Production credits
- Camera, Writing, Animation, Sound,
Production, and Direction
by Don Hertzfeldt
- Editing by Brian Hamblin
- Music by Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, and Robert Bremner
- Copyright 2008 Bitter Films
"I am so proud of you" reviews
- "A stunning gut-punch of a short film.... Proud is the latest mortality play from Oscar-nominated director Don Hertzfeldt, and it lives up to its pedigree, boldly taking on concepts like family, pain and loss. An intermission might be necessary after this program so audiences can step outside and catch their breath. It’s that effective." - Orlando Weekly
- "[Everything will be OK and I am so proud of you] tell the story of Bill, a stick figure everyman who stoically endures the pain, uncertainty, and excruciating beauty of life. Hertzfeldt's work is sometimes elusive in its simplicity, but it can be profound as well; with his humor, darkness, philosophical yearning, and insistence on drawing every line himself, he may be the only legitimate successor to Charles M Schulz. Except for all the money, of course." - J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
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"....a fucking masterpiece. I can't even begin to articulate my thoughts about the film but it just gave me shivers and I wasn't able to attend the party after the screening. Just had to be alone. It had this effect on a number of other people here too.... stunning, beautiful, tragic, absurd work."
- Chris Robinson, artistic director Ottawa International Animation Festival
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"So here's the thing about Don Hertzfeldt: the guy is a certifiable genius. Anyone who has watched his glorious and hilarious hand-drawn animated shorts Billy's Balloon, Ah, L'Amour, or Rejected knows this already, and you've more than likely watched these shorts more times than you can count, especially the truly inspired Rejected. But beginning with The Meaning of Life and continuing on to the 2006-07 exercise in mental gymnastics Everything will be OK, the Oscar-nominated Hertzfeldt has gone from being a gifted writer and animator of comic shorts into a more existential realm that faithfully examines the way the human mind works and doesn't work. He's showing us the mental movie that runs inside a fractured mind, while maintaining a level of humor, but adding a blanket of melancholy and despair. One could see these recent works as a portrait of a man trying to fend off a psychological meltdown, or perhaps this is said meltdown in its earliest incarnation. Most importantly, Hertzfeldt has transformed himself from animator and storyteller into a true artist. And his latest work, I am so proud of you is heartfelt proof of this. His longest short to date, this new piece is something of a follow-up to Everything will be OK, and much like that work, it's impossible to summarize or explain. You just need to see it.... This is the first of his films that got a genuinely deep emotional response from me, and I think it's accurate to say I was fairly devastated after watching it, which of course forced me to watch it again." - Aint it Cool News
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"A disturbing, adventurous, and oddly touching contemplation of mortality as only Hertzfeldt can do it." - Florida Film Festival
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"...the sequel to 2007's amazing Everything Will Be Ok, about a stick-man named Bill who is recovering from a near-fatal illness and musing on his family history, impending demise, and a boy with aluminum hooks for arms. Twistedly funny, brilliantly paced, heart-breaking, and thought-provoking stuff. If you're not familiar with Don Hertzfeldt, you will be amazed by how much his stick drawings will make you feel." - Metromix Orlando
- "...heartbreaking..." - Animation World Network
- "...mesmerizing..." - Tim Clodfelter, Winston Salem Journal
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"All of the animators featured in this year’s festival are dedicated artists who are intimately involved with their craft, but Hertzfeldt is a true auteur whose stick figure characters are a reminder of the heart and artistry that can be achieved with pencil, paper and an appreciation for the basic tools and methods of the animator." - Brett Rogers, San Jose Examiner
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"An extraordinary meditation on life, childhood, aging, futility and the search for meaning. Fusing the work of artists like Guy Maddin, David Lynch and Crispin Glover, animator Don Hertzfeldt has created a masterwork. Watching this twenty-two minute life story of stick-figure, ‘Bill’, is to see someone in complete control of their medium. It’s hysterically funny, whimsical, macabre, horrifying, sentimental, mawkish, chilling, insightful and sublime – all at the same moment. Make the time to see this picture – if you can’t see it at the Fest then put it on your queue, your download in-box, your phone insta-list – whatever, whatever you use to view films – make a note and see it."
- Jett Loe, the Film Talk
- "...dazzlingly mixes stick-figure animation with live-action footage, compresses one sad sack’s whole life and family history into a handful of minutes. Events are narrated in non sequiturs as dryly funny as the drawings... the overall effect is as ecstatic as the bars of Wagner, which fill its final minute." - FX Feeny, LA Weekly
- "...another mini-masterpiece of hilarious sadness... a film that I’ve seen multiple times, but it never fails to make me swirl and swoon... I Am So Proud of You challenges my brain, tickles my funny bone, and saddens my stomach in the way that I wish Synecdoche, New York had. It doesn’t seem possible, but Hertzfeldt is only getting better." - Michael Tully, Hammer to Nail
- "Hertzfeldt's work channels a lot of the aspirations and anxieties of us all...
I Am So Proud Of You made me cry. It's not just slapstick humour. I'm sure a lot of it is about psychological abuse. He doesn't use digital technology; everything you see in a Don Hertzfeldt film has been scribbled down on a piece of paper and shot directly on to film. The rostrum camera he uses allegedly shot all the Peanuts films, and there is a kind of synchronicity with Peanuts and Don's work. It's American childhood. His work is a subversion of that American ideal." - Ian Gardner, Edinburgh International Film Festival
- "...breathtaking...
