Production
This animated short by Theodore Ushev is like a whirlwind tour of Russian constructivist art and is filled with visual references to artists of the era, including Vertov, Stenberg, Rodchenko, Lissitsky and Popova.
Nigeria's film industry, Nollywood, is the third-largest in the world--an unstoppable economic and cultural force that has taken the continent by storm and is now bursting beyond the borders of Africa. "Nollywood Babylon" is a feature documentary detailing the industry's phenomenal success. Propelled by a booming 1970s soundtrack of African underground music, the movie presents an electric vision of a modern African metropolis and a revealing look at the powerhouse that is Nigerian cinema.
Painted directly on glass, Black Soul is an exhilarating immersion into the heart of Black culture—a whirlwind voyage through the defining moments of Black History.
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In this animated short, filmmaker Diane Obomsawin shows how childhood can be a chaotic time, especially if you're bouncing back and forth between two continents. With engaging candour and gentle humour, Obomsawin fleshes out an uncertain identity and takes control of her life. Using drawings on paper and digitized snippets of fabric, she creates a whimsical world of simple lines and pastel tones.
In this non-narrative animated film inspired by composer François Couperin's harpsichord composition "Barricades mystérieuses," Jacques Drouin explores a whole new way of using the pinscreen to create animated images. He pivots the screen and uses low-angled light to capture images in high relief. The result is like a sculpture whose expertly modelled forms are revealed through film. A film without words.
A deep feeling of nostalgia takes hold of Ali following his mother's death, causing him to slowly drift away from family life. Although Gabrielle senses her husband's distress, she fails