Executive Producer
This animated short from Malcolm Sutherland is an engaging dance of shapes and sounds. The "game" is played by opening the box, unfolding the board and placing shapes on it that you manipulate with your hands. There are no winners or losers in this game; the fun is in the creative way the forms unfold. Features a score by Luigi Alleman and music by Ravi Shankar.
Executive Producer
Jennie the terrier has everything a dog could ever wish for, but still feels that something is missing. She leaves home to discover what that is.
Executive Producer
A poignant story of redemption that takes us into the relationship between a man and a woman trapped in a spiral of mutual destruction after 26 years of marriage, the Spine continues Landreth's pursuit of a twisted, beautiful and highly original visual aesthetic, using digital imagery to create characters whose physical appearances are metaphors for their unique souls.
Executive Producer
This animation short by Ryan Larkin recounts some “comical experiences” Larkin had during his many years as a panhandler in Montreal. It tells the story of Astral Pan, a street beggar, who takes us on a wild journey from the sidewalks of a wintry Montreal day, to the gates of Heaven and Hell and back. The great filmmaker passed away before finishing his film. Spare Change was completed by a friend, producer and singer-songwriter Laurie Gordon, assisted by a team of young, devoted animators.
Executive Producer
This gentle tale about mortality works in subliminal ways. When an old man is visited by Death at his home in the meadows, he has to delve deep to secure more time for himself. Does he have the strength to find the answers he needs? Can we negotiate our time on earth? How do we reconcile our mortal fate? A lyrical look at a reality as old as humanity, yet as young as today. Based on a story by Richard Kennedy.
Executive Producer
Two little men float into the deep blue sky, tied to balloons. But then each decides the sky belongs to him. This film was made as part of the fourth edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
Books are everywhere in Meena's house - in cupboards, drawers, and even piled up the stairs! Her parents love to read, but Meena never even opens a book! When her cat Max accidentally knocks down a huge stack of books, heroes, heroines, and animals with attitude come to life and pandemonium reigns. Meena finds a unique solution to get the characters back in the books, and nothing, as they say, is the same after that. Based on the story by Manjusha Pawagi. The Girl Who Hated Books is part of the NFB's Talespinners 2 collection.
Executive Producer
A prairie landscape undergoes a metamorphosis: rural idyll to over-urbanized dystopia. Director Anne Koizumi laments the changing face of her hometown of Calgary in this critique of the bacteria-like spread of suburbia and exurbia. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
A little creature watches the transformation of a feather and follows a whale to where icebergs melt, leaving birds with nowhere to land. The materials used include old gloves, costume jewellery and Plasticine. Technique: puppet and object animation with drawn animation. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
A woman ponders over the strange coincidences that made her forefathers and -mothers meet and create the premises for her becoming the person that she is.
Executive Producer
A figure floats in landscapes and spaces without a ground plane. There is only water. The reflected skies are endless and mirrored interiors are doubled in height. This film explores experiences within environments that are recognizable but surreal. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
A robot rambles about frenetically, receiving countless electronic messages through his antenna every second. Despite his fatigue and stress, he never slows down. The only thing that might bring his frantic journey to an end is a traffic accident. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
In this short animation, a young boy takes a flying leap away from normal, waves goodbye to his classmates, and disappears into the cityscape and beyond. At the same time, a young girl is inspired to reinvent her space with art.
Executive Producer
In this short animation Damien Hess attempts to connect with the tragedy of the First World War, a conflict that helped define Canada. In this film he uses imagery of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial monument in northern France to summon up names, faces and shadows that are fading from our memory. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
In this whimsical animated short, filmmaker Rachel Peters asks: "what if the laws of physics suddenly ceased to apply?" Peters explores this question through the tale of a man and his two goldfish as they prepare for the end of the world. Technique: drawn animation, digitally coloured and composited. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
In this animated short, filmmaker Chris Hinton and composer Michael Oesterle leap back and forth between picture and sound. The dynamic movement of Hinton's visual art dances in syncopation with the bold musical strokes of an original modern classical composition. Without words.
Executive Producer
When an advanced race of giant lobsters from outer space land on Earth, no one can figure out why they've come. A complete failure to communicate on both ends leads to panic and pandemonium. Why are they here? What do they want? In this clever throwback to the ‘50s B-movie, a small neighbourhood learns the value of clear communication.
Executive Producer
A woman must find paperclips for a report to be presented in the morning.
Executive Producer
Marielle Guyot uses her computer skills with great artistic sensibility to bring the sea to life, death, and hopefully, life again. This film was made as part of the second edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
Get lost in this slightly surreal animated short composed of exquisite black-and-white illustrations. As we move through the landscape, we pass elaborate topiaries, dust-devil ballets, horses traversing the horizon, and wild reflections in the water. It's a lyrical film that carries you through a visually-rich tapestry of incredible hand-drawn images.
