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Poetic Impressions (10)
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A City IsJames Carney 1972 17 minMore than buildings, more than people, a city is a total expression of purpose and aspiration, past and present. This is a multi-image look at the conglomerate city, composed of a whole stream of visual and auditory impressions presented without commentary. Often the screen subdivides--two, three, a dozen images appear at the same time, creating a counterpoint of the turbulence and discord, the harmony and sophistication of the big city. -
Cold FrontsMurray Siple 2010 5 minDirector Murray Siples' love/hate letter to Vancouver weather captures both the mundane and the thrilling experience of living on the West (wet) Coast. The winter rain colours every aspect of city life, but people cope, wielding umbrellas like swords, clutching coats and hats against the constant deluge.
A personal take on one man's experience of the winter, Cold Fronts is a kaleidoscopic view of the collision point between nature and the city. -
CityscapeRyan Larkin 1966 1 minIn this experimental animated short, Ryan Larkin creates a series of figures who move across the screen and disappear into a hole. Eventually, the hole metamorphoses into a bridge, on top of which stands the young man from whom the others figures originated.
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GlimpsesJean-François Pouliot 2010 6 minThis film depicts 24 hours in the life of an imagined city – a composite that draws on all Canadian cities. This imaginary day unfolds through the course of four seasons and reveals the nature of places and the people that make them so vibrant.
The images in the film slowly come together with deft, impressionistic touches. Adopting the rhythm of someone strolling through the city, they intermingle and reply to each other – evoking a different story for each viewer. -
Modern GooseKarsten Wall 2022 22 minAble to navigate by reading the Earth’s magnetic field, at home on land, air and water, geese straddle the territory between ancient instincts and the contemporary world. Combining beauty, humour and profound empathy, director Karsten Wall’s exquisitely observed film essay embeds in the daily life of these iconic animals to reveal a deeper message of continuity and connection.
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OrangeSylvie Trouvé 2009 1 minThis 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. -
The Persistent SeedChristopher Chapman 1964 14 minA film by Christopher Chapman, known for his lyrical films of countryside and wilderness. He turns his colour camera on the growing city and there finds cheering proof that despite concrete and bulldozer, the persistent seed prevails. The film is without commentary and the camera work is a constant delight, for Chapman has the gift of catching life smiling wherever he may look. Film without words.
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ReflectionSylvie Trouvé 2012 4 minReflection 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.
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RainsDavid Coquard-Dassault 2008 7 minAs a sudden downpour lashes the city, all seek shelter. Just for a moment, time expands into immobility. Human activity slows down and almost stops. Some wait in a bus shelter, others are set on going out, if their umbrellas will open. Wiser, the birds just wait out the storm. When the rain stops, the bubble bursts and life goes on. A pencil-drawn animation film.
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ThomasPedro Pires & Robert Lepage 2014 29 minThis short fiction is part of Robert Lepage's three-piece cinematic work Triptych, itself an adaptation of Lepage's own epic nine-hour theatre play. Like his namesake in Caravaggio's iconic painting, Thomas is doubtful of everything: his marriage, his profession, and even the city where he lives. Marie, a jazz singer from Montreal, is devastated by the news that she must undergo brain surgery and finds herself desperately in search of comfort.
Bathed in dreamlight, London is the half-fantasized, half-real backdrop for the improbable but fateful meeting of these two troubled souls. Beneath Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco and on the chilly docks of the Thames, the singer and the brain surgeon seek, find and then lose each other in this existential urban fable.
