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Inkwo for When the Starving ReturnAmanda Strong 2024 18 minTwo 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. -
Hairy LegsAndrea Dorfman 2024 16 minHairy Legs is a short animated film about a girl who, at 14 years old, decides not to shave her legs - a decision that she maintains throughout her life. This small, yet, radical act signifies her becoming a feminist and, as she grows older, what it means to stand up to the patriarchy and the systemic inequality it creates.
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Maybe ElephantsTorill Kove 2024 16 minIn 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. -
My Friend the Green HorseAlanis Obomsawin 2024 11 minOften feeling alone in her waking life, the young Alanis Obomsawin found friendship with the Green Horse, a benevolent being she visited regularly in her dreams. Together with other animal spirits, the Green Horse guided Alanis to realize the immensity of the gift of life and the power of kindness.
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LOCAVéronique Paquette 2024 5 minThrough 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.
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Corpus and the WanderingJo Roy 2024 7 minOne 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.
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What the HellValerie Barnhart 2024 8 minDante'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.
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A Return to MemoryDonald McWilliams 2024 1 h 58 min“The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there”. And so begins McWilliams attempt to do the impossible – travel through time to see a world through the eyes of those who lived it. This return to memory takes us inside the NFB vaults to discover the largely unknown women pioneers who helped lay the groundwork for Canadian documentary film during the 1940s and 1950s. Long before NFB's world renowned feminist Studio D and Regards des Femmes, women were occupying production spaces inside the Plank in Ottawa and in Montreal. Although many of the women were known to be hired directly by NFB's founding commissioner John Grierson, less is known about their earlier cultural achievements and lesser again about their later contributions beyond film. In signature MacWilliams style, A Return to Memory explores our cinematic past to re-frame our present and our collective understanding of the Canadian documentary tradition. With wit and first hand anecdotes, MacWilliams takes us to a foreign country in our own backyard, populating it with a cast of lively eloquent artists who have been lurking in the shadows far too long.
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Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane StoryMichael Mabbott & Lucah Rosenberg-Lee 2024 1 h 39 minA lost R&B star who eclipsed Etta James and Little Richard, trans soul singer Jackie Shane blazed an extraordinary trail with an unbreakable commitment to her truth. Forty years after vanishing from public view, this 20th century icon finally gets her second act.
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Wes “Maestro” Williams: Wes to the East - Forward Movin'Gilles Doiron 2024 3 min“Don’t make records, make history.” A true trailblazer, Wes “Maestro” Williams was the first Canadian rapper to break into the mainstream. In this snapshot portrait, Wes to the East- Forward Movin’, Williams takes us through his career as a recording artist, actor, author and motivational speaker, a career that has always tirelessly looked ahead to shatter barriers for the next generation.
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Andrea Martin: Nine Lives... and Counting!Michelle Mama 2024 4 minA bona fide icon, the indefatigable Andrea Martin is behind some of the most recognizable comedic performances to ever hit screens or stages. From the legendary show Godspell to the characters that made SCTV a household name, and recent roles where she continues to buck stereotypes with hilarious effect, Nine Lives… and Counting! pays tribute to an incandescent career of reinvention.
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Jenny Belzberg: Home is Where the Art IsWill Prosper 2024 4 min“Being part of communities is how you understand them.” Taking audiences into the renowned Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and featuring live music and imagery from some of Canada’s most exciting creative talents, Home Is Where the Art Ispays homage to Calgary’s Jenny Belzberg and her unwavering dedication to the power of community and creativity in people’s lives.
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The Passion and Puppetry of Ronnie BurkettMichelle Mama 2024 5 minGroundbreaking theatre artist Ronnie Burkett has wowed audiences for decades with his imaginative and provocative reinventions of puppetry and storytelling. The Passion and Puppetry of Ronnie invites us into his home studio and his creative process, as the puppeteer generously and vulnerably reflects on a career that has pushed boundaries while allowing him to be genuinely himself.
