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Animation

  • Amma
    Amma
    Akash Jones 2024 1 min
    Wash your hands. Turn off the lights. And don’t forget your prayers to Ganesh.” Having fun with comicbook motifs and plasticine, Akash Jones honours the no-nonsense second-generation immigrant mother who raised him, instilling habits that guide him to this day. Stop-motion animation that says, “Love ya Mom.” 
  • My World, Your Melody
    My World, Your Melody
    Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes 2024 1 min
    A choir of tropical frogs performs infectious pop in delightfully unsettling animation from Costa Rican-Canadian artist Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes. Riffing on karaoke companion videos and the swipe-n-scroll conventions of handheld media, she infuses candy-coloured digital animation with the spectre of ecological collapse.
  • Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us
    Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us
    Cameron Kletke 2024 1 min
    Cameron Kletke depicts an in utero skirmish between twins with spacious hand-drawn animation, employing watercolours and pastel to plunge us into an intimate watery universe where the umbilical cord becomes a prop in a comic battle of wills. Those little elbows can be sharp.
  • Red Star Alley
    Red Star Alley
    Jenny Yujia Shi 2024 2 min
    A vine takes root in old Beijing, witnessing the passage of time in a traditional hutong—part of an urban fabric that’s fast disappearing as the city undergoes radical transformation. Making ingenious use of backlit cut-outs, Jenny Yujia Shi crafts an animated elegy to a vanishing way of life.
  • The Last Tango
    The Last Tango
    Mochi Lin 2024 1 min
    Drawn to unorthodox materials and themes, Mochi Lin works with diaphanous stockings and acetate to depict courtship in the insect world. Her musical composition provides the soundtrack for a startling pas de deux. Stop-motion haiku on the themes of coupledom, confinement and decapitation!
  • Unblending
    Unblending
    Michelle Ku 2024 1 min
    For people living with structural dissociation, falling asleep can be a challenge—a time when multiple contradictory thoughts conspire to keep you awake. Drawing on her experience with somatic healing, Michelle Ku puts these thoughts to rest in a few vivid minutes of hand-painted animation.
  • Inkwo for When the Starving Return
    Inkwo for When the Starving Return
    Amanda Strong 2024 18 min
    Two lifetimes from now the world hangs in the balance. Dove, a young, enigmatic, gender-shifting warrior, discovers the gifts and burdens of their Inkwo (medicine) to defend against an army of hungry, ferocious monsters. Dove’s courage, resilience and alliance with the Earth culminates in a battle against these flesh-consuming creatures, who become stronger with each body and soul they devour. Inkwo for When the Starving Return is a call to action to fight and protect against the forces of greed around us.
  • Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
    Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
    Natalie Baird  &  Toby Gillies 2024 7 min
    Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying is a short meditation on love, grief, and imagination. The hand-drawn animated documentary was created through a collaboration between mother, elder and narrator Edith Almadi and filmmakers Natalie Baird and Toby Gillies. This poetic piece celebrates life and the transformative ability of art to elevate and transcend us. Through vivid drawings and Edith’s simple yet magical words, the film explores our enduring bond with loved ones who have passed. In honouring her son’s life within the cosmos, Edith’s artworks embody colours, shapes and metaphors that remind us of the timeless power of love, gravity, and grace until our final breaths.
  • In the Shallows
    In the Shallows
    Arash Akhgari 2024 4 min
    Walking down the street or sitting on a commuter train, few of us can resist the siren song of that small, illuminated device in our pockets. Through a carefully choreographed collision of hand-made sculptural collages and ink and paint animation, In the Shallows, by first-time NFB filmmaker Arash Akhgari, takes us on a deep dive into the shallow and fragmented world of news, entertainment and ads, where we can easily drown in the dangerous allure of mass media intoxication.
  • Hairy Legs
    Hairy Legs
    Andrea Dorfman 2024 16 min
    Hairy Legs, an animated short film, documents a 13-year-old girl’s small yet life-changing act of rebellion on the road to womanhood and feminism. Deciding not to shave her legs led filmmaker Andrea Dorfman to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations.

    With charm, warmth and humour, Hairy Legs captures the universality of girls exploring gender, curiosity and freedom as they evolve from spending exuberant, carefree days on their bicycles to facing and defying stereotypes.
  • LOCA
    LOCA
    Véronique Paquette 2024 5 min
    Through the energy of tango, a woman finds a path to freedom. A mesmerizing visual performance created with waves of ink and black-and-white geometric shapes.
  • What the Hell
    What the Hell
    Valerie Barnhart 2024 8 min
    Dante's Hell, once the epitome of human suffering and punishment, faces an existential crisis: it loses its relevance on 21C Earth. Charlotte, a sharp-witted Harpy, is determined to set the terms of her own fate by breaking free of her employment in Danté's obsolete Inferno. But not before her ex boyfriend Asterion tries to win her back. Can she reach the promise of a future in a New Hell on Earth before Hell crumbles into oblivion? A contemporary love story for the end times, a horror comedy based on the current state of world affairs.
  • Corpus and the Wandering
    Corpus and the Wandering
    Jo Roy 2024 7 min
    One dancer, one body, one phone. In a time of collective alienation and technological mass control, one woman rediscovers her soul and reclaims her mind. A short, experimental self-portrait composed of 100 video screens, Corpus and the Wandering transcends the walls of a fragmented grid system to uncover the shared humanity in each of us, and our place in the cosmos.
  • Maybe Elephants
    Maybe Elephants
    Torill Kove 2024 16 min
    In the ’70s, three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and maybe some elephants, find themselves in bustling Nairobi. The family will never be the same.

    Created by Oscar®-winning animator Torill Kove (The Danish Poet), Maybe Elephants is a playful and loving autobiographical homage to family, adolescence and the therapeutic power of memories, however unreliable.
  • Scratches of Life: The Art of Pierre Hébert
    Scratches of Life: The Art of Pierre Hébert
    Loïc Darses 2024 1 h 17 min
    Employing an arresting black-and-white palette punctuated with animated flourishes, Scratches of Life: The Art of Pierre Hébert unwinds the thread of the scratch-on-film technique, guiding us through the inspiring labyrinth of the celebrated animator’s life and work. Loïc Darses captures the imprint of an extraordinary artist who continues to create to this day, striving to share his vision of new forms of life.
  • Society of Clothes
    Society of Clothes
    Jeong Dahee 2024 15 min
    When morning arrives in Society of Clothes, a shirt and a pair of pants step outside the closet, transforming into a human figure. In this world, everyone exists only as clothes. They wander into the streets, bodiless and faceless, performing absurd daily tasks
  • The Painting
    The Painting
    Michèle Lemieux 2024 11 min
    A short film made using pinscreen animation, The Painting explores the 1652 portrait of Queen Mariana of Austria by Velázquez. Michèle Lemieux demonstrates incredible mastery of the pinscreen, playing with shadow and light to evoke the tragic fate of Mariana, who was married to her uncle at the age of 14. Both painful and tender, this experimental work is a poem of a film: a meditation on the brutality of institutionalized incest and art’s power to capture the soul.
  • Soif
    Soif
    Michèle Cournoyer 2014 8 min
    A woman plays out her existence on the screen of her life. Alcohol is the essence of her being. She imbibes her youth and becomes completely absorbed by the desire to satisfy her thirst. Moving from parties to binge drinking, pleasure to distress, joy to delirium, she lets herself be lulled by the undulating waves of bottles. She floats in the intoxicating liquid, sees her childhood re-emerge, and feels as if she is a tiny fish lost in an ocean of madness. Her craving for alcohol engenders a burning passion. Drinking becomes a fatal embrace... On the verge of drowning in the torrent of this insane obsession, will she find the strength to rise to the surface?

    Soif is a tragedy in five acts centered on a woman who must confront the fate of her existence. Michèle Cournoyer (The Hat) has created another hard-hitting film. She broaches a sensitive topic in her inimitable style, using black ink on paper to render dazzling metamorphoses.
  • Gloria Victoria
    Gloria Victoria
    Theodore Ushev 2012 6 min
    Gloria Victoria unfolds on the still-smouldering rubble of a furious 20th century, propelled by the exalting “invasion” theme from Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony (No. 7). Resembling a military march with bolero overtones, the music sweeps over imagery of combat fronts and massacres, leading us from Dresden to Guernica, from the Spanish Civil War to star wars. It is at once a symphony that serves the war machine, that stirs the masses, and art that mourns the dead, voices its outrage and calls for peace.
  • Aphasia
    Aphasia
    Marielle Dalpé 2023 3 min
    Propelled by a jarring, lyrical aesthetic, Aphasia pulls viewers into a disconcerting sensory experience. This striking and unsettling debut professional animated short by Marielle Dalpé is a deeply moving foray into the heart of aphasia—a devastating neurocognitive condition that progressively destroys the ability to speak and understand words, afflicting many people with Alzheimer’s disease.
  • The Hot Dog
    The Hot Dog
    Francis Papillon 2022 3 min
    Hot dogs and the beach: a classic pairing! Between a sea voyage and hot-dog eating competitions, Iris once again amazes us with the quantity of condiments she’s able to ingest in one go! Come to think of it, why exactly is it called a hot dog?
  • The Skates
    The Skates
    Francis Papillon 2022 3 min
    At the local ice rink, Iris tries out her grandpa’s old skates while a quizzical Cathon looks on. Have you ever wondered what skates looked like before metalblades were developed?
  • Two Apples
    Two Apples
    Bahram Javahery 2022 9 min
    When a young woman leaves her homeland in search of a better future, she brings with her a single memento from her past: a ripe apple studded with fragrant cloves. A true labour of love, Bahram Javahery’s animated film is infused with longing and the tender perfume of hope.
  • HARVEY
    HARVEY
    Janice Nadeau 2023 9 min
    A short film adapted from the graphic novel of the same name, HARVEY depicts a young boy who candidly recalls the spring day when his world turned upside down. Filled with original little touches and told through the eyes of a child with an overflowing imagination, this luminous work by Janice Nadeau, featuring elegant music by Martin Léon, poetically examines bereavement and coping with the loss of a parent.
  • Zeb's Spider
    Zeb's Spider
    Alicia Eisen  &  Sophie Jarvis 2022 9 min
    An eight-legged force of fate spins a complex web in Alicia Eisen and Sophie Jarvis’s new stop-motion film, Zeb’s Spider. What begins as a way of coping with an uninvited arachnid soon takes on a monstrous life of its own.
  • Boat People
    Boat People
    Kjell Boersma  &  Thao Lam 2023 9 min
    As a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history.
  • Miserable Miracle
    Miserable Miracle
    Ryo Orikasa 2023 8 min
    Directed by Japanese filmmaker Ryo Orikasa, the animated short Miserable Miracle was inspired by Henri Michaux’s book of poetry and drawings of the same name, about his experiences with mescaline. The film explores the limits of language and perception, creating connections between sound, meaning, shapes and movement.
  • The Girl With the Red Beret
    The Girl With the Red Beret
    Janet Perlman 2023 5 min
    A girl takes a wild ride on the metro in Montreal. Travelling from station to station, she encounters an array of colourful characters in a bizarre musical journey that’s peppered with hilarious and unexpected incidents. This joyful, heartwarming animated film portrays Montreal in all its vitality, creativity and diversity, with plenty of humour and good cheer, to the tune of Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s timeless hit “Complainte pour Ste-Catherine.”
  • The Commute
    The Commute
    Tarun Padmakumar 2022 1 min
    The distinctive three-note chime of the Toronto subway kicks off a zippy tale of bike theft and survival in an unfamiliar new town.

    Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • Lo 100to
    Lo 100to
    karla monterrosa 2022 1 min
    When Delia announces a breakup on group chat, she’s bombarded with inappropriate and comic remarks from her Salvadoran family.

    Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • 100 Ghosts
    100 Ghosts
    Noncedo Khumalo 2022 1 min
    A woman awakes to mysterious sounds—and confronts an astonishing surreal world summoned forth by her innermost fears.

    Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • BANG
    BANG
    Lukas Conway 2022 1 min
    In a frenzied attempt to break the isolation, a man drums his head against the wall, unleashing a battery of brightly hued hallucinations.

    Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • 100 Miles
    100 Miles
    Louis Bodart 2022 1 min
    Are we there yet? When the kids act up in the back seat, a family road trip gets knocked hilariously off course.

    Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • Baek-il
    Baek-il
    Grace An 2022 1 min
    The Korean legend of Ungnyeo, a bear reborn as a woman, becomes a percussive and mesmerizing riff on the themes of transformation and quarantine.

    Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • Modern Alchemy
    Modern Alchemy
    Bren López Zepeda 2022 2 min
    Strength. Challenges. Courage. Modern Alchemy depicts a quest for self-knowledge that revolves around resilience, reconstruction and rebirth. A succession of colours, each more vibrant than the last, in which one stops breathing for a moment to find a path toward inner peace. A film from the Alambic collection, a creative lab by the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio that’s designed for emerging filmmakers.
  • By Winds and Tides
    By Winds and Tides
    Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach 2022 2 min
    Exploring the conscious, the unconscious and the self, By Winds and Tides takes a deep experimental dive into the birth of an idea—how it takes shape, how it is released. An allegorical quest, the film combines images and words into a singular sigh. A film from the Alambic collection, a creative lab by the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio that’s designed for emerging filmmakers.
  • Solid Ground
    Solid Ground
    Beatriz Carvalho 2022 2 min
    Solid Ground is a poetic and sound-rich travelogue—a personal journal that reveals the thoughts of an expatriate returning to her native land. Employing the rarely used monotype animation technique, Solid Groundreflects the personal experience of discovering different lands and feeling as though one were simultaneously at home and elsewhere. A film from the Alambic collection, a creative lab by the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio that’s designed for emerging filmmakers.
  • Turquoise Fish
    Turquoise Fish
    Lori Malépart-Traversy 2022 3 min
    This film discusses topics of sex and masturbation; viewer discretion is advised.
    A young woman recalls a kooky ritual involving masturbation that she’d invented as a child. A candid and introspective short film about forgetting the outside world and abandoning oneself to pleasure (and fish).
  • Masturbation: A Short Story of a Great Taboo
    Masturbation: A Short Story of a Great Taboo
    Lori Malépart-Traversy 2022 3 min
    This film discusses topics of sex and masturbation; viewer discretion is advised.
    History as it was never taught in school. This animated short looks back at the surprising story of our relationship with masturbation—and its repression—from prehistory to today.
  • Sweet Jesus
    Sweet Jesus
    Lori Malépart-Traversy 2022 3 min
    This film discusses topics of sex and masturbation; viewer discretion is advised.
    What happens when masturbation has its “come to Jesus” moment? This animated short takes a light and humorous approach to examining religion’s moral taboos around the female body and desires. A story full of kindness and questioning, in which good and evil intermingle with prayer and caresses.
  • Big bang
    Big bang
    Lori Malépart-Traversy 2022 4 min
    This film discusses topics of sex and masturbation; viewer discretion is advised./br> This animated short film recounts a 23-year-old woman’s quest to achieve her first orgasm. Along the way, it takes a sensitive and humorous look at the little-known phenomenon of vaginismus. The result is a captivating tale of exploration, discovery and dildos.
  • Playhouse
    Playhouse
    Lori Malépart-Traversy 2022 3 min
    This film discusses topics of sex and masturbation; viewer discretion is advised.
    How does porn fuel sexual fantasies? For some, the most powerful images are those that flirt with completely unfamiliar situations. This animated short with a magic touch relates one woman’s confessions about her favourite erotic scenarios.
  • The Flying Sailor
    The Flying Sailor
    Amanda Forbis  &  Wendy Tilby 2022 7 min
    Two ships collide in a harbour, an explosion shatters a city, and a sailor is blasted skyward. With ears ringing, blood pulsing and guts heaving, he soars high above the mayhem and towards the great unknown. A bold blend of comedy, suspense and philosophy, The Flying Sailor is an exhilarating contemplation of the wonder and fragility of existence.
  • What Rhymes with Toxic
    What Rhymes with Toxic
    Lynn Smith 2021 5 min
    Chemical sludge is spilling into the lake. For the city councillor responsible, it’s just a big nuisance. For the wildlife, it’s a catastrophe. One turtle, in her desperate hour, summons up the courage to leave her home and speak truth to power. Turns out there’s more at stake than just the lake.
  • Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
    Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
    Terril Calder 2021 19 min
    This film discusses topics of trauma and abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.

    Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics dives deeply into the innate contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride and Envy) and the Seven Sacred Teachings (Love, Respect, Wisdom, Courage, Truth, Honesty and Humility), as embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby. Brought to life by Terril Calder’s darkly beautiful stop-motion animation, her inner turmoil of abuse is laid bare with unflinching honesty. Convinced she’s soiled and destined for Hell, Baby Girl receives teachings that fill her with strength and pride, and affirm a path towards healing. Calder’s tour-de-force unearths a hauntingly familiar yet hopeful world that illuminates the bias of colonial systems.
  • The Storm
    The Storm
    Monica Kidd 2021 4 min
    A doctor as well as a filmmaker, Monica Kidd finds signs of hope in an uncertain pandemic universe. With The Storm, she collaborates with animator Duncan Major, employing sparsely elegant imagery to reflect on what it means to bring a baby into a world gripped by a global health crisis.
  • Arctic Song
    Arctic Song
    Germaine Arnattaujuq Neil Christopher , … 2021 6 min
    In this six-minute short, Inuit artist, storyteller and co-director Germaine Arnattaujuq (Arnaktauyok) depicts Inuit creation stories in all their glory. Arctic Song tells stories of how the land, sea and sky came to be in beautifully rendered animation. Telling traditional Inuit tales from the Iglulik region of Nunavut through song, the film revitalizes ancient knowledge and shares it with future generations.
  • The Turtle Syndrome
    The Turtle Syndrome
    Samuel Cantin 2021 4 min
    What could the illness afflicting Henri Castagnette be? Filled with anxiety, the young man puts his fate in the hands of the off-puttingly exuberant Dr. Von Strudel. In The Turtle Syndrome, Samuel Cantin, author of the popular “motormouth” graphic novels Phobie des moments seuls and Whitehorse, recounts the story of an endearing anti-hero’s frenzied and hilarious medical appointment. Produced by the NFB, The Turtle Syndrome is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles collection.
  • Centre-Sud Chronicles
    Centre-Sud Chronicles
    Richard Suicide 2021 0 s
    From his shabby apartment in Montreal’s Centre-Sud borough, a writer finds inspiration in observing his neighbour Piton, who navigates poverty with some incredible ingenuity. Through this wildly funny pseudo-scientific allegory, graphic novelist turned filmmaker Richard Suicide draws us into the surreal, chaotic world of his book Chroniques du Centre-Sud, delivering a powerful portrait of a neighbourhood in the midst of a full-blown transformation. Produced by the NFB, this film is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles collection.
  • Bad Seeds
    Bad Seeds
    Claude Cloutier 2020 6 min
    Bad Seeds takes us to a bizarre world populated by carnivorous plants that can change shapes the way a chameleon changes colours. The veteran director of deftly connects growth with rivalry and evolution with competition, crafting an increasingly shocking duel that’s peppered with allusions to the western, the Cold War, board games, and much more.
  • The Clock
    The Clock
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Cathon has found something wonderful in the recycling bin—a birdsong clock. But Iris isn’t totally on board with her friend’s taste, so she seeks a compromise. She wonders how people told time before clocks.
  • The Phone
    The Phone
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Iris has finally acquired a cell phone—her first. Cathon would love to help her learn how to use it, but Iris insists on figuring it out all by herself. How did people communicate before the telephone was invented, anyway?
  • The Microwave
    The Microwave
    Cathon Iris Boudreau , … 2019 2 min
    Iris and Cathon are shocked to discover how big and heavy the first microwave oven was. Turns out that inventing it involved melting a bar of chocolate.
  • The Bread
    The Bread
    Cathon Iris Boudreau , … 2019 2 min
    Cathon bakes Iris a very special kind of bread for her birthday, and pretty soon the two friends have gone down the rabbit hole, in search of the origins of bread. They even tell the tale of a whole army sculpted from bread.
  • The Fishing Rod
    The Fishing Rod
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Cathon has a new best friend—Ruben the goldfish. Iris’s latest hobby is fishing. A fine kettle of fish to be sure. The fishing rod is an amazing piece of gear, but where did it come from?
  • The Camera
    The Camera
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Cathon has borrowed her aunt’s camera and wants to take some nice pictures of Iris. But she discovers that her best friend isn’t particularly photogenic. The two pals explore how people preserved memories in the past.
  • The Stamp
    The Stamp
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Iris wants to send her grandfather a birthday card. Touching, right? But Cathon doesn't want her friend to raid her collection looking for a stamp. Did someone really once pay $9.5 million for a single stamp?
  • The Glasses
    The Glasses
    Cathon Iris Boudreau , … 2019 2 min
    Cathon proudly shows off her new glasses. Iris is at a loss for words—she’s speechless with admiration. Where do eyeglasses even come from, and how did people first get them to stay on their noses?
  • The French Fries
    The French Fries
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Iris is about to greedily devour her lunch—a mountain of fries—and her friend gives her a lecture. In Cathon’s opinion, fries are not a balanced meal. And yet they’re in Canada’s Food Guide. Or are they? Maybe not.
  • The Swimsuit
    The Swimsuit
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Iris and Cathon are at the beach, and they both have new swimsuits. Cathon makes fun of her friend’s choice of beachwear. You’ll learn a lot about the origins of the bathing suit.
  • The Noodles
    The Noodles
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Iris loves noodles so much she could eat them morning, noon, and night. Cathon prefers using them to make little gifts for her friend. Any idea where noodles actually come from?
  • The Lightbulb
    The Lightbulb
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Iris believes that every time you turn the lights on or off in a room, it costs 25 cents. Cathon sets her straight, and then explains where the light in lightbulbs comes from.
  • The Pants
    The Pants
    Iris Boudreau  &  Francis Papillon 2019 2 min
    Iris wants to help out by doing Cathon’s laundry, but accidentally shrinks her friend’s favourite pair of pants. When were trousers first worn? And is it true that women were not always allowed to wear them?
  • Flowing Home (Như một dòng sông)
    Flowing Home (Như một dòng sông)
    Sandra Desmazières 2021 15 min
    Two sisters grow up in Vietnam and are separated by the war between North and South. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Thao, in her teens, must leave the country with her uncle. Her sister Sao Maï, only a little older, remains with their parents, hoping they will soon be reunited. But their separation will last nearly 20 years, and the letters they exchange are their only way to connect and relieve their loneliness. Thao and Sao Maï write about their everyday lives, their memories, the war, and its ghosts.
  • The Hangman at Home
    The Hangman at Home
    Michelle Kranot  &  Uri Kranot 2021 14 min
    The animated film invites you into five interwoven stories featuring people caught in a pivotal moment: they are fragile, playful, terrified, contemplative, confused, curious. We watch their intimate deeds in a reflective state, and they gaze back, transforming us from spectators to witnesses. The film is not about hanging people, but about the awkward intimacy that comes with being human, and the connection between spectator, witness, and accomplice. The Hangman at Home reveals that we are all alike in these moments, while also raising questions of responsibility.

