Hothouse 9: Behind the Abstract Scenes

This short experimental film from Peter Foldès (Hunger) hails from the very early days of computer animation. Created entirely on a computer belonging to the National Research Council of Canada, it registered hundreds of movements to produce a fluid, evolving effect with images seamlessly morphing into one another.

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.

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.

Tormented forms struggle to break free of their bonds in this abstract animated short.

Produced as part of the 9th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

An adventure through the cosmic unveiling of the beautiful and strange macro/micro structures that unite us with the Universe.

Produced as part of the 9th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

A woman looks out across a lake, where each drop of water contains a memory of a pioneer in women’s sports, preserved forever.

Produced as part of the 9th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Grace Fall is about the struggles and joys of trying to perform impossibly well in a circus whose troupe members aren’t really visible, but can certainly be perceived regardless.

Produced as part of the 9th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Director Carrie Haber delves deep into the anxiety, thrill and uncertainty of six aspiring animation artists as they are plunged into the twelve-week trial-by-fire that is the NFB's Hothouse for animation filmmakers.

In this feature-length documentary, 8 Inuit teens with cameras offer a vibrant and contemporary view of life in Canada's North. They also use their newly acquired film skills to confront a broad range of issues, from the widening communication gap between youth and their elders to the loss of their peers to suicide. In Inuktitut with English subtitles.

This documentary tells the story of Joseph Viszmeg, an Edmonton filmmaker who was diagnosed with a rare form of adrenal cancer in 1991. Doctors gave him a year to live, but 4 years later Viszmeg is very much alive. This is his personal account of living with this disease.

In this short animation film, Norman McLaren presents the first 3 of the 5 categories of motion: constant, accelerated and decelerated. Various types of acceleration and deceleration are demonstrated, and examples are shown of how these types of motion may be applied in regard to gesture, gravity and perspective.