Executive Producer
A tale of Victorian-era folly ends in tragedy. Kevin Langdale's graphic style brims with the majesty of human ambition and the indomitable and sometimes destructive power of the natural world. This film was made as part of the second edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
An “epic” adventure and a magical environmental fairy tale. Amy Lockhart uses cutouts, drawings and collage (captured and manipulated as digital multi-plane animation) to conjure up her whimsical world. This film was made as part of the second edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
Megann Reid evokes the solitude and warmth of a bath. Drawn with water colour pencil crayons on frosted acetate, the animation was done under a digital camera. This film was made as part of the second edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
Thea Pratt explores the exhilarating moment of a poetic dive. The movement of the puppet diver is influenced by Norman McLaren, Leni Riefenstahl and Busby Berkeley. Dancing light, frothing oceans, rolling rivers and calm lakes describe in photographic images the diver’s own stream of consciousness. This film was made as part of the second edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
Seeking shelter from a thunderstorm, a man sits in a pub watching the ice in his glass melt away. Howie Shia marries his graphic illustration style with subtle animation and a haunting soundtrack to conjure up anxiety and foreboding. He used pen and ink on tracing paper and later composited and coloured digitally. This film was made as part of the second edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
Billionaire businessman Noel Noel is long on cash but short on social graces; so when he finds himself falling for the fairy Beatrice, he mistakenly thinks he can buy her love with material gifts. It takes a little girl named Zooey, her dog Snooze, and a blue-eyed reindeer to help Noel Noel learn the true meaning of love in this animated Christmas fable that features narration by Leslie Nielson (AIRPLANE, NAKED GUN) and music by French-Canadian songstress Ariane Moffatt.
Executive Producer
This short animation is bleak and apparently grim, but it is an assertive statement on self-determination and the fundamental need for both dark and light. This film was made as part of the first edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
This experimental animation film examines society's deification of architecture and urbanization in the modern world and the impact on our relationship to nature. This film was made with the NFB Hothouse program for emerging filmmakers.
Executive Producer
This is a combination of stop-motion puppet and drawn animation. We observe a forlorn woman on a Halifax dock, whose loneliness is lifted by the passing of a fishing trawler. A metaphor on the connectiveness of water and water's capacity as a medium of freedom. This film was made as part of the first edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
A pithy critique of society's commercialization of water, abetted by an utter disregard for the future. The film is a mixed media whirlwind of hyperactive animated collage. This film was made as part of the first edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
A “water poem,” set in a Japanese ofuro hot bath. It explores water as a medium and repository for collective stories and was created in a hybrid new media form using animation, video and split screens. This film was made as part of the first edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
A marvellous example of extreme animation. Jacob Bauming shows us a whirling dervish of sensory overload, with a tenuous connection to snazzy “aquatics,” using them as a trigger for his wild and manic imagination. This film was made as part of the first edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.
Executive Producer
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.
Producer
A short animation about a boy who sees an iceberg coming. Will he be in time to warn the captain?
Executive Producer
In this animated short, Mrs. Popcorn is shocked to discover a worm in her canned drink. When the beverage company refuses to accept the blame, she's outraged! An intrepid consumer, Mrs. Popcorn takes the company to court for negligence. Understanding the Law: The Worm is episode two in a series of short films designed to demystify everyday aspects of Canadian civil law. Wry humour and a whimsical style make this informative series lively and memorable.
Executive Producer
This short animation tells the story of Saoussan, a young girl struggling to adjust to life in Canada after being uprooted from her wartorn homeland. She has come to seek a quieter and safer life, although memories of war and death linger, memories that are awakened when the children at her new school prepare for a scary Halloween. From Far Away speaks to the power within us all to adapt like Saoussan and to welcome a newcomer.
Executive Producer
A grandmother tells her young grandchild the moving tale of a lonely girl and an unforgettable magical cat in this animated short narrated by Oscar®, Emmy and Tony award winner Maureen Stapleton. The film is based on a short story written by Dayal Kaur Khalsa and adapted by two-time Governor General's award recipient Tim Wynne-Jones.
Producer
Margaret Fish is planning a surprise party for her dentist husband, Bob. Meanwhile, at the office, Bob his having a mid-life crisis while insects munch on what's left of his plants. When Bob returns home, Margaret has a terrible time getting him into the room where everyone's hidden until he's halfway through changing clothes and talking about how horrid all their nebbishy friends are (the same friends hidden all over the room).
Producer
Norman McLaren was a cinematic genius who made films without cameras, and music without instruments. He produced sixty films in a stunning range of styles and techniques, collecting over 200 international awards, and world recognition. In Creative Process, director Donald McWilliams demystifies the process of artistic creation. Drawing on McLaren's private film vaults, a gold mine of experimental footage and uncompleted films, McWilliams explores McLaren's methods, including his celebrated "pixillation" technique, and his daring forays into animated surrealism.
Producer
An active organism leaps and quivers in this bouncing one-minute vignette.
