Tank Standing Buffalo
Tank Standing Buffalo is a Canadian artist from Calgary, Alberta.[1] He is most noted for his 2023 animated short film MONSTR, which was included in HBO Max's animation anthology Only You: An Animated Shorts Collection.[2]
Background[edit]
Of mixed Potawatomi and Black Canadian descent, his mother is a member of the Caldwell First Nation in Southwestern Ontario.[3] He had a troubled childhood, and spent some time in detention as a young offender following a robbery.[4]
Career[edit]
His 2020 short film RKLSS centred on his time as a young offender, shedding light in particular on the inhumanity of solitary confinement practices, and premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.[4]
He followed up in 2022 with SAVJ, a prequel film about the childhood experience of being taken into foster care that first set him on the path to his troubled teenage years.[5] The film, which featured Corey Feldman voicing Standing Buffalo's character, premiered at the 2022 Calgary International Film Festival.[6]
MONSTR centred on his experience following his wife's death of a brain aneurysm, when he confronted his inner demons walking in the forest along the British Columbia Coast before taking a year-long apprenticeship with a wood carver.[2] The film premiered as part of HBO Max's Only You in March 2023.[1]
In addition to animation, Standing Buffalo has also worked in sculpture, illustration, tattoo art and tiki mug design.[4]
Awards[edit]
In May 2023, he was named one of the recipients of the inaugural Jeff Barnaby Grant for emerging indigenous filmmakers from Netflix and the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival.[7]
At the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival, MONSTR won the Devon Bolton Memorial Award for best Alberta short film,[8] and the Audience Choice award for best Alberta short film.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Taylor Simmons, "Calgary-based animator ready to walk red carpet as his MONSTR premieres on HBO Max". CBC News Calgary, March 22, 2023.
- ^ a b Stephen Hunt, "New film by Calgary's Tank Standing Buffalo streams on HBO". CTV News Calgary, March 25, 2023.
- ^ Monica Whitepigeon, "‘RKLSS’ Offers Message of Redemption and Sheds Light on Canada’s Prison System". Native News Online, October 1, 2020.
- ^ a b c Travis Klemp, "Tank Standing Buffalo’s RKLSS selected for TIFF". Windspeaker, September 1, 2020.
- ^ Stephen Hunt, "Calgary filmmaker Tank Standing Buffalo explores family trauma in SAVJ". CTV News Calgary, September 24, 2022.
- ^ Ingrid Canuel, "CIFF announces lineup of Alberta made films". LiveWire Calgary, August 4, 2022.
- ^ Oscar Baker III, "5 winners of Jeff Barnaby grants for Indigenous filmmakers announced". CBC News, May 10, 2023.
- ^ Aryn Toombs, "Winners of 2023 CIFF competitions unveiled". LiveWire Calgary, September 25, 2023.
- ^ "Summer Qamp, Drawing a Life audience favourites at CIFF". LiveWire Calgary, October 3, 2023.