  • Affairs of the Art
    Affairs of the Art
    Joanna Quinn 2021 16 min
    How many obsessions can one family have? In Joanna Quinn and Les Mills’ Affairs of the Art, we reconnect with Beryl, the working-class heroine who not only reveals her own obsession with drawing but exposes the addictions of her eccentric family, which include pickling, screw threads and pet taxidermy.
  • HIDE
    HIDE
    Daniel Gray 2020 10 min
    Two brothers entertain themselves with a game of hide and seek. As one counts, the other hides in a small cabinet. Seconds pass... then minutes... years... and decades. HIDE is a heartrending and prescient story about family and disconnect, in a world that is increasingly fragmented and unrecognizable.
  • Old Dog
    Old Dog
    Ann Marie Fleming 2020 3 min
    After losing his best friend, an elderly pug named Henry must depend on his owner for help and companionship. Writer/director Ann Marie Fleming (Window Horses) makes visible the tender work of caretaking in her new animated short, Old Dog. All dogs (and people) should be so lucky and so loved.
  • Altötting
    Altötting
    Andreas Hykade 2020 11 min
    “You know, when I was a boy, I fell in love with the Virgin Mary. It happened in a little Bavarian town called Altötting.” Mesmerizing, haunting, and deeply personal, Altötting is a coming-of-age story about love, faith, mortality, and shattered illusions.
  • A Change of Scenery
    A Change of Scenery
    Anita Lebeau 2019 3 min
    Meet Annie, a woman who, despite being caught up in the circus of everyday life, finds her balance. Using live-action footage and traditional animation, filmmaker Anita Lebeau takes us on a whirlwind tour through Annie’s busy world and shows us the power that lies in the small choices we make every day.
  • 4 North A
    4 North A
    Jordan Canning  &  Howie Shia 2020 10 min
    A woman sits in a hospital room, alone with her dying father. As the din of hospital noises pushes her to confront her inevitable loss, she escapes into a series of lush childhood memories. 4 North A is a celebration of the fleeting joys of life and a bittersweet reminder that we don’t always get the closure we seek.
  • I, Barnabé
    I, Barnabé
    Jean-François Lévesque 2020 15 min
    I, Barnabé takes a luminous look at a desperate man’s existential crisis. During a night of stormy drunkenness, he receives a visit from a mysterious bird and is forced to reconsider his life.
  • No Objects
    No Objects
    Moïa Jobin-Paré 2019 6 min
    Combining hands-on techniques with digital and analog technologies, No Objects transfigures forms of expression, turning photographs into etchings and sound into motion. An ode to touch in which every gesture is magnified and the image can be heard, the film offers both a bracing and contemplative meditation on the tactile world.
  • Shannon Amen
    Shannon Amen
    Chris Dainty 2019 14 min
    TRIGGER WARNING: This film contains the following subject matter: Suicide and self harm.
    If you are affected by the topics addressed in the film, we encourage you to reach out to someone you trust.

    Shannon Amen unearths the passionate and pained expressions of a young woman overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety as she struggles to reconcile her sexual identity with her religious faith. A loving elegy to a friend lost to suicide.
  • Collector
    Collector
    Kassia Ward 2019 1 min
    A pair of unlikely travellers encounter a young man on the highway who seems to have forgotten that he can be seen. Collector explores the concept of semi-private spaces and how we act when we forget that we might be being watched.

    Produced as part of the 12th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • The Fake Calendar
    The Fake Calendar
    Meky Ottawa 2019 1 min
    A neon glimpse into a personal world within an urban landscape. From FOMO to JOMO, The Fake Calendar is an artist’s expression of how people come up with interesting and creative ways to avoid social functions in favour of their own private space.

    Produced as part of the 12th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • XO RAD Magical
    XO RAD Magical
    Christopher Gilbert Grant 2019 1 min
    XO Rad Magical is a personal lyrical poem about the daily struggle of living with schizophrenia. This psychedelic and hypnotic film shows that there is beauty in the brains of those who are at war with themselves. Produced as part of the 12th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • The Great Malaise
    The Great Malaise
    Catherine Lepage 2019 5 min
    In the voiceover for this animated short, a young woman attempts to describe herself, casting her life in the ideal light that society expects. The film’s imagery, however, tells a different story, poignantly illustrating the intense anxiety that comes with the quest for perfection and the pursuit of happiness. A film that’s both funny and moving, and above all, profoundly human.
  • Thanadoula
    Thanadoula
    Robin McKenna 2020 6 min
    Two sisters entwined by love. When Annie disappears, her younger sister, Natalie, seeks her out in an unconventional way: as a thanadoula, accompanying the dying in their final stages. Between their slow and final breaths, Natalie finds a bridge between life and death and, ultimately, a pathway to her sister.
  • The Physics of Sorrow
    The Physics of Sorrow
    Theodore Ushev 2019 27 min
    The Physics of Sorrow tracks an unknown man’s life as he sifts through memories of his youth in Bulgaria through to his increasingly rootless and melancholic adulthood in Canada.
  • Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days
    Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days
    Regina Pessoa 2019 13 min
    Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days is about the special relationship between Regina Pessoa and her uncle. The film is a testament to her love for this eccentric, who was an artistic inspiration and played a key role in her becoming a filmmaker. A moving tribute to a poet of the everyday.
  • The Procession
    The Procession
    Pascal Blanchet  &  Rodolphe Saint-Gelais 2019 11 min
    After Catherine’s fatal car accident, she speaks from the beyond to her grieving husband, Philip, who must endure the family ritual of the funeral. The Procession is an elegant poem in black, white, and pink that shows us how, despite the pressure to keep up appearances, love finds a way.
  • Embraced
    Embraced
    Justine Vuylsteker 2018 5 min
    Standing before an open window, a woman gazes at black clouds darkening the horizon. She loves two men—the one who shares her present, and the one who marked her past. Frozen, she struggles against surging memories evoked by objects, the sky—everything. In the clouds, a passionately intertwined couple appears.
  • I'm OK
    I'm OK
    Elizabeth Hobbs 2018 6 min
    Following the end of a stormy love affair, Expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka enlists in the First World War. After suffering serious injuries in battle, he experiences a series of memories and visions as medics transport him through the forests of the Russian front. Playful and imaginative, I’m OK explores the wounds of heartbreak and trauma.
  • Caterpillarplasty
    Caterpillarplasty
    David Barlow-Krelina 2018 5 min
    A prescient, grotesque sci-fi satire that lifts plastic surgery to another level. Set in a state-of-the-art clinic, in a world where advanced technologies have given rise to new standards of beauty and prestige, Caterpillarplasty offers its sardonic take on a social obsession with beauty that’s spiralled out of control.
  • Bone Mother
    Bone Mother
    Dale Hayward  &  Sylvie Trouvé 2018 8 min
    Who dares to disturb the devil’s grandmother and enter her slumbering house of bones? Who is foolish enough to betray this immortal nature-spirit? Baba Yaga holds the answers you need, but are they the answers you seek? Tread carefully, for your ambitious schemes could come back to haunt you…
  • Turbine
    Turbine
    Alex Boya 2018 8 min
    A war pilot crash-lands through his apartment window. When his wife returns from work, she discovers that her husband’s face has been replaced by an airplane turbine. He’s also fallen in love with their kitchen ceiling fan. To save their faltering marriage, his wife decides she will no longer let her humanity get in the way of love.
  • Animal Behaviour
    Animal Behaviour
    Alison Snowden  &  David Fine 2018 14 min
    Dealing with what comes naturally isn’t easy, especially for animals.

    In Animal Behaviour, the latest animated short from the Oscar®-winning team of Alison Snowden and David Fine (Bob’s Birthday), five animals meet regularly to discuss their inner angst in a group therapy session led by Dr. Clement, a canine psychotherapist. The group includes Lorraine, a leech who suffers from separation anxiety; Cheryl, a praying mantis who can’t seem to keep a man; Todd, a pig with an eating disorder; Jeffrey, a bird with guilt issues; and Linda, an obsessive-compulsive cat.
  • The Subject
    The Subject
    Patrick Bouchard 2018 10 min
    An animator dissects his own body, extracting memories, emotions and fears that will nurture his work. As he cuts into his skin with a scalpel, various symbolic objects recalling his past emerge. Reaching the heart after cracking his ribs, he succeeds in identifying the burden he’s been dying to cast off.
  • Freaks of Nurture
    Freaks of Nurture
    Alexandra Lemay 2018 6 min
    Freaks of Nurture is an animated short about a neurotic mother-daughter relationship inspired by the filmmaker’s own unorthodox upbringing with her single-parent mom, who is also a foster parent and dog breeder. Self-deprecating and bursting with energy, the film reveals that no matter how grown-up we think we are, we never quite stop craving the love and support of a parent.
  • Albertosaurus
    Albertosaurus
    Munro Ferguson 2017 36 s
    DARE TO PANIC. A poke at climate-change deniers.
  • All We Need Is War
    All We Need Is War
    Luka Sanader 2017 40 s
    ALL MEN ARE CREMATED EQUAL. An ode to what can happen when Man plays God.
  • Be Cool
    Be Cool
    Chris Landreth 2017 41 s
    2/3 OF US DON’T KNOW WE’RE ASSHOLES. An unapologetic poke at the self-consumed selfie culture.
  • Blood
    Blood
    Theodore Ushev 2017 38 s
    WE BLEED FOR WHAT? Made with the filmmaker’s blood, a testament to the ideals that we fight and die for.
  • Detention
    Detention
    Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers  &  David Seitz 2017 37 s
    This ultra-short film proves that walls are real and borders are imaginary with an animated critique of long-term detention for minors in immigration centres.

  • Hipster Headdress
    Hipster Headdress
    Amanda Strong 2017 40 s
    This ultra-short film is an unapologetic confrontation of cultural appropriation and everything that's wrong with hipsters in headdresses. The takeaway? Just don't do it.

  • Protest
    Protest
    The Sanchez Brothers 2017 42 s
    MOST OF US DON’T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING THIS MUCH. POV into an ultimate act of protest: self-immolation. What compels someone to go this far?
  • Sext Apes
    Sext Apes
    Laurence Vallières 2017 36 s
    YOUR PHONE IS HAVING MORE SEX THAN YOU. A bleak picture of sex in the digital age.
  • Simulated Life
    Simulated Life
    Malcolm Sutherland 2017 37 s
    REALITY IS A CHOICE. An unapologetic poke at the burgeoning age of virtual reality.
  • Sober
    Sober
    Élise Simard 2017 33 s
    SOBER IS HARDCORE. A rejection of romanticizing alcohol.
  • Survival of the Fittest
    Survival of the Fittest
    Eva Cvijanovic 2017 39 s
    FEELS GOOD TO BE KIND. A reminder that there is power in small acts of kindness.
  • The Law of Expansion
    The Law of Expansion
    Malcolm Sutherland 2017 20 s
    THEY FIGHT YOU AND THEN YOU WIN. THEY FIGHT YOU AND THEN YOU WIN. An anti-violence statement in reaction to the police brutality that fuelled Quebec’s Red Square student movement.
  • We Drink Too Much
    We Drink Too Much
    Chris Lavis  &  Maciek Szczerbowski 2016 47 s
    WE DRINK TOO MUCH. An unapologetic take on the vicious cycle of earning too little and consuming too much.
  • We Eat Shit
    We Eat Shit
    Chris Lavis  &  Maciek Szczerbowski 2017 43 s
    WE EAT SHIT. An unapologetic warning about how complacent we can be.
  • Shaman
    Shaman
    Echo Henoche 2017 5 min
    This animated short tells the story of a ferocious polar bear turned to stone by an Inuk shaman. The tale is based on emerging filmmaker Echo Henoche's favourite legend, as told to her by her grandfather in her home community of Nain, Nunatsiavut, on Labrador's North Coast. Hand-drawn and painted by Henoche in a style all her own, Shaman is the first collaboration between the Labrador artist and the NFB.
  • Shop Class
    Shop Class
    Hart Snider 2018 8 min
    This film follows the trials and tribulations of 14 year old Hart Snider. Instead of the home economics class he wanted to take, he finds himself taking Industrial Arts from the ominous & legendary Mr. P. Hart is nearly suspended over a ukulele incident, which leads him to being alienated by his classmates, and that doesn’t even compare to the his worries about being electrocuted by Mr. P’s final project.
  • Charles
    Charles
    Dominic-Étienne Simard 2017 10 min
    Charles knows he’s not like other kids. Every day at school, he’s reminded that his life isn’t like that of his classmates. Every day at home, he sees that he doesn’t receive the same care as other children in his neighbourhood. To dodge the unfairness and taunts, Charles imagines a peaceful haven peopled by good-hearted little frogs.
  • The Cannonball Woman
    The Cannonball Woman
    Albertine Zullo  &  David Toutevoix 2017 14 min
    Madeleine the human cannonball puts on a spectacular travelling show with her husband. But at home, every day seems to unfold just like the one before it. The Cannonball Woman is a bittersweet stop-motion animated film about love standing the test of time.
  • Free Love
    Free Love
    Aude Picault 2017 3 min
    This animated short presents two friends who meet in a Paris café – one single, the other in an open relationship. As they catch up on each other's lives, it becomes clear that the real story is playing out in what's not said. The result is a penetrating look at female friendships, and the sometimes-complex amorous relationships of modern times.