[His] ability to simultaneously sweep across the entirety of human life and focus in on the minutiae of human anxiety is evident in Hertzfeldt’s most ambitious project to date... both [chapters] play like hypnotic, mysterious literary vignettes. Indeed, Hertzfeldt’s work has been compared to Raymond Carver and Kurt Vonnegut (although interestingly, Hertzfeldt said that he rarely reads fiction and more commonly finds inspiration in philosophy, psychology and real life). Despite their brevity, these strange visions leave a long-lasting sense of bewilderment and awe, demanding contemplation and requiring repeated viewing. The frenetic atmosphere of the Curzon bar and clamouring autograph queues felt quite incongruous after such complex, beautiful, introspective pieces of work." - Eleanor McKeown, Electric Sheep Magazine
- "...continues the independent animator’s expanding technique, which matches his minimalistic stick figure characters with gorgeous photographic imagery and filters that through the look and feel of silent film. He’s a tragic comedian with lovable streak of dark absurdity — like all great animators in the history of the medium." - Eric Kohn, Indiewire
Awards for "I am so proud of you"
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2008 |
Golden Starfish Award - Hamptons International Film Festival
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2009 |
Best Picture - Fargo Film Festival
Best Screenplay - Fargo Film Festival
Yoram Gross Award for Animation - Flickerfest, Australia
Platinum REMI Grand Prize - Worldfest Houston
Grand Jury Award - Florida Film Festival
Special Jury Award - Independent Film Festival of Boston
the Heart of Gold Award - Nevada City Film Festival
Best Film, Youth Jury - Curta Cinema, Rio De Janeiro
Best Short Film - Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
Best Animated Film - Fantastic Fest, Austin TX
Best Narrative Film - "Animation Block Party", NYC
Best Animated Film - DeadCenter Film Festival, OK
Best Animated Film - Nashville Film Festival
Best Animated Film - Tallahassee Film Festival
Best Animated Film - Hardacre Film Festival
Best Animated Film - Macon Film Festival
Best Animated Film - Fargo Film Festival
Special Jury Award - Indie Memphis Film Festival
Second Place, Animation - Athens Film Festival
Special Mention - International Film Festival Etiuda & Anima, Krakow, Poland
Third Place Overall - "Crisis of Mind" Linoleum Animation Festival, Moscow, Russia
Special Jury Award for "Original Form and Human Warmth"
- Message to Man Film Festival, St Petersburg, Russia
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2010 |
Special Award for "Original and exciting visual techniques" - Anifest Zagreb, Croatia
Best Film (tied with Everything will be OK), MUMIA Underground World Animation Festival, Brazil
Best Short Film - Animage Festival, Brazil
Best Animation - New Strand Film Festival
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"I am so proud of you" exhibition history
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2008
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"An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt" tour
Ottawa International Animation Festival
Hamptons International Film Festval (the Golden Starfish Award)
Atlantic Film Festival, Nova Scotia
Cinematheque Quebecoise, Quebec and Montreal
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2009
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Sundance Film Festival
"An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt" tour
Fargo Film Festival, ND (Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Animated Film)
Flickerfest, Bondi Beach Australia (Yoram Gross Award for Animation)
Worldfest Houston (Platinum REMI Grand Prize)
Florida Film Festival (Grand Jury Award)
Fantastic Fest, Austin TX (Best Animated Film)
Independent Film Festival of Boston (Special Jury Award)
Nevada City Film Festival, CA (the Heart of Gold Award)
Curta Cinema, Rio de Janeiro (Best Film, Youth Jury)
Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, AL (Best Short Film)
Tallahassee Film Festival (Best Animated Film)
Nashville Film Festival (Best Animated Film)
Macon Film Festival, GA (Best Animated Film)
DeadCenter Film Festival, OK (Best Animated Film)
Hardacre Film Festival, Tipton Iowa (Best Animated Film)
Indie Memphis Film Festival (Special Jury Award)
"Message to Man" Festival, St Petersburg, Russia (Special Jury Award for "Original Form and Human Warmth" )
Etiuda & Anima International Film Festival, Krakow (Special Mention)
Animation Block Party, NYC (Best Narrative Film)
Athens Film Festival, OH (Second Place)
"Crisis of Mind" Linoleum Animation Festival, Moscow, Russia (Third Place Overall)
"Sundance Shorts" tour
Santa Barbara Film Festival
Portland International Film Festival
Big Muddy Film Festival, IL
Flexfest, Gainesville FL
Durango Film Festival, CO
Ann Arbor Film Festival, MI
AFI Dallas Film Festival
Sarasota Film Festival
Atlanta Film Festival
RiverRun Film Festival, NC
Maryland Film Festival
Over the Top Festival, Toronto
Newport International Film Festival, RI
BAM Cinemafest, Brooklyn
Melbourne Animation Festival
Frozen Film Festival, San Francisco
Anima Mundi, Rio de Janeiro
Anima Mundi, Sao Paulo
Gimli Film Festival, Manitoba
Expresión En Corto, Mexico
Sausalito Film Festival, CA
London Animation Festival
Sydney Animation Festival
1 Reel Film Festival, Seattle WA
KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival
Dixie Film Festival, Athens GA
AFI Fest, Los Angeles
Savannah Film Festival
Holland Animation Festival
Dallas Video Festival
Rivers Edge Film Festival, KY
Rehoboth Beach Film Festival, DE
Lone Star Film Festival, Fort Worth TX
Anilogue Animation Festival, Budapest
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2010
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MUMIA Underground World Animation Festival, Brazil (Best Film, tied with Everything will be OK)
Animage Animation Festival, Brazil (Best Short Film)
New Strand Film Festival, Iowa (Best Animation)
Animafest Zagreb, Croatia (Special Award for "Original and exciting visual techniques")
Beloit International Film Festival
Image Forum Festival tour, Japan
Citrus Cel Animation Festival, FL
Monterey Film Festival, CA
Big Cartoon Festival, Moscow Animateka International Animation Film Festival, Slovenia International Festival of Animated Film of Fortaleza, Brazil
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