Producer
Blending fantasy and reality, this animated short is a bold inquiry into an as yet unresolved problem - the nature of human identity. When a scientist creates a machine that can make copies of physical objects, including humans, a number of ethical questions arise. Is the technique moral? What of its safety? A film by Oscar-winning filmmaker John Weldon (who also wrote the catchy banjo tune that punctuates the story's changing moods).
Producer
Using splashy hand-drawn animation, the story about a man who ends up in the hospital and probability theory is illustrated. When the guy awakens in a hospital bed, the doctor begins spouting all sorts of statistical probabilities--at which point the patient seems confused. So, the doctor explains the history behind probability theory as well as its application.
Producer
An animated film promoting the value of freedom of expression as stipulated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Producer
Hopeful job candidate Buck Boom is dynamic, forceful, confident and creative. But can he convince Mr. Mudgin, the personnel manager, to hire him? You see, Boom is an animated character in a live-action world and Mudgin is not used to dealing with someone who is different.
Director
Hopeful job candidate Buck Boom is dynamic, forceful, confident and creative. But can he convince Mr. Mudgin, the personnel manager, to hire him? You see, Boom is an animated character in a live-action world and Mudgin is not used to dealing with someone who is different.
Producer
In this short film by Norman McLaren, dancers enact the Greek tragedy of Narcissus, the beautiful youth whose excessive self-love condemned him to a trapped existence. Skilfully merging film, dance and music, the film is a compendium of the techniques McLaren acquired over a lifetime of experimentation.
Executive Producer
This amusing short animation tells of a polite and timid young minister with a major shortcoming: he just cannot bring himself to say goodbye, and this causes him great grief and considerable consternation. On the first day of his vacation to visit friends, Melpomenus somehow stays and stays until, on the last day of his holiday, he finally departs in an unexpected way. Based on the Stephen Leacock short story, the film is set to toe-tapping ragtime music.
Producer
This amusing short animation tells of a polite and timid young minister with a major shortcoming: he just cannot bring himself to say goodbye, and this causes him great grief and considerable consternation. On the first day of his vacation to visit friends, Melpomenus somehow stays and stays until, on the last day of his holiday, he finally departs in an unexpected way. Based on the Stephen Leacock short story, the film is set to toe-tapping ragtime music.
Executive Producer
Ice cutting on the St. Lawrence River in the 1860s is illustrated in song and animated graphics.
Producer
This vignette illustrates the variety of professions, people and technical procedures required by the filmmaking process.
Producer
In this animated short, Roch Carrier recounts the most mortifying moment of his childhood. At a time when all his friends worshipped Maurice "Rocket" Richard and wore his number 9 Canadiens hockey jersey, the boy was mistakenly sent a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey from Eaton's. Unable to convince his mother to send it back, he must face his friends wearing the colours of the opposing team. This short film, based on the book The Hockey Sweater, is an NFB classic that appeals to hockey lovers of all ages.
Director
This lively satire uses animation and a pseudo-documentary style to depict Canada's search for a national identity. The National Scream explains, amongst other elements of Canadiana, how and why the beaver became the country's symbol.
Producer
This animated film illustrates the terrible journey, the back-breaking work, the exotic and gaudy city of Dawson, and the turmoil and triumphs of the 1898 Klondike gold rush.
Producer
The metamorphosis of a map of Canada into human forms who share the natural resources to the rhythm of a dance.
Producer
This film is about the emotions that can lead one to take that jump into space necessary for hang gliding with a Delta Plane.
Producer
A story about two symbolic characters who sway to the song Alouette.
Producer
This film promotes, in the best K-Tel tradition, a new device used to speak French.
Producer
An egg desperately tries to prevent being hatched. In this animated short from the Canada Vignette series, learn how societies in evolution are often in danger of self-destruction.
Producer
A visual interpretation of the poem "Riverdale Lion" by Canadian poet and essayist John Robert Colombo.
Original Music Composer
A short illustrating Wade Hemsworth's folk song about a woman's admiration for the agility of her boyfriend, the log driver.
Producer
A short illustrating Wade Hemsworth's folk song about a woman's admiration for the agility of her boyfriend, the log driver.
Executive Producer
A Canadian prairie farm family has a tough beginning on their new farm.
Executive Producer
This film describes the journey of nomadic Asian people to North America via a land bridge.
Executive Producer
An animated film about the Hudson's Bay trading post, and the relationship between fur traders and Indians.
Executive Producer
An animated film about the hardships of voyageurs' lives in the early Canadian fur trade.
Executive Producer
Life in Canada is reflected by people's comments on trees as a tree is shown undergoing seasonal changes.
Executive Producer
Historical events are related through the medium of simulated news broadcasting in 1878.
Executive Producer
This is the story of the first French settlers in North America, who spent their first winter on an island in the Bay of Fundy. Despite overwhelming hardships the survivors, joined by other new colonists, eventually established Port Royal, the foundation of Acadia and the Acadian people.
Executive Producer
An examination of the Viking explorers who were the first Europeans to discover Canada.
