'''Tank Standing Buffalo''' is a Canadian artist from Calgary, Alberta.<ref name=simmons>Taylor Simmons, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tank-standing-buffalo-cartoon-1.6787438 "Calgary-based animator ready to walk red carpet as his MONSTR premieres on HBO Max"]. CBC News Calgary, March 22, 2023.</ref> 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''.<ref name=ctvmonstr>Stephen Hunt, [https://web.archive.org/web/20230325010610/https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/monstr-calgary-director-tank-standing-buffalo-s-latest-animated-short-streaming-on-hbo-max-1.6328603 "New film by Calgary's Tank Standing Buffalo streams on HBO"]. CTV News Calgary, March 25, 2023.</ref>
==Background== He is of mixed Potawatomi and Black Canadian descent, and his mother is a member of the Caldwell First Nation in Southwestern Ontario.<ref>Monica Whitepigeon, [https://nativenewsonline.net/arts-entertainment/rklss-offers-message-of-redemption-and-sheds-light-on-canada-s-prison-system "‘RKLSS’ Offers Message of Redemption and Sheds Light on Canada’s Prison System"]. ''Native News Online'', October 1, 2020.</ref> He had a troubled childhood and spent some time in detention as a young offender following a robbery.<ref name=windspeaker>Travis Klemp, [https://windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/tank-standing-buffalos-rklss-selected-tiff "Tank Standing Buffalo’s RKLSS selected for TIFF"]. ''Windspeaker'', September 1, 2020.</ref>
==Career== His 2020 short film ''RKLSS'' centred on his time as a young offender, shedding light, particularly on the inhumanity of solitary confinement practices, and premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.<ref name=windspeaker/>
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.<ref>Stephen Hunt, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220924175002/https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/calgary/2022/9/24/1_6082951.amp.html "Calgary filmmaker Tank Standing Buffalo explores family trauma in SAVJ"]. CTV News Calgary, September 24, 2022.</ref> The film featured Corey Feldman voicing Standing Buffalo's character and premiered at the 2022 Calgary International Film Festival.<ref>Ingrid Canuel, [https://livewirecalgary.com/2022/08/04/ciff-announces-lineup-of-alberta-made-films/ "CIFF announces lineup of Alberta made films"]. ''LiveWire Calgary'', August 4, 2022.</ref>
''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.<ref name=ctvmonstr/> The film premiered as part of HBO Max's ''Only You'' in March 2023.<ref name=simmons/>
In addition to animation, Standing Buffalo has also worked in sculpture, illustration, tattoo art and tiki mug design.<ref name=windspeaker/>
==Awards== 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.<ref>Oscar Baker III, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/imaginenative-netflix-indigenous-filmmakers-1.6838931 "5 winners of Jeff Barnaby grants for Indigenous filmmakers announced"]. CBC News, May 10, 2023.</ref>
At the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival, ''MONSTR'' won the Devon Bolton Memorial Award for best Alberta short film<ref>Aryn Toombs, [https://livewirecalgary.com/2023/09/25/winners-of-2023-ciff-competitions-unveiled/ "Winners of 2023 CIFF competitions unveiled"]. ''LiveWire Calgary'', September 25, 2023.</ref> and the Audience Choice Award for best Alberta short film.<ref>[https://livewirecalgary.com/2023/10/03/summer-qamp-drawing-a-life-audience-favourites-at-ciff/ "Summer Qamp, Drawing a Life audience favourites at CIFF"]. ''LiveWire Calgary'', October 3, 2023.</ref>
In 2021, he was awarded the RBC Emerging Artist Award, a Cultural Leaders Legacy Award from Calgary Arts Development.<ref>CADA, [https://calgaryartsdevelopment.com/living-a-creative-life/stories/tank-standing-buffalo/ "Tank Standing Buffalo: Animation and Autobiography"]. ''Calgary Arts Development'', July 30, 2021..</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|4878596}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Standing Buffalo, Tank}} Category:21st-century Canadian artists Category:Canadian animators Category:Canadian illustrators Category:Film directors from Calgary Category:21st-century First Nations artists Category:First Nations filmmakers Category:Black Canadian artists Category:Black Canadian filmmakers Category:Potawatomi artists Category:Canadian tattoo artists Category:Male tattoo artists Category:Artists from Calgary Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people