    This film is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles, a collection of shorts celebrating the strong affinity between comic strips and animated film. Inspired by moments of everyday life, these films showcase the playful imaginations of renowned artists Guy Delisle, Zviane, Aude Picault, Lewis Trondheim, and Jean Matthieu Tanguy. Produced by the NFB, Canal+, and Sacrebleu.
  • Panoramic Chronicle
    Panoramic Chronicle
    Lewis Trondheim  &  Jean-Matthieu Tanguy 2017 3 min
    Ride the commuter train with this animated short that questions what goes on it the hearts of minds of the train's silent passengers. Filmmakers Lewis Trondheim and Jean Matthieu Tanguy take a common, humdrum experience and turn it into a captivating journey tinged with some delicious, deadpan humour.

    This film is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles, a collection of shorts celebrating the strong affinity between comic strips and animated film. Inspired by moments of everyday life, these films showcase the playful imaginations of renowned artists Guy Delisle, Zviane, Aude Picault, Lewis Trondheim, and Jean Matthieu Tanguy. Produced by the NFB, Canal+, and Sacrebleu.
  • Sweet Childhood
    Sweet Childhood
    Zviane 2017 3 min
    In this animated short, cartoonist Zviane comes across an old audiocassette while packing up before a move. Just the sight of the tape plunges her back into her childhood fantasies and her perceptions of the world. But the reality of what's on the tape results in a hilarious episode that questions just how "sweet" childhood really is.

    This film is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles, a collection of shorts celebrating the strong affinity between comic strips and animated film. Inspired by moments of everyday life, these films showcase the playful imaginations of renowned artists Guy Delisle, Zviane, Aude Picault, Lewis Trondheim, and Jean Matthieu Tanguy. Produced by the NFB, Canal+, and Sacrebleu.
  • The Tooth
    The Tooth
    Guy Delisle 2017 3 min
    In this brilliant yet simple animated short, Quebec cartoonist Guy Delisle brings us the story of a young boy, a lost tooth, and an MIA tooth fairy. During increasingly difficult breakfast conversations with his young son, a father must continually come up with reasons for why the fairy has refused to show. Featuring the father from Delisle's popular French series, Le guide de mauvais père (A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting).

    This film is part of the Comic Strip Chronicles, a collection of shorts celebrating the strong affinity between comic strips and animated film. Inspired by moments of everyday life, these films showcase the playful imaginations of renowned artists Guy Delisle, Zviane, Aude Picault, Lewis Trondheim, and Jean Matthieu Tanguy. Produced by the NFB, Canal+, and Sacrebleu.
  • Deyzangeroo
    Deyzangeroo
    Ehsan Gharib 2017 4 min
    “Deyzangeroo” is a ritual performed in the Iranian port city of Bushehr. Influenced by the city’s colonial rule by the British and Portuguese, and the African slaves that followed, it is imbued with the terror and magic of the lunar eclipse. The ritual is believed to ward off evil spirits and take back the moon. It works every time. Directed by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Ehsan Gharib, this animated short features hand-painted animation, time-lapse photography, trick photography using mirrors, and the haunting music of virtuoso percussionist Habib Meftah Boushehri.
  • My Yiddish Papi
    My Yiddish Papi
    Éléonore Goldberg 2017 7 min
    A young woman decides not to answer a phone call from her grandfather, unaware that it will be his last. When he dies, she is overwhelmed with guilt and regret and can’t sleep. But then she remembers a promise made long ago: to illustrate his wartime adventures as a member of the French Resistance.

    In co-production with Picbois Productions.
  • The Mountain of SGaana
    The Mountain of SGaana
    Christopher Auchter 2017 10 min
    In The Mountain of SGaana, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter spins a magical tale of a young man who is stolen away to the spirit world, and the young woman who rescues him. The film brilliantly combines traditional animation with formal elements of Haida art, and is based on a story inspired by a old Haida fable.
  • The Tesla World Light
    The Tesla World Light
    Matthew Rankin 2017 8 min
    New York, 1905. Visionary inventor Nikola Tesla makes one last appeal to J.P. Morgan, his onetime benefactor. Inspired by real events, this electrifying short is a spectacular burst of image and sound that draws as much from the tradition of avant-garde cinema as it does from animated documentary.
  • Skin for Skin
    Skin for Skin
    Kevin D.A. Kurytnik  &  Carol Beecher 2017 15 min
    Skin for Skin is a dark allegory of greed and spiritual reckoning set during the early days of the fur trade.

    In 1823, the Governor of the largest fur-trading company in the world travels across his Dominion, extracting ever-greater riches from the winter bounty of animal furs. In his brutal world of profit and loss, animals are slaughtered to the brink of extinction until the balance of power shifts, and the forces of nature exact their own terrible price.

    With nods to Melville and Coleridge, directors Kevin D.A. Kurytnik & Carol Beecher have created a visually stunning contemporary myth about the cost of arrogance and greed.
  • Nadine
    Nadine
    Patrick Péris 2017 4 min
    From out of nowhere, the most beautiful girl in the world sits at the table across from me at the library. Is this a stroke of good luck or bad? Her smile paralyzes me…

    How will Sam win Nadine’s heart? Must he seek out his inner samurai to fight the monster of his anxiety? Real courage is conquering your fear.
  • Threads
    Threads
    Torill Kove 2017 8 min
    In her latest animated short, Academy Award®-winning director Torill Kove explores the beauty and complexity of parental love, the bonds that we form over time, and the ways in which they stretch and shape us.
  • Manivald
    Manivald
    Chintis Lundgren 2017 12 min
    Manivald, a fox, is turning 33. Overeducated, unemployed and generally uninspired, he lives with his overbearing, retired mother and spends his days learning piano while she makes his coffee and washes his socks. It is an easy life, but not a good one. Their unhealthy co-dependence is about to collapse when the washing machine breaks down and Toomas, a sexy and adventurous wolf repairman, arrives to fix it, and them.
  • Hedgehog's Home
    Hedgehog's Home
    Eva Cvijanovic 2017 10 min
    In a lush and lively forest lives a hedgehog. He is respected and envied by the other animals. However, Hedgehog’s unwavering devotion to his home annoys a quartet of insatiable beasts. Together, they march off towards Hedgehog’s home and spark a tense and prickly standoff.

    Exquisitely directed by Eva Cvijanović and based on the classic story by Branko Ćopić, a writer from the former Yugoslavia, Hedgehog’s Home is a warm and universal tale for young and old that reminds us there truly is no place like home.
  • Mystery of the Secret Room
    Mystery of the Secret Room
    Wanda Nolan 2016 5 min
    This animated short introduces us to Grace, a 10-year-old girl who uses her creative superpowers to navigate the emotional landscape of her mother's depression. It's an inspiring portrait of family, adversity, and resilience.

    Using hand-drawn animation to bring two distinct worlds together – the muted, solid world of reality and the saturated palette of Grace's imagination – the film offers a textured story full of surprises, challenges, and emotions. A moving collaboration between writer/filmmaker Wanda Nolan and animator Claire Blanchet.
  • I Don't Feel Anything Anymore
    I Don't Feel Anything Anymore
    Noémie Marsily  &  Carl Roosens 2016 9 min
    He’s a magician. She’s a firefighter. Isolating themselves from the chaos of a world in turmoil, the two lovers live in a crane basket high in the sky, where they go about their daily business. Their challenge: keep their heads, here up above it all, while everything falls apart down below. But when reality calls—when fires need quenching and people need entertaining—how can they best make themselves useful in a world gone off the rails?
  • I Like Girls
    I Like Girls
    Diane Obomsawin 2016 8 min
    In this animated short from Diane Obomsawin, four women reveal the nitty-gritty about their first loves, sharing funny and intimate tales of one-sided infatuation, mutual attraction, erotic moments, and fumbling attempts at sexual expression. For them, discovering that they're attracted to other women comes hand-in-hand with a deeper understanding of their personal identity and a joyful new self-awareness.
  • The Head Vanishes
    The Head Vanishes
    Franck Dion 2016 9 min
    In this poetic short, animator Franck Dion (Edmond was a Donkey) invites us to share the journey of Jacqueline, an elderly woman living with degenerative dementia. Jacqueline isn’t quite in her right mind anymore, but she’s determined to take the train to the seaside, as she has done every summer. Only this year, she’s constantly being followed by some woman who claims to be her daughter, and the trip takes some unexpected and phantasmagorical turns.

    Click here to discover more titles from Get Animated! 2020.

    Co-produced by Papy3D Productions, the National Film Board of Canada and ARTE France.
  • Window Horses
    Window Horses
    Ann Marie Fleming 2016 1 h 29 min
    This feature-length animated film centres around the story of Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet invited to perform at a Poetry Festival in Shiraz, Iran. Rosie lives in Vancouver with her over-protective Chinese grandparents, and has never been anywhere on her own. But once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians, all of whom tell her stories about her past, the Iranian father she had assumed abandoned her, and about the nature of poetry itself. This is a film about love, finding your own path, and learning how to forgive.
  • Oscar
    Oscar
    Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre 2016 12 min
    Mixing animated sequences and archival footage, Oscar is a touching portrait of virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson at the twilight of an exceptional career, as he wistfully meditates on the price of fame and the impacts of the artist’s life on family life.

    From the young prodigy’s beginnings in Little Burgundy to his triumphs on the international scene, this animated documentary by Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre explores the profound solitude of an artist constantly on tour. Set to the tunes of Peterson’s sometimes catchy, sometimes melancholy-tinged compositions, the film tells a heartfelt story about a life in jazz.
  • Mamie
    Mamie
    Janice Nadeau 2016 6 min
    Mamie lives in Gaspésie in a house that faces away from the sea. Her granddaughter wonders: “Why isn’t Mamie interested in me or her other grandchildren? Why won’t she give me any affection or her beautiful blanket? What happened that made Mamie so indifferent?” In this wonderful animation of hand-painted watercolours, the filmmaker reaches back into her own childhood memories to share a personal and touching story about the break in “passing things on” between her and her grandmother.
  • Blind Vaysha
    Blind Vaysha
    Theodore Ushev 2016 8 min
    This short film tells the story of Vaysha, a young girl born with one green eye and one brown eye. But colour isn’t the only thing that’s different about Vaysha’s gaze. While her left eye sees only the past; her right sees only the future. Like a terrible curse, Vaysha’s split vision prevents her from inhabiting the present. Blinded by what was and tormented by what will be, she remains trapped between two irreconcilable temporalities. “Blind Vaysha,” they called her.

    In this metaphoric tale of timeless wisdom and beauty based on the eponymous short story by Georgi Gospodinov, filmmaker Theodore Ushev reminds us of the importance of keeping our sights on the present moment.
  • The Treasure of the Grotoceans
    The Treasure of the Grotoceans
    Co Hoedeman 1980 15 min
    Octopus-like puppets cut from foam rubber are the central characters in this delightful underwater fantasy with its message about ecology and conservation. Two Grotoceans sent on a special mission find all kinds of surprises awaiting them as they roam the sea in search of treasure.
  • The Garden of Ecos
    The Garden of Ecos
    Co Hoedeman 1997 10 min
    In this animated short, animals and plants are living peacefully together in a large garden until predators attack and ravage their habitat, stealing food and destroying plants. This creates an imbalance that leads to war. A fable that poetically describes how conflicts between 2 different groups in the same community can upset the natural balance of an ecosystem.
  • Blood Manifesto
    Blood Manifesto
    Theodore Ushev 2014 2 min
    In this short animation, Theodore Ushev signs a violent, brutal and troubling political statement in his own blood and narrates it in his own gravelly voice. All over the world, idealist revolutionaries shed their blood to denounce injustices. Yet blood is also the very symbol of life. Sketches drawn using the filmmaker’s own blood explore this paradox. Why fight for ideals, noble though they may be, if you must die for them in the end? Are rebellion and insurrection egotistical deeds, or are they lessons in pure altruism? Poetic and philosophical, the film explores these complex and important questions.
  • BAM
    BAM
    Howie Shia 2015 5 min
    A modern adaptation of the myth of Hercules, BAM tells the story of a young boxer struggling to negotiate between his shy, bookish nature and a divinely violent temper.  Where does this rage come from? Is it psychological or environmental - or is it something altogether more primordial?
  • Terra
    Terra
    Alan Pakarnyk 2005 4 min
    Animator Alan Pakarnyk uses radiant colour and simple composition in a seemingly random kaleidoscope of motion to depict nature at work. Sweeping the viewer through a whirlwind cycle of the seasons, the film crashes violently from one image to the next. Terra’s images are matched by a surging score from Winnipeg composer Randolph Peters. Without words.
  • Crossing the Line
    Crossing the Line
    Tracey Deer 2009 3 min
    Filmmaker Tracey Deer's short film turns the politics and conflicts of a playground sandbox into an allegory for the way nations treat one another, and the borders seem to do more harm than good.

