All the Rage

A 1-minute cart ride through the mental shopping mall of attention deficit disorder.

Produced as part of the 10th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Fed up with her roommate’s incessant shopping and hoarding, a girl takes matters into her own hands in this comical take on vlogging and the art of co-habitation.

Produced as part of the 10th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

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.

Voicemails get lost and found in space in this thoughtful commentary on the fractured act of communication and the spaces between people trying to express themselves.

Produced as part of the 10th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

This animated short poses some interesting questions: what if buildings pulsed, trees tapped out beats, or shadows could whistle a tune? Through the creative interpretation and animation of the city's natural rhythms, Orange orchestrates a contagious urban dance.

Produced as part of the 5th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

In this animated short, a delusional young man spots the girl of his dreams in his favourite café and weaves a self-indulgent fantasy story of their imagined life together. Missed Connection examines our universal desire to connect in a world of beautiful strangers.

Produced as part of the 7th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Please stand clear of the doors... This very short surreal hybrid of stop-motion and 2D animation is a story about a dream about a train, inspired by found sound of a Toronto subway car.

Produced as part of the 11th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Children wait their turn for a once-in-a-lifetime roller coaster ride. A loving and poignant meditation on childhood and the passage of time.

Produced as part of the 10th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

In this short animation, a polar bear must try his luck finding a job in the big city when the last of his Arctic ice environment disappears. It’s hard fitting into the human world, however, so this bear finds a more creative solution to his predicament.

Produced as part of the 8th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

The NFB’s 11th Academy-Award winning film. This short animation follows Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer Sigrid Undset. Kasper attempts to answer some pretty big questions: can we trace the chain of events that leads to our own birth? Is our existence just coincidence? Do little things matter? As Kasper's quest for inspiration unfolds, it appears that a spell of bad weather, an angry dog, slippery barn planks, a careless postman, hungry goats and other seemingly unrelated factors might play important roles in the big scheme of things after all.

An allegory of mankind heading for disaster, this animated short is a tragic vision inspired by the 4th movement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Drawing on the composer’s brilliant ability to evoke work and labour in his music, animator Patrick Bouchard brings earth to life through animated clay sculptures, creating a tactile nightmare in which man is his own slave driver.