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Measha Brueggergosman-Lee: A New SongWill Prosper 2024 4 minProlific and inspiring, Measha Brueggergosman-Lee has sung in concert halls on every continent, and on some of the world’s biggest stages. Bringing us intimately into her home, A New Songis an up-close and personal portrait of the acclaimed soprano, the first Black recipient of the prestigious Governor General’s Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for Classical Music.
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Red RunMurray Jurak 2001 25 minIn 1913, a railway blast sent hundreds of tons of rock cascading into the Fraser River, blocking the path of thousands of returning salmon. The Fraser Valley Aboriginal people rallied for days to save their fish, carrying them one at a time over the fallen rock. Red Run recalls this dramatic tale and reveals its impact today. Shimmering salmon still battle the Fraser's currents every summer. And the 'River People' balance on the treacherous cliffs, waiting to scoop them from the river with traditional dip and gill nets. Director Murray Jurak, from the region's Lower Nicola Band, follows members of three Siska families to the river's edge. To provide for her family, Alice follows the time-honoured fishing methods traditionally practised by men. Percy and Fred pass on their skills and respect for the turbulent river to their two young sons. Set in the BC Interior, Red Run captures an event as spectacular as it is dangerous.
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Don't Let the Sun Catch You CryingNatalie Baird & Toby Gillies 2024 7 minDon’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.
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My World, Your MelodyBianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes 2024 1 minA 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.
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Red Star AlleyJenny Yujia Shi 2024 2 minA 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.
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The Last TangoMochi Lin 2024 1 minDrawn 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!
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UnblendingMichelle Ku 2024 1 minFor 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.
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AmmaAkash 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.”
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Not Enough Womb for the Two of UsCameron Kletke 2024 1 minCameron 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.
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In the ShallowsArash Akhgari 2024 4 minWalking 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.
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Ninan Auassat (We, the Children)Kim O'Bomsawin 2024 1 h 31 minMore than just a riveting documentary, this is a call to action at a time when Indigenous youth are demanding the right to be recognized and an opportunity to blossom.
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7 Beats Per MinuteYuqi Kang 2024 1 h 40 minDuring a world-record attempt, freediving champion Jessea Lu blacked out and was lifeless for four minutes. Director Yuqi Kang’s documentary captures the descent of a lifetime, when Jessea returns to the site of her near-death experience to face the traumas of her past and find a way back to connection.
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Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen?Eisha Marjara 2024 24 minWARNING: This film contains imagery of anorexia and eating disorders that may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised. “Hey, let’s go on a diet together.” As kids in a small Quebec town, Eisha and Seema were more than sisters, they were soul mates, and a joint diet offered a shared sense of purpose. But their carefree project would take a dark turn, pushing Eisha to the very brink of death. Consumed by anorexia, she found herself battling her own fragile body—stranded between childhood and adulthood. Decades later, she revisits her past in an exquisitely crafted work of auto-ethnography, evoking her unusual youth with aching lyricism. In addressing a tender love letter to the troubled girl she once was, she reaches contemporary audiences with a timely reflection on body image and self-acceptance.
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Society of ClothesJeong Dahee 2024 15 minWhen 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
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The PaintingMichèle Lemieux 2024 11 minA 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.
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Fighting BackGary Toole 1984 24 minThe Cabbagetown Boxing Club in Toronto has produced many Olympic and world-class boxers. Fighting Back is the story of Asif Dar, an underweight immigrant who learned boxing in order to defend himself from neighbourhood bullies. The film traces the relationship between Asif Dar, who came to the club as a youngster, and his instructor, Ken Hamilton, a long-time foe of the violence traditionally associated with boxing.
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Work DifferentJulien Capraro 2023 50 minHow has working remotely reshaped the workplace—and our lives? While the shift to working from home may seem abrupt, the concept is far from new. With humour and intelligence, Work Different takes a close look at the origins, impacts, upsides and uncertainties of remote work.