  • The Wobble Incident
    The Wobble Incident
    Claire Blanchet  &  Sam Vipond 2009 4 min
    The Wobble Incident is an erratic journey through layers of cinematic illusion. When the First Sound rings out in a silent cartoon world, two characters experience momentous change as their universe goes bananas. NOTE: While the original version of this film is a 3D animation produced on Sandde, the streaming version is available in 2D only.
  • Moon Man
    Moon Man
    Paul Morstad 2004 3 min
    Moon Man is an animated short inspired by the song “Moon Man Newfie,” composed and sung by Canadian music legend Stompin' Tom Connors. It tells the story of folk hero Codfish Dan, who made Newfoundland history after a lucky fishing trip on the Milky Way.

    Moon Man is the NFB’s second animated film using the revolutionary IMAX SANDDE digital system, which enables animators to draw and animate 3D images in space with a moving wand. It is presented here in its 2D version.
  • Drux Flux
    Drux Flux
    Theodore Ushev 2008 4 min
    Entre figuration et abstraction, Drux Flux est un film d'animation misant sur un montage dynamique pour illustrer l'écrasement de l'homme moderne par le rouleau compresseur de la performance. S'inspirant de L'homme unidimensionnel du philosophe Herbert Marcuse, le cinéaste déconstruit les paysages industriels et met en cause la suprématie de la technique au dépend de l'humanité. Film sans paroles.
  • Tower Bawher
    Tower Bawher
    Theodore Ushev 2005 3 min
    This animated short by Theodore Ushev is like a whirlwind tour of Russian constructivist art and is filled with visual references to artists of the era, including Vertov, Stenberg, Rodchenko, Lissitsky and Popova.
  • Cat Meets Dog
    Cat Meets Dog
    Paul Driessen 2015 11 min
    A mysterious invitation of a romantic nature kicks off this adventure of parallel lives and parallel worlds. Acclaimed animator Paul Driessen’s latest short is a wandering tale of desire and disappointment told in four different story-windows. As an anthropomorphic cat and dog meander through their alternate and intersecting realities, each story-window ends on a cliffhanger and transitions to another tale.

    Even though the pursuit of romance fuels our protagonists’ journeys, it is ultimately each character’s unique persona that determines their fate. The dog in this capricious tale is by turns impulsive, adventurous, and goal-oriented, while the cat we meet is typically thoughtful and confident, yet subdued. Ultimately, our characters’ wayward adventures in love and life reveal their animalistic nature—a primal force found beneath “civilized” exteriors.

    Featuring a lively soundtrack, this film employs Driessen’s signature mixture of drama and comedy to explore the ways in which life can surprise us when the choices we make determine the outcome of our journeys.
  • My Heart Attack
    My Heart Attack
    Sheldon Cohen 2015 13 min
    This animated short from Sheldon Cohen (The Sweater) tells the true story of a "nice Jewish boy with Buddhist inclinations" who suffers a heart attack. At the crossroads of documentary and animation, the film combines wry humour and philosophical musings to show that, sometimes, what feels like the end is really only just the beginning.
  • Sexy Laundry
    Sexy Laundry
    Izabela Plucinska 2015 12 min
    How can the flames of desire be rekindled after 25 years of married life? Izabela Plucinska’s erotic comedy, made entirely through the use of modelling clay, delves into the private lives of Alice and Henry, a couple in their fifties numbed by routine.
  • Carface
    Carface
    Claude Cloutier 2015 4 min
    In this animated short, a Chevrolet Bel Air 1957 offers an ironic take on the iconic American ballad “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”. The Chevy’s bumper transforms into a pair of seductive lips, from which emerge the song’s reassuring lyrics, while a choir of cars performs a breathtaking dance number in the background.

    A biting satire of our Big Oil-based civilization, Carface is a musical comedy of spectacular proportions, in which acclaimed animator and illustrator Claude Cloutier (The Trenches, Sleeping Betty) pokes at our contemporary insouciance about the environmental perils that threaten the planet.
  • In Deep Waters
    In Deep Waters
    Sarah Van Den Boom 2014 11 min
    From the moment they are conceived, twin babies forge a close bond in their mother’s womb. But when one twin dies in utero, the surviving twin is left with a deep feeling of grief that may last a lifetime.
  • If I Was God...
    If I Was God...
    Cordell Barker 2015 8 min
    In this short animated film, a Grade 7 boy’s mind starts to wander while dissecting a frog in Biology class. What would you do if you suddenly found yourself charged with God-like powers? Would you use them for good? For bad? Perhaps a little of both? The possibilities seem endless. Oh to have the power to toy with life and death, to create monsters who can punish those who torment him daily, or better yet, to create that one perfect day with Lily, the love of his 12-year-old life!
  • The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer
    The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer
    Randall Lloyd Okita 2014 9 min
    This short animation presents the haunting story of two brothers who share the scars, though not the memories, of an untold history that has driven them to existential extremes. Combining high-speed camerawork, striking art direction and intricate animation sequences, acclaimed visual artist and filmmaker Randall Lloyd Okita crafts a poetic elegy to connectedness and survival.
  • Twirligig
    Twirligig
    Gretta Ekman 1952 4 min
    A stereoscopic animated film based on the techniques used by McLaren in Now Is the Time. Both the sound and the visuals were hand-drawn directly upon the film.
  • Now Is the Time
    Now Is the Time
    Norman McLaren 1951 3 min
    Along with Around Is Around, one of two 3-D films commissioned by the British Film Institute for the Festival of Britain. Photographed paper cutouts and images drawn directly on film stock were given single-frame animation. Stereoscopy was achieved by photographing and drawing two visuals (one for the left eye, one for the right eye) with controlled displacement of the elements in relationship to each other. The hand-drawn sound was also composed and recorded on two separate bands for stereoscopic playing.
  • ORA
    ORA
    Philippe Baylaucq 2011 15 min
    ORA is a stunning meeting between the artistic worlds of choreographer José Navas and filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq. It is the first film to use 3D thermal imaging, producing visuals like none that have ever been seen before: the luminous variations of body heat seen on skin, bodies emitting a multitude of colours, a space filled with movement that transforms itself.

    Warning: Although this film was shot in 3D, the streaming and downloadable versions are available in 2D only.
  • Minotaur
    Minotaur
    Munro Ferguson 2014 6 min
    In this short animation, the archetypal hero takes a journey through seven stages: birth, childhood, mission, labyrinth, monster, battle and death/rebirth. Through purely abstract, moving images, the corresponding emotional states are conveyed: calm, love, joy, surprise, fear, anger/hate, and death/rebirth leading again to calm. The cycles continue until the stars burn out and there is nothing left. Minotaur was created stereoscopically in IMAX® Sandde (Stereoscopic ANimation Drawing Device) , the world's first freehand stereoscopic 3D animation software.
  • CODA
    CODA
    Denis Poulin  &  Martine Époque 2014 11 min
    This short animation draws on advanced digital technologies to offer a new vision of dance in cinema. With motion capture (MoCap) and particle processing, designers Denis Poulin and Martine Époque create virtual dancers free of their morphological appearance. In this balletic and hypnotic film, dynamic traces carry the motion of the real dancers behind the on-screen movements. Addressing environmental themes by way of metaphor, CODA is a fused universe where space and time collide, deploy, and dissolve. In this technically and formally innovative film, luminous bodies in the infinite space of the cosmos transform and evolve to the rhythms of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
  • Norman McLaren: Animated Musician
    Norman McLaren: Animated Musician
    Donald McWilliams 2014 26 min
    Not only did Norman McLaren create his own film imagery, he also made his own music by drawing, etching and photographing patterns directly onto the sound track area of the film, becoming a pioneer of electronic music long before the invention of the synthesizer. Norman McLaren: Animated Musician celebrates this exploration and presents much never-before-seen work by this master of cinema.
  • Itch
    Itch
    Su-An Ng 2013 1 min
    Itch is an abstract expression of what it feels like to experience an eczema flare-up.

    Produced as part of the 9th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • Observer
    Observer
    Brendan Matkin 2013 1 min
    Smartphones cannot feel, smell or taste, yet they are not without their own senses. Using raw data from the low-level sensors of a cell phone, this film offers a unique point of view on the world as it might appear to our increasingly aware mobile devices.

    Produced as part of the 9th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • O Canada
    O Canada
    Evelyn Lambart 1952 1 min
    This very short stereoscopic film by Evelyn Lambart uses drawings to suggest movement across Canada’s ever-changing countryside.
  • Around Is Around
    Around Is Around
    Norman McLaren 1951 10 min
    The second of the two 3-D films--the first is Now Is the Time--commissioned by the British Film Institute to Norman McLaren for the Festival of Britain. It photographs moving oscilloscope patterns given stereoscopic form through the control of different left-eye and right-eye image positions.
  • Flocons
    Flocons
    Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre 2014 2 min
    This short animation was created using tests created in the production of A Chairy Tale (1957) by master of animation Norman McLaren. Flocons is set to the music of Tchaikovsky and features none other than Canadian filmmaker Claude Jutra, who plays a character imprisoned in the celluloid on which McLaren paints directly. Flocons aims to celebrate the 100th anniversary, in 2014, of Norman McLaren’s birth.
  • Third Page from the Sun
    Third Page from the Sun
    Theodore Ushev 2014 5 min
    Heralding the “end of paper,” this experimental animated short is an abstract exploration of a number of big issues, from the ephemerality of the digital age to the practice of recycling. To create this painting in motion, Theodore Ushev took an animation film festival catalogue and set its pages alight with the broad strokes of a paintbrush.
  • Me and My Moulton
    Me and My Moulton
    Torill Kove 2014 13 min
    With a bright palette and witty dialogue, the film tells the charming story of a seven-year-old girl and her sisters, who ask for a bicycle knowing full well that their loving yet unconventional parents will likely disappoint them.
  • Rainy Days
    Rainy Days
    Vladimir Leschiov 2014 8 min
    An elderly Japanese man boards a ferry bound for an unknown island. As he looks out over the water, the falling rain triggers a string of memories, including of a childhood experience in Fukuoka and a brief encounter many years later, aboard a smoke-filled seaside train. The only constant is the rain, a woman and Mount Fuji. When the man arrives on the island, it begins to pour, and a mysterious woman on a motorbike greets him…

    Directed by Latvian filmmaker Vladimir Leschiov, Rainy Days looks at three key moments in its protagonist’s life, when events that should have happened never come to pass, yet change the course of his existence. The unique animation technique used to create the film, consisting of black tea and ink on paper and precise, delicate drawn lines, conjures a warm and tranquil atmosphere that mirrors the man’s graceful acceptance of his fate—and his awareness that all we have is what is.
  • Pilots on the Way Home
    Pilots on the Way Home
    Priit Pärn  &  Olga Pärn 2014 16 min
    Having suffered the loss of their plane, three pilots inexplicably find themselves stranded in the middle of the desert. While following the perilous and unpredictable course that will ultimately lead them home, they fall prey to visions and must confront the siren call of their own strange fantasies.

