a French filmmaker of Vietnamese origin has been nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Award at the 88th Academy Awards.

“Chez Moi” (My Home) by Nguyen Phuong Mai is among 10 movies nominated for the coveted award at the upcoming world-renowned event, to be held in February 2016.

The short is a 12-minute story of a boy named Hugo. The day after his mother returns home, he wakes up and finds black feathers all over his house.

The 27-year-old director told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper she came up with the subject matter for the film just one year after graduating from La Poudrière, an animation film school in France, in 2012.

“The idea came from my personal experience. I want to depict the relationship between the stepfather and stepson, and the unusual feeling of a young boy seeing a stranger live in his house,” Mai explained.

In the film, the stepfather is described as a half-bird-half-man character that has a human body and a bird’s head.

“It’s hard for a man and a bird to communicate and understand each other. When you see the head of a tiger or a panther, you might see whether it’s fierce or gentle. However, this rule does not apply to a bird’s head.”

Mai spent two years producing the film. As a young graduate, she asked for funding and help from many organizations and friends.

“I had to partly invest my own money but I still feel lucky enough as there are many other directors who received no support,” she said.

Mai was born in Ho Chi Minh City. She moved to France at the age of 15, then studying animation directing and editing for years.

Mai said she will do some projects on children’s films and a separate work about Vietnam.

“Chez Moi” is Mai’s first professional cinematic debut. It has been released at several film festivals and received positive feedback.

The short has won many awards such as the Animation First Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival 2015, Young Audience Award in the Paris Silhouette Festival 2015, and the Special Prize of the Jury at the Kuandu International Animation Festival 2015 in Taipei, according to newswire Vietnamplus.

The other nominations for the 88th Academy Awards include Gabriel Osorio's Bear Story, Claude Cloutier's Carface, and Richard Williams' Prologue.

Screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.

Five final nominations will be announced on January 14, before the 88th Academy Awards on February 28.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!