Denis L. Chartrand

Movies

The Circus
Music
In the vestibule of a hospital room, a young boy waits to see his dying mother. The clamor and spiralling movements of bodies around him intensify, forming a grotesque circus—a cacophonous circle that pushes the child back, depriving him of one final touch of his mother's hand. Using rotoscoped drawings suggestive of charcoal sketches, as well as 3D and object animation techniques, The Circus compels viewing with its unsettling realism. Colour is employed metaphorically to subtly express the promise and the memory of maternal affection. Nicolas Brault's highly personal film, suffused with poetic modesty, casts a poignantly sincere gaze on the heartbreak of a child facing the fearful, mysterious experience of his mother's death.
Au pays des têtes
Original Music Composer
Emile is an unhappy little vampire, doing a job he detests, in a world plunged into perpetual gloom. He serves a despotic mistress who loathes wrinkles, in the most extreme way.
Au pays des têtes
Musician
Emile is an unhappy little vampire, doing a job he detests, in a world plunged into perpetual gloom. He serves a despotic mistress who loathes wrinkles, in the most extreme way.
Leon in Wintertime
Original Music Composer
One winter, a ravenous ogre terrorizes the land of King Balthasar. Meanwhile, a blizzard is brewing in Léon’s heart. Braving the cold, this adopted bear cub runs away from home. Léon has many an adventure during his travels. He befriends a hedgehog and an elephant, confronts an ogre, and sets Princess Molly Gingerbread free. His courage and integrity eventually lead him back to his family. In the end, the cub earns everybody’s respect.
Father and Daughter
Original Music Composer
A father says goodbye to his young daughter. In time the daughter grows old, but within her there is always a deep longing for her father.
Lights for Gita
Sound Designer
This animated short, based on the book by Rachna Gilmore, is the story of Gita, an 8-year-old girl who can't wait to celebrate Divali - the Hindu festival of lights - in her new home in Canada. But it's nothing like New Delhi, where she comes from. The weather is cold and grey and a terrible ice storm cuts off the power, ruining her plans for a party. Obviously, a Divali celebration now is impossible. Or is it? As Gita experiences the glittering beauty of the icy streets outside, the traditional festival of lights comes alive in a sparkling new way.
The Old Man and the Sea
Original Music Composer
An old fisherman goes out on his fishing trip and makes a huge catch, the biggest of his life.
No Problem
Music
An everyman who lives alone desires female companionship. The trouble is, he's got two extra personalities who pop out and ruin things: an id, who's usually naked and has no inhibitions, and a super ego, who's a prude and a scold. Our hero goes through his little black book calling woman after woman: Natalie agrees to a date, but the warring three-headed personalities sink that outing before he gets through her apartment door. Soon, he's down to the last name in his book: Zolga. Is there any hope? Can he just be one self?
Sabina
Music
This short animated film is an impressionistic exploration of sensuality within the feminine imagination. Inspired by Anaïs Nin's poetic writing, Sabina breathes with lush, elemental energy where colours embrace and shapes caress in the soft currents of water and desire.
The Man Who Planted Trees
Music
The story of one shepherd's single-handed quest to re-forest a desolate valley in the foothills of the French Alps throughout the first half of the 20th century.