    With Pilots on the Way Home, Priit and Olga Pärn (Divers in the Rain) have created a new, satirical meditation on male-female relations. The film tackles masculinity and the male psyche with the same pointed sense of the absurd that has marked Priit Pärn’s previous films. Pilots on the Way Home is also a journey through time and space, and to the universal sources of artistic eroticism. Olga Pärn is a master of the art of animating sand, giving Priit Pärn’s unique line drawings a warm and subtle texture reminiscent of etching. Her work is perfectly matched to the impassioned beats of this tale.
  • Monsieur Pug
    Monsieur Pug
    Janet Perlman 2014 9 min
    Who is Monsieur Pug? Why, a dog with bad cholesterol and high blood pressure! And a dog who loves his pie and ice cream. Who relaxes by making origami. In other words, definitely not your ordinary pooch! For he’s also a paranoiac, convinced he’s the target in a vast conspiracy, and pretending to be a pet, the better to hide from his pursuers. Schizoid, perhaps? Hmm… but is Monsieur Pug even a real dog to begin with?

    A delirious fable about a particular brand of modern madness—that brought on by the omnipresence of smartphones in our lives—Monsieur Pug is directed with verve by Janet Perlman, whose The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Animated Short in 1982.

    Monsieur Pug is one strange film about the life of one strange dog!
  • Bus Story
    Bus Story
    Tali 2014 10 min
    This funny short animation was written and created by Tali (At Home with Mrs. Hen) and is inspired by the filmmaker’s misadventures as a school bus driver in the Eastern Townships. Our protagonist dreams of becoming a bus driver in order to cruise down quiet country lanes and connect with nature, her young charges and their parents. But her idyllic view of her new job is sorely tested after she meets her surly boss, named Killer, and discovers that winding roads can prove treacherous in winter, especially with a faulty clutch. Through her cheeky humour and oblique look at the reality of people living in the Quebec countryside, Tali delivers a film that is unique, witty and touching.
  • From Naughty to Nice
    From Naughty to Nice
    Judd Palmer 2014 25 min
    This short film, featuring the work of the internationally-renowned Old Trout Puppet Workshop, is a playful cautionary tale about the consequences of selfishness and greed. The film’s greedy boy-king, Santa Claus, has everything he could ever want, including a castle brimming with toys, but the path of the greedy has only one end: to wind up alone, without a single friend. Santa only wants more and more—until he discovers the gift of giving.
  • No Fish Where to Go
    No Fish Where to Go
    Nicola Lemay  &  Janice Nadeau 2014 12 min
    In this short animation based on Marie-Francine Hébert's 2003 book of the same name, a friendship unites two little girls from opposing clans in a village where tensions are mounting. The citizens with the red shoes clearly despise those without, and one fateful morning, one of the girls and her family are accosted at gunpoint by their oppressors. The little girl barely has time to grab her beloved pet fish before the men are herded to one side and the women and children to the other. So begins our protagonist's long and painful journey as she seeks shelter for herself, her mother, and her fish. This modern tale compassionately and poetically addresses intolerance and the consequences of war.
  • Jutra
    Jutra
    Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre 2014 13 min
    This semi-animated documentary is a creative, colourful portrait of the great Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutra, director of Mon oncle Antoine and star and co-director, with Norman McLaren, of A Chairy Tale. The dimensions of Jutra's life and work are explored through skillfully assembled archival footage and animated sequences.
  • My Little Underground
    My Little Underground
    Élise Simard 2012 6 min
    In this autobiographical animated short, Elise Simard crafts the story of a young girl seeking self-discovery and rebirth. Drifting between real and imagined events, the film uses time-lapse photography with ink and pastels, creating a haunting, compassionate exploration of addiction and existence.
  • Impromptu
    Impromptu
    Bruce Alcock 2013 10 min
    This short animation takes a look at the redemptive power of food, wine, music and love through the eyes of our protagonist, Chuck. A husband and father, Chuck is jovially cooking dinner and listening to Chopin when his wife Sylvie spontaneously invites a group of boisterous colleagues over for dinner. The festivities begin to spiral out of control, and Chuck must find his way through a planned diner à deux that has turned into pandemonium. Filmmaker Bruce Alcock follows the fine tradition of beloved food films such as Babette’s Feast, using the preparation of a meal as a vehicle for exploring the grand themes of love and life through simple yet evocative line drawings.
  • The Fox and the Chickadee
    The Fox and the Chickadee
    Evan DeRushie 2012 7 min
    This charming stop-motion animated fable tells the story of a starving fox, who stumbles upon a lone chickadee caught in a farmer’s trap. Despite his hapless predicament, the chickadee turns the tables by proposing a plan that would provide the fox with food for the whole winter, rather than just a snack. He promises the fox a feast, but there’s a catch: he’ll need the chickadee’s help to get it.
  • The End of Pinky
    The End of Pinky
    Claire Blanchet 2013 8 min
    This short animation adapted from a short story by Heather O’Neill, who also narrates the film, follows three fallen angels seeking companionship in Montreal’s red-light district. The survivor of traumatic childhood experiences, Johnny is a handsome thief who finds himself drawn to Mia’s fragile beauty. Both have a soft spot for Johnny’s best friend and partner in crime, Pinky. But when one of Pinky’s endearing quirks sets off a tragicomic chain of events, Johnny plots his revenge with methodical detachment. Peopled with characters living on the margins of society, this film casts light on the frailty of human relationships. The film features hand-drawn pencil and pastel animation rendered in stereoscopic 3D.
  • Mary & Myself
    Mary & Myself
    Sam Decoste 2013 6 min
    This short animated documentary tells the story of 2 Chinese Canadian women making their theatrical debut playing “comfort women” in Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues. Jia Tsu Thompson and Mary Mohammed spend long hours rehearsing at Mu Lan Teahouse in Halifax, where they read their lines over and over, sip tea, and recount buried stories of war. As they diligently practise together and at home, they come to have their own personal catharses. Fusing activism and performance, the film honours the thousands of girls and women from Korea, China, Japan and the Philippines who were forced into sexual slavery—into providing “comfort” to soldiers in the Imperial Japanese military during the 1930s and ’40s.
  • Alter Egos
    Alter Egos
    Laurence Green 2004 52 min
    In this award-winning animation-documentary, we meet two unusual artists. Ryan Larkin was once a brilliant filmmaker who ended up on the streets in Montreal. Chris Landreth is a rising star in animation beginning to experience the kind of adulation Larkin received decades earlier.

    With excerpts from both men's Oscar®-nominated works, this film delves into the tale of Larkin’s descent and the fascinating relationship that developed between the two men. It is a poignant study of artists, addiction and creativity.
  • The Conquerors
    The Conquerors
    Tibor Banoczki  &  Sarolta Szabo 2011 12 min
    In this animated short, a young couple washed onto a strange, inhospitable shore, attempts to transform the land into an Eden. Through great effort they prosper, learning to conquer nature and their environment. But what will their victory mean? Alternately a vision of paradise and purgatory, with allusions to the Book of Genesis and prehistory, the film tells the story of human beings and their conquests, offering a dark, critical view of the rise and fall of civilizations.
  • Soup of the Day
    Soup of the Day
    Lynn Smith 2013 3 min
    This animated short presents a dilemma faced by a couple every time they go out to eat. Will their culinary differences douse the flames of romance, or will love prevail? Set to a rollicking doo-wop song by Canadian songwriter Alexander (Zander) Ary, the film brings Lynn Smith's gouache paintings to life as she animates directly under the camera. This short is a tasty comic narrative that skips along an array of tantalizing dishes. Vocalists Susie Arioli and Zander Ary each bring a unique interpretation to this funny, charming song.
  • Reflection
    Reflection
    Sylvie Trouvé 2012 4 min
    Reflection is an exploration of Montreal through an abstract lens. Director Sylvie Trouvé examines how reflected images pervade our surroundings, how our senses filter out these ghost images and, finally, how the camera can capture emotions created by a shimmering puddle or a sparkling coloured glass surface. At the same time, Trouvé raises a new awareness of our urban environment. The editing, which animator Theodore Ushev collaborated on in a spirit of mutual emulation, embraces an animation aesthetic that fully respects the filmmaker’s artistic vision. While examining our relationship with images, this exploration of the city blurs the distinction between real-life shots and animation. Indeed, though inspired by reality, the film is thoroughly immersed in the world of animation.
  • Subconscious Password
    Subconscious Password
    Chris Landreth 2013 10 min
    In this short animation, Oscar®-winning director Chris Landreth uses a common social gaffe—forgetting somebody’s name—as the starting point for a mind-bending romp through the unconscious. Inspired by the classic TV game show Password, the film features a wealth of animated celebrity guests who try to prompt our beleaguered protagonist to remember his old pal's name. Finally, he realizes he must surrender to his predicament and jump head-first into his subconscious to find the answer.
  • Inspector Street
    Inspector Street
    Emmanuelle Loslier 2013 8 min
    This short animation begins with a newspaper, discarded on a public bench, whose headlines warn of unusual phenomena. A gust of wind animates the paper's pages, conjuring strange and fantastical creatures: a bridge that becomes a caterpillar, a steeple turning into a bird, a dome transformed into an octopus. Elemental forces have been unleashed. Skilfully wielding paper cut-outs, origami, and a healthy dose of humour, filmmaker Emmanuelle Loslier plunges us into a fantastical world in which Montreal’s urban landscape has never been so alive.
  • The Day Is Listening
    The Day Is Listening
    Félix Dufour-Laperrière 2013 8 min
    This short animation is set to the words of poet Hélène Dorion. In the film, a man and a woman's love for each other rivals only their affection for the written word. Literature accompanies the murmur of their lives and the harmony of their feelings. Filmmaker Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s imagery parallels Dorion’s words to articulate the familiar cycles of longing, loss, and desire.
  • The Clockmakers
    The Clockmakers
    Renaud Hallée 2013 4 min
    In this experimental animated short from Renaud Hallée, we travel inside a mysterious mechanism made up entirely of revolving gearwheels, triangles and lines. In this whirling, hypnotic world, dozens of tiny gymnasts leap, somersault and twist through the air. Their spirited acrobatics trigger both narrative and musical sequences that are mesmerizing and, at times, dizzying. Half-figurative and half-abstract, The Clockmakers is a playful creation that is sure to captivate and dazzle its audience.
  • Hollow Land
    Hollow Land
    Michelle Kranot  &  Uri Kranot 2013 13 min
    This animated short is a story about the eternal search for home. Hollow Land begins, as all such searches must, with the dream of utopia. Solomon and Berta are two seekers who arrive—their treasured bathtub improbably in tow—in a land that promises respite from their many journeys. From the first optimistic moments after their arrival, to the final haunting scene at sea, Hollow Land captures the state of being displaced—whether by circumstance or by choice.
  • The Trenches
    The Trenches
    Claude Cloutier 2010 5 min
    This animated short by Claude Cloutier is a pictorial account of an attack on Canadian soldiers during WWI. On the edge of the battlefield, recruits are dreading the order to attack. At the signal, a young soldier leaps into a hell of fire and blood where the earth engulfs both the living and the dead. Blending archival images and Cloutier’s hypnotizing brushstroke, the film is a dazzling illustration of the futility of war.
  • The Formation of Clouds
    The Formation of Clouds
    Marie-Hélène Turcotte 2010 10 min
    Childhood is a private, fragile terrain in which the marks of our explorations are inscribed. A delicate, sensitive evocation of burgeoning desire, The Formation of Clouds follows the steps of a young girl in the midst of transformation, clearly delineating that odd moment when one is no longer a child, exactly, but not yet an adult either. Using the simplicity of pen and ink drawings with graceful superimposition effects on glossy paper, Marie-Hélène Turcotte succeeds in capturing all the nuances of this transitional stage, in which the ingenuous wish to remain a child accompanies the yearning for self-discovery. With grace and sensitivity, this first short film becomes a visual poem that plays out at the frontier between reality and imagination. Film without words.
  • The Circus
    The Circus
    Nicolas Brault 2010 7 min
    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.
  • Pirouette
    Pirouette
    Tali 2002 9 min
    If we are what we eat, then we are having an identity crisis. Because food's journey from farm to plate is a strange one. An old woman has a simple relationship with her animals: she loves them, kills them, eats them. In town, people are first fascinated, then repulsed, by the intimacy between the old woman and their food. A film without words.
  • I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors
    I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors
    Ann Marie Fleming 2010 15 min
    This short animation is director Ann Marie Fleming’s animated adaptation of Bernice Eisenstein’s acclaimed illustrated memoir. Using the healing power of humour, the film probes the taboos around a very particular second-hand trauma, leading us to a more universal understanding of human experience. The film sensitively explores identity and loss through the audacious proposition that the Holocaust is addictive and defining.
  • Mamori
    Mamori
    Karl Lemieux 2010 7 min
    Mamori transports us into a black-and-white universe of fluid shapes, dappled and striated with shadows and light, where the texture of the visuals and of the celluloid itself have been transformed through the filmmaker’s artistry. The raw material of images and sounds was captured in the Amazon rainforest by filmmaker Karl Lemieux and avant-garde composer Francisco López, a specialist in field recordings. Re-filming the photographs on 16 mm stock, then developing the film stock itself and digitally editing the whole, Lemieux transmutes the raw images and accompanying sounds into an intense sensory experience at the outer limits of representation and abstraction. Fragmented musical phrases filter through the soundtrack, evoking in our imagination the clamour of the tropical rainforest in this remote Amazonian location called Mamori.
  • The Barewolf
    The Barewolf
    Valère Lommel  &  Joke Van Der Steen 2010 10 min
    The werewolves that live in this secluded place are particularly savage: when not attacking anything that moves, they spend their time arguing and fighting. Driven by instinct, one young werewolf chases pink flamingos through the wild, straying far from home. Before he knows it, he’s in a place he knows nothing about: the world of humans.
  • Waseteg
    Waseteg
    Phyllis Grant 2010 6 min

    Waseteg is the story of a young Mi'kmaq girl whose name means “the light from the dawn.” Sadly, her mother dies while giving birth and, though her father works very hard to provide for his family, Waseteg is surrounded by the bitterness and loneliness felt by her sisters.

