Yes! Finally!
One of our fave animated shorts, Hair Love, by Matthew Cherry, is now online for every little Black girl to enjoy, Majic 102.1 reports.
We spoke with NFL player turned filmmaker Matthew Cherry back in 2017 about his Hair Love project and the inspiration behind it all. Cherry said he was inspired by the surge of viral videos showing fathers doing their daughters hair which prompted him to translate that into an animation specifically celebrating Black fathers who do their daughters hair.
“One thing I will say is there is authenticity in specificity,” says Cherry. “And being a Black man myself and knowing little girls who don’t feel represented in a lot of these projects, it was important for me to have it be an African American daughter and father,” Cherry told Because Of Them We Can.
Cherry went on to launch a Kickstarter campaign that garnered almost $300,000 in donations. Earlier this year, the film debuted alongside Sony Pictures hit Angry Birds 2.
“To see this project go from a Kickstarter campaign to the big screen is truly a dream come true. I couldn’t be more excited for Hair Love to be playing with The Angry Birds Movie 2 in front of a wide audience and for the world to see our touching story about a black father trying to figure out how to do his daughter’s hair for the very first time,” Cherry said.
Now the entire world can watch the touching story online. So excited to see this story come to life! Get your tissues ready!
Photo Courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation