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Boat People

A sharply etched personal story, exquisite in its specificity, Boat People resonates with universal themes, speaking across time and culture to anyone who’s ever fought to protect the people they love.
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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.

War, Conflict and Peace Families Animals Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism Developing Countries Children and Youth Seniors All subjects
Family Stories All channels
  • director
    Kjell Boersma
    Thao Lam
  • writer
    Thao Lam
    Kjell Boersma
  • producer
    Justine Pimlott
    Jelena Popovic
  • executive producer
    Anita Lee
  • narration
    Thao Lam
  • design
    Thao Lam
  • layouts
    Thao Lam
  • storyboard artist
    Cornelia
    Miranda Quesnel
  • editor
    Jordan Kawai
    Kjell Boersma
  • animator
    Miranda Quesnel
    Simon Cottee
    Adam Brown
    Kjell Boersma
  • animation supervisor
    Kjell Boersma
  • compositor
    Kjell Boersma
  • animation consultant
    Lillian Chan
  • animation assistant
    Samantha Lucy Haslam
  • layout assistant
    Samantha Lucy Haslam
  • music
    respectfulchild
  • sound design
    Olivier Calvert
    Pierre Yves Drapeau
  • production supervisor
    Marcus Matyas
  • production manager
    Howie Shia
  • senior production coordinator
    Melissa Paduada
  • technical director
    Martin Sulzer
  • consulting technical director
    Éloi Champagne
  • studio operations manager
    Mark Wilson
  • studio administrator
    Andrew Martin-Smith
  • studio coordinator
    Carly Kastner
  • technical coordinator
    Kevin Riley
    Shaghayegh Haghdoust Yazdi
    Luc Binette
  • technical assistant
    Q'Mal Labad-Workman
  • technical support
    Stéphane Simard
    Sébastien Dion
  • marketing manager
    Andrea Elalouf
    Jessica Gedge
  • marketing coordinator
    Michelle Rozon
  • publicist
    Jennifer Mair
    Nadine Viau
  • legal counsel
    Christian Pitchen
  • re-recording mixer
    Jean Paul Vialard
  • foley
    Karla Baumgardner
  • foley recording
    Luc Léger
  • online editor
    Denis Pilon
  • titles
    Mélanie Bouchard

Education

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Boat People
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Personal & Single-Classroom Use

Who it’s for:

Individuals watching for personal use, and parents or teachers wishing to screen a film for a single class in Canada.

What it allows:

  • Private, personal viewing in Canada and worldwide.
  • Screening the film for a single class in Canada.
  • Downloading and watching offline.

What it does not allow:

  • Screenings or events for multiple classes, school boards, or campus-wide events.
  • Community, public or institutional screenings or events.

Bonus materials are not included with the downloaded film.

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Who it's for:

Organizations, government departments, businesses and non-profits. For other institutions seeking licensing options, please contact info@nfb.ca .

What it allows:

  • Internal screenings for employees, members or patrons.
  • Screenings open to the public on the organization’s premises, with no admission fee and outside the commercial cinema circuit.
Looking to host a one-time public screening instead?

Who it's for:

Public libraries, community groups, NGOs and other organizations wishing to host a one-time public screening in Canada with no admission fee.

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Complete the “Request to screen an NFB film” form.

For any questions, email communityscreenings@nfb.ca.

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