Floating to Freedom

Heather Rutishauser

Monroe, NY

BFA (Motion Design & Animation)

Advisor: Catherine Masud

Film
12 min 44 sec
Link to Floating to Freedom

Floating to Freedom is a documentary short film in which Hai Do, my uncle and a survivor and refugee of the fall of Saigon at the age of 17, recounts his experiences growing up in Vietnam during the war, fleeing the country, and starting a new life in America.

I have always been interested in sociology and human rights, and over my career at UConn a few courses have been transformative in my work. My sophomore year I took a course with my project advisor, Professor Masud, that first formally introduced me to the documentary genre and its conventions, and I became obsessed with the idea of truth and communicating that in my work. My next course with Professor Masud focused more on documentary for human rights but also on the role of archival materials in documentary creation, which has opened my eyes to history and its importance in informing the present. We created a group documentary focused on Thomas J. Dodd – a member of the U.S. prosecution team for the Nuremberg trials – and his letters sent home to his wife during the time. This gave me experience working in primary sources and seeing their power in impactful storytelling.

I left this class knowing that I wanted to create a documentary surrounding human rights issues, but one that had a personal tie to me that would allow it to be really meaningful. I also knew that this genre that combines many media forms into a film is often lacking in animated content, which I have also been studying in my career here. Therefore it was important to me to bring animation into my project and explore the ways in which animation can represent truth. The result is this film, combining archival material, animation, human rights, and an exploration of my family history.

Artist Bio

Heather Rutishauser grew up in Monroe, NY with a background in fine arts, specifically drawing and painting. She is now a senior attending the University of Connecticut in hopes of continuing her love of art through digital means. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Media & Design with a concentration in Motion Design & Animation, and completing a minor in sociology. In the future, she hopes to utilize her skills for human rights and social advocacy work in film and animation, as well as pursue documentary filmmaking.

https://www.heatherrutishauser.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-rutishauser/

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