    As a young girl, Waseteg looks for solace in nature, and dreams of the stories she’s heard in the village – including one about Walqwan, the mysterious boy living across the river. Eventually, with the gentle care of the boy's grandmother, Waseteg succeeds in finding Walqwan, discovering the Spirit Path, and restoring love to her family.

    A short story about dreams, courage, identity, creation and embracing our Elders, Waseteg showcases Phyllis Grant's signature style of bold lines, bright colours and simple movements. The film is beautifully narrated by legendary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin.

  • Wapos Bay: There's No "I"  in Hockey
    Wapos Bay: There's No "I" in Hockey
    Dennis Jackson 2005 24 min
    In this first episode from the Wapos Bay series, Talon and his cousin T-Bear play on the same hockey team, but their relationship becomes strained when they both try to win the attention of Melanie, a girl on an opposing team. Meanwhile, Raven is having a little too much fun and not helping her grandmother prepare the Kohkum/Granddaughter bannock competition at the Festival. Frustrated by waiting for her granddaughter to help out, Kohkum quits preparing for the contest. The 3 children acquire some valuable lessons with the help of Kohkum and Mushom, Raven's grandfather. T-Bear learns how to be a team player, and Raven is determined to compete in the contest.

    Wapos Bay is a Gemini Award-winning stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Muybridge's Strings
    Muybridge's Strings
    Koji Yamamura 2011 12 min
    Can time be made to stand still? Can it be reversed? Koji Yamamura’s Muybridge's Strings is a meditation on this theme, contrasting the worlds of the photographer Eadweard Muybridge—who in 1878 successfully photographed consecutive phases in the movement of a galloping horse—and a mother who, watching her daughter grow up, realizes she is slipping away from her. Moving between California and Tokyo, between the nineteenth century and the twenty-first, the film focuses on some of the highpoints in Muybridge’s troubled life and intercuts them with the mother’s surrealistic daydreams—a poetic clash that explores the irrepressible human desire to seize life’s fleeting moments, to freeze the instants of happiness. Enriched by Koji Yamamura’s refined artistry and Normand Roger’s soundtrack, Muybridge's Strings observes the ties that cease to bind, fixes its gaze on the course of life, and presents a moment in time suspended on the crystalline notes of a canon by J.S. Bach.
  • A Cow's Tale
    A Cow's Tale
    John Tanasiciuk 2006 5 min
    Does technology make our lives easier?

    Audrey works away at her computer and she encounters a problem. Nothing seems to help: neither a co-worker's advice, nor the user manual, nor the help line. Stuck on hold, Audrey dreams of how simple life must have been before the age of technology.

    This animated tale, with a real animal soundtrack, makes for a funny and witty dig at how little we've really evolved. A film without words.
  • Big Drive
    Big Drive
    Anita Lebeau 2011 9 min
    This short animation film tells the story of a family road trip across the Canadian prairies set in the 1970s. In an era before in-car movies and video games, 4 sisters squeeze into the back of the family car for a long journey. While the parents keep a steady watch on the road ahead, restlessness gradually gives way to mayhem in the car’s close quarters. Just before the ride becomes unbearable, the sisters are inspired to combine their creative energy and the big drive becomes an even bigger adventure.
  • The Lost Town of Switez
    The Lost Town of Switez
    Kamil Polak 2010 19 min
    In 19th-century Poland, a traveller loses his way in the forest one stormy night. He witnesses the last days of a medieval town under attack by ruthless warriors. The grandiose tale of The Lost Town of Switez is carried along by the music of Irina Bogdanovitch. Kamil Polak has used advanced computer-assisted animation techniques to create a rich visual universe inspired by religious iconography and Polish romantic painting. The film was screened at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival.
  • Wapos Bay: The Elements
    Wapos Bay: The Elements
    Melanie Jackson 2006 24 min
    In episode 6 from the Wapos Bay series, the survival skills of Talon, T-Bear, Raven and Mushom are tested by an unexpected storm. The children are helping grandfather Mushom set up a cultural camp so young people can learn traditional ways. Bad weather hits and the radio, generator and ATV break down. Mushom leaves the camp for help but has an accident along the way. Left alone, the children have several mishaps - including accidentally blowing up their ATV - and abandon camp. The family makes it home safely, but their journey to Elders Island teaches the children that taking shortcuts at any age is best avoided. T-Bear learns that his knowledge of electronics can come in handy in any situation.

    Wapos Bay is a Gemini Award-winning stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: Something to Remember
    Wapos Bay: Something to Remember
    Dennis Jackson 2006 24 min
    In episode 4 from the Wapos Bay series, the pressure is on as T-Bear is handed the task of commemorating Wapos Bay's military veterans, and Raven is struggling to express her thanks to a departing teacher. To prepare for a Remembrance Day tribute that will be broadcast to everyone in Wapos Bay, T-Bear visits the community elders. He is amazed to learn that his Mushom (grandfather) is also a veteran of the war. Meanwhile, Raven tries to convince her favourite teacher to stay in Wapos Bay by doing special things for her. But Ms. Chalmers doesn't initially comprehend her gestures of gratitude. In this episode, Raven learns the true meaning of the word "appreciate" and T-Bear learns why it's important to remember the past.

    Wapos Bay is a Gemini Award-winning stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: Journey Through Fear
    Wapos Bay: Journey Through Fear
    Melanie Jackson 2006 24 min
    In episode 2 from the Wapos Bay series, Aboriginal Day festivities are getting underway, but there's even more cause for excitement in Wapos Bay. T-Bear unexpectedly spends the night in the fire tower after he climbs up and is too afraid to come down. Jacob goes up to get his son and realizes he's scared too. In an amusing twist, the story is reported as a political protest on TV. Meanwhile, Raven doesn't want to go fishing with her mother, Sarah, because she's frightened of the river. Sarah helps her daughter feel at ease in open water, one step at a time. Through their respective experiences, both Raven and T-Bear discover how important honesty, patience and courage are, especially when you're scared.

    Wapos Bay is a Gemini Award-winning stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: A Time to Learn
    Wapos Bay: A Time to Learn
    Dennis Jackson 2006 24 min
    In episode 5 from the Wapos Bay series, missing sled dogs and a pile of homework are just a few of the things Talon has to deal with before setting out for the trapline with his father, Alphonse. Talon can't wait to go away for a week but the exciting trip means lots of extra responsibility. He has to complete the schoolwork he'll miss before leaving. While Talon struggles with a creative writing assignment, T-Bear and his grandfather Mushom have trouble with the dog team. T-Bear incorrectly ties the dogs up and they escape. In this episode, intense preparations and avoidable mishaps teach the children the importance of listening to elders and taking care with everything you do.

    Wapos Bay is a Gemini Award-winning stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Rose & Violet
    Rose & Violet
    Claude Grosch  &  Luc Otter 2011 26 min
    The animated short film Rose & Violet tells the story of two Conjoined twin sisters who are recruited as star acrobats in the world’s biggest circus. They seem bound for glory, but when a new strongman joins the troupe, a conflict turns tragic… Filmmakers Luc Otter and Claude Grosch employ a clever combination of 2D and digital cut-outs and clay animation in their exploration of the circus realm.
  • Pumpkins and Old Lace
    Pumpkins and Old Lace
    Juliette Loubières 2010 8 min
    This short animation tells the story of a photographer who’s hunting the perfect “Granny or Grandpa” poster face for an adult diaper company. Camera in hand, he approaches a retirement home. A quick look at a couple of “nice old folks” and that should do it! But it’s just the beginning of the story… or stories, rather. While the folks he meets are a bit long in the tooth, they all have lots to say.

