2024 Princess Grace Award
Nominated by: California Institute of the Arts
Stephen Hillenburg Animation Honor
Isabel Santos is an animator, director and educator from Queens, NY. Through character based, hand-drawn animation, Isabel translates her experience of her own embodiment and self-perception into unusual and dramatic bodily movements whose tension affects the surrounding environment, bringing objects to life. Her films focus on the perspective of an individual in relationships with others, experiencing a surreal internal life seeping into their mundane reality.
Isabel holds a BFA in Animation from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts. Her latest film SWIM! has screened internationally winning a Special Jury Mention at New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival in Japan, the Up and Coming Award at Tricky Women Tricky Realities International Animation Fest in Austria, and a Special Mention from BITBANG in Argentina.
