The Girl Who Cried Pearls earned an Academy Award, and the Prince Edward Islander who helped make it is hoping the honour opens some doors.

Laura Stewart grew up in Charlottetown and was one of three animators — along with Laura Venditti and Peggy Arel — who helped bring the 17-minute stop-motion film to the screen.

Made in Montreal under the direction of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, the film took home this year’s Oscar for best animated short film during Sunday night’s ceremony.

“I hope it opens new doors. I mean, I hope that more people are, like, ‘Yes, let’s make weird independent stop-motion films and hire Laura,'” Stewart said in an interview with Mainstreet P.E.I.

“It’s such a slow process to make a stop-motion film that it’s going to be, like, two years from now that I’m really seeing the effects of this. But I do have a great opening line for my resumé now.”

The Girl Who Cried Pearls tells the story of an impoverished boy who falls in love with a girl whose tears turn into pearls and explores themes of greed and the consequences of exploiting suffering.

It was initially inspired by Lavis and Szczerbowski’s 2007 Oscar-nominated short film Madame Tutli-Putli, and was produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The film took five years to finish.

‘I was in shock’

Stewart was home in Montreal watching the Academy Awards with her husband and son, as well as Venditti and her boyfriend, when the film was announced as the winner.

“I was in shock. I was so excited. Yeah, it’s crazy seeing, like, Chris and Maciek go up on the stage,” she said.

“I worked with them every day for years. Like, they’re there, they’re on the TV, they’re on the Oscars. They look amazing. It’s so cool.”

Stewart is happy with the recognition her work is receiving and praised the National Film Board as “an amazing resource for artists.”

With arts funding being cut across the country, she hopes the Oscar win will make a positive impact.

“I feel like maybe if they see that these weird films, they get Oscars and bring Canada to the world stage … that’s a big deal,” she said.

“Hopefully the people in charge see that and they’re like, ‘Oh, we should maybe not take away all of their money.'”

Since the win, she’s received congratulatory texts messages from the film’s creators. She’s looking forward to getting back together with the film’s crew to savour the win.

“Everyone’s really excited, everyone’s celebrating,” Stewart said. “Soon we’ll have a party to get together and, you know, maybe hold an Oscar.”

The Girl Who Cried Pearls is available in Canada for free on the National Film Board’s website and all its apps, as well as on YouTube.