    With Pumpkins and Old Lace, Juliette Loubières joins the classic tradition of puppet animation films, creating a sincere, whimsical morality tale that reminds us that old age can sometimes be a mask hiding the treasures of our souls.
  • Léon in Wintertime
    Léon in Wintertime
    Pierre-Luc Granjon  &  Pascal Le Nôtre 2007 27 min
    In this short puppet animation we meet Léon, an 8-year-old adopted bear suffering from an identity crisis. The distraught cub runs away from home in wintertime and embarks on many adventures. He stands up to an ogre and saves a princess from ending up in a pea stew. His courage eventually leads him back to his parents, who work as beekeepers. Pure, tender and as sweet as honey, this is a delightful tale.
  • The Trembling Veil of Bones
    The Trembling Veil of Bones
    Matthew Talbot-Kelly 2010 12 min
    In this animated short, a lone clockmaker named Bones sits inside a darkened studio filled with the sounds of ticking clocks. He parcels out his time in teaspoons and shadow, until the arrival of a mysterious package propels him to leave his refuge.
  • Not So Different
    Not So Different
    Don Arioli 1985 6 min
    A fable set in the Land of Same, where the law of the land is SAMENESS. Everyone has to behave the same, wear the same clothes, live in the same houses. Everything runs smoothly until some Different people arrive.
  • The Basketball Game
    The Basketball Game
    Hart Snider 2011 5 min
    This animated short tells the story of an epic basketball game between kids attending Jewish camp and students of a notorious local Holocaust denier. Nine-year-old Hart is attending Jewish summer camp for the first time. He is both curious and afraid. What awaits him on the basketball court?
  • Bonifacio in Summertime
    Bonifacio in Summertime
    Pierre-Luc Granjon  &  Antoine Lanciaux 2011 26 min
    Bonifacio in Summertime is an animated film for the whole family, a colourful tale that continues the adventures of Princess Molly and her three best friends. During her summer vacation, Molly discovers that her mother has fallen under the influence of a strange sweet talker who is intent on stealing the Kingdom of Skedaddle’s magic fruit.
  • It's a Dog's Life
    It's a Dog's Life
    Julie Rembauville  &  Nicolas Bianco-Levrin 2012 7 min
    This short animation features Fifi the dog, who fantasizes about interstellar travel as an escape from his day-to-day existence as the family scapegoat. While doing whatever it takes to please Mom, Dad and the kids, Fifi tries to make off with some newspaper articles about the latest scientific developments in space travel. Fifi would like nothing better than to be left alone in his basket, his nose buried in a feature story on space travel, but the lively family around him blames him for their own bad behaviour. This animated short is the tale of a dog’s life on a human scale—what results is an urban fable about learning to live together.
  • Circuit marine
    Circuit marine
    Isabelle Favez 2003 7 min
    "Dans la grande chaîne alimentaire de la vie, où il fallait que nous passions... ", aurait pu chanter un Raymond Lévesque facétieux, s'il s'était inspiré de Circuit marine, petite fantaisie loufoque et cruelle sur le monde des carnivores. En effet, être mangé ou ne pas être mangé : là est la question pour un chat jaune, un poisson rouge et un perroquet bigarré, qu'un pirate au coeur tendre tente de faire cohabiter avec un équipage glouton. Qui mangera qui sur cette coquille de noix en pleine mer? Sur les accents entraînant d'une ritournelle tzigane, le trait d'Isabelle Favez fait mouche, et vogue entre la caresse et le coup de griffe dans un univers haut en couleurs et riche en rebondissements, où les poissons ne mangent personne et où les pirates mangent tout le monde. Entre les deux, toute une ménagerie bariolée dans laquelle on ne sait jamais qui, du prédateur ou de la proie, sera mangé en premier, et qui nous rappelle, avec le sourire, qu'on est toujours le repas d'un autre!
  • Poppety in the Fall
    Poppety in the Fall
    Antoine Lanciaux  &  Pierre-Luc Granjon 2012 27 min
    In this animated short, a terrible curse deprives Balthasar’s kingdom of its stories. Taking the unicorn’s horn back into The Belly of the Earth is the solution. Poppety will lead an expedition, by chance uncovering a hitherto closely guarded family secret. Poppety in the Fall concludes the thrilling animated series of 4 seasons in the life of Léon, the adopted bear cub.
  • Banquet of the Concubine
    Banquet of the Concubine
    Hefang Wei 2012 12 min
    In the year 746, during the Tang Dynasty, a banquet is given in the Imperial City in honour of Emperor Li’s favourite concubine. An unsatisfied craving, suspected infidelity and fevered imagination lead Yang to bitter excess, which not even the luscious lychee can appease.
  • Assembly
    Assembly
    Jenn Strom 2012 4 min
    This experimental short animation is inspired by the NFB's Studio D (1975-1994), a production department aimed at creating filmmaking opportunities for women in Canada. Featuring a rhythmic soundscape and paint-on-glass animation, Assembly shows a woman’s hands cutting and editing a reel of film on a flatbed editing table as fragments of women walking in chains, protesting with placards, and speaking at podiums are inter-cut. We hear bursts of words and the percussive whir and click of the Steenbeck—until a “message” is finally revealed. The film is dedicated to the memory of Kathleen Shannon, a prominent editor and one-time Executive Producer of Studio D.
  • Wapos Bay: Long Goodbyes
    Wapos Bay: Long Goodbyes
    Dennis Jackson 2011 1 h 12 min
    In this feature animation film, Talon and Raven learn that their dad, Alphonse, has taken a job in the big city and their family will have to move away from Wapos Bay, their Cree community in Northern Saskatchewan. This news takes Talon on a journey of self-discovery as he sets off to accomplish his bucket list of things he wanted to do with his friends before they leave. Raven, on the other hand, decides to take matters into her own hands with the clear goal of keeping the family in Wapos Bay. With their whole world being turned upside down, Talon and Raven must join forces to keep the family together before it’s too late.
  • Wapos Bay: They Dance at Night
    Wapos Bay: They Dance at Night
    Dennis Jackson 2006 24 min
    In episode 3 from the Wapos Bay series, Talon, Raven and T-Bear learn what can happen when they forget to respect tradition. Raven can't resist whistling at the glimmering northern lights even though she's been warned not to. And T-Bear breaks with an age-old ritual by neglecting to offer tobacco ties before picking sweet grass for the elders. All 3 children discover that their careless behaviour may be the source of the community's recent small misfortunes. With help from grandfather Mushom and a wise elder, they take part in a traditional ceremony that puts things right.

    Wapos Bay is a Gemini Award-winning stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Rosa Rosa
    Rosa Rosa
    Félix Dufour-Laperrière 2008 8 min
    While war is thundering at the gates of the city, Rosa and her lover live serenely together, trying to preserve a fragile normality. Rosa Rosa is the interweaving of individual and collective fates via a love story simply told by the couple themselves. In this animation using reworked photos, Félix Dufour-Laperrière offers an unusual graphic world where public and private spaces overlap.
  • Petra's Poem
    Petra's Poem
    Shira Avni 2012 4 min
    In this short film, Toronto artist Petra Tolley, who has Down syndrome, performs a soliloquy that encapsulates her distinctive take on the social self. Drawing from her emotional experiences, she illustrates what it feels like to be “in the middle.” Employing rotoscopy, hand-drawn animation techniques and subtle stereoscopic 3D, the film captures Petra as she engages the camera with unflinching directness and dignity.
  • Big Mouth
    Big Mouth
    Andrea Dorfman 2012 8 min
    This animated short tells the story of Trudy, a little girl who is equal parts truthful and rude. A bright-minded and quick-witted child, Trudy has an unfiltered and deeply curious way of looking at the world. Here, events force her to question what it means to speak the truth, and comes to understand how our differences make us unique.
  • In Pieces
    In Pieces
    Paule Baillargeon 2011 1 h 21 min
    Paule Baillargeon is 37 years old, 11 years old, 65 years old. . . In this film composed of fragments, she tells her story: the story of a woman, a filmmaker, a mother, a feminist, an artist. Of an actress, too, who delivers a powerful narrative that is both soothing and unsettling. These potent images, her images—filmed, painted, photographed, drawn, animated—merge into the portrait of a life that has been wild, rebellious and gentle. The tableaux are not so much autobiography as an authentic tale, as unpredictable and unique as any life.

  • The World's Largest Studio
    The World's Largest Studio
    Charlie Moretti  &  Matt Clarke 2007 52 min
    Larger than Universal's and Paramount's combined, Hengdian World Studios features 12 motion picture shooting sites spanning different periods of Chinese history. Since 1996, the company has invested over 240 million U.S. dollars in construction, which includes a replica of the Forbidden City built to scale: 100 acres, the equivalent of Warner Brothers' own Hollywood back-lot! Some 50 films and TV dramas are produced here every year, including international hits such as Hero. Hengdian boasts an amusment park, a vast filmmaking complex and a school for actors. It has become a hugely popular tourist site, making it a complex environment with a host of contrasting personalities each with their own agenda.
  • Stories We Tell
    Stories We Tell
    Sarah Polley 2012 1 h 48 min
    This feature documentary is an inspired, genre-twisting film directed by Oscar®-nominee Sarah Polley. Polley's playful investigation into the elusive truth buried within the contradictions of a family of storytellers paints a touching and intriguing portrait of a complex network of relatives, friends, and strangers.
  • Wapos Bay: Raven Power
    Wapos Bay: Raven Power
    Cam Lizotte 2008 24 min
    In this episode from the Wapos Bay series, Raven wants the men to realize how much they underappreciate the town's women. The women go on a week-long retreat, and only Jacob seems able to make coffee, cook meals and keep things running. Raven and Chief Big Sky negotiate to bring the women back, make everyone happier and strengthen the community.

    Wapos Bay is a stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: Raiders of the Lost Art
    Wapos Bay: Raiders of the Lost Art
    Dennis Jackson 2008 24 min
    In episode 19 from the Wapos Bay series, the boys find ancient rock paintings, and then decide to capture the modern painters who are spraying up the town with graffiti. Meanwhile Raven has a birthday problem: friends or family?

    Wapos Bay is a stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: Lights, Camera, Action!
    Wapos Bay: Lights, Camera, Action!
    Melanie Jackson 2008 23 min
    In this episode from the Wapos Bay series, film star Adam Beach mentors T-Bear and Talon as they make videos celebrating Treaty Days in Wapos Bay. Raven feels left out with everyone so busy preparing for the celebrations.

    Wapos Bay is a stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: Going for the Gold
    Wapos Bay: Going for the Gold
    Dennis Jackson 2008 23 min
    In this episode from the Wapos Bay series, a talking dog comes to Talon in a dream, urging him to go for gold in golf at the Indigenous Games. Uncle Jacob trains him and might help Talon win but at what cost to his relationship with his son, T-Bear?

    Wapos Bay is a stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: A Mother's Earth
    Wapos Bay: A Mother's Earth
    Dennis Jackson 2008 23 min
    In episode 14 from the Wapos Bay series, a school project sets Raven on a confusing search for her identity. She finally figures it out – with help from her blond doll. Meanwhile, Talon and T-Bear prepare the sweat lodge and hope to receive their Indian names soon.

    Wapos Bay is a stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Wapos Bay: Dance Dance
    Wapos Bay: Dance Dance
    Melanie Jackson 2008 23 min
    In episode 18 from the Wapos Bay series, T-Bear faces a dilemma. He wants to follow his heart and dance, but can he do it without disappointing Jacob, who wants him to be a star wrestler?

    Wapos Bay is a stop-motion animation series that follows the adventures of 3 kids from a Cree community in northern Saskatchewan.
  • Tzaritza
    Tzaritza
    Theodore Ushev 2006 6 min
    This animated short by Theodore Ushev combines warmth, humour and magic in a story about a young girl who misses her grandmother. When Lili finds a tzaritza (magic shell) along the seashore, she hatches a plan to bring her Grandma from Bulgaria to Montreal to make her father happy. Part of the Talespinners collection, the film features music by Normand Roger.
  • Oma's Quilt
    Oma's Quilt
    Izabela Bzymek 2006 12 min
    This animated short tells the story of Oma, who is moving from her house on Maple Street where she lived most of her life to a senior's residence where she doesn't know anyone. Her granddaughter Emily, a young girl full of wide-eyed enthusiasm, senses that her grandmother isn't sure she will like her new home. Wishing to help, she comes up with an idea to ease the burden of this momentous change.

    Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • Mind Me Good Now!
    Mind Me Good Now!
    Chris Cormier  &  Derek Cummings 2005 8 min
    In this animated short 2 children, Tina and Dalby, disobey their mama with almost tragic consequences. Having strayed away from home, they run afoul of a local "cocoya," a wicked spirit that loves to eat little boys! But through Tina's resourcefulness and cunning, the cocoya is vanquished and the children run back to mama's forgiving arms.

    Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • Maq and the Spirit of the Woods
    Maq and the Spirit of the Woods
    Phyllis Grant 2006 8 min
    This animated short tells the story of Maq, a Mi'kmaq boy who realizes his potential with the help of inconspicuous mentors. When an elder in the community offers him a small piece of pipestone, Maq carves a little person out of it. Proud of his work, the boy wants to impress his grandfather and journeys through the woods to find him. Along the path Maq meets a curious traveller named Mi'gmwesu. Together they share stories, medicine, laughter, and song. Maq begins to care less about making a good impression and more about sharing the knowledge and spirit he's found through his creation. Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children's stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • Jaime Lo, Small and Shy
    Jaime Lo, Small and Shy
    Lillian Chan 2006 7 min
    In this animated short, Jaime Lo's father is sent to Hong Kong for a year-long work assignment. A shy Chinese-Canadian girl, Jaime Lo must use her creativity to cope with his absence. This story offers us a lighthearted glimpse into a common dilemma that many immigrant families face, where one parent must work overseas in order to provide for the rest of the family back home.

    Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • The Girl Who Hated Books
    The Girl Who Hated Books
    Jo Meuris 2006 7 min
    This animated short about literacy introduces us to Meena, a young girl who hates books even though her parents love to read. Books are everywhere in Meena's house, in cupboards, drawers and even piled up on the stairs. Still, she refuses to even open one up. But when her cat Max accidentally knocks down a huge stack, pandemonium ensues and nothing is ever the same again.

    Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • Asthma Tech
    Asthma Tech
    Jonathan Ng 2006 7 min
    In this animated short, young Winston, who suffers from chronic asthma, isn’t able to participate in the everyday activities of his peers and classmates. He copes with the predicament through his vivid imagination, with paper and crayons. On one particularly rainy afternoon, Winston discovers that the magic of imagination has the power to transform and empower, and his skills and talents save the day.

    Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • Roses Sing on New Snow
    Roses Sing on New Snow
    Yuan Zhang 2002 7 min
    In this animated short, based on a story by Paul Yee, Maylin cooks mouth-watering meals at her father's restaurant in Chinatown, but her father and brothers take all the credit. When a dignitary from China visits and tastes one her dishes, Maylin finally earns recognition.

    This film is part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • The Magic of Anansi
    The Magic of Anansi
    Jamie Mason 2001 6 min
    This animated short tells the story of Anansi, a little spider who is tired of being snubbed by other the jungle animals, especially Mr. Tiger. As Anansi plots and schemes to change things, he realizes he can't gain respect by putting others down.

    Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
  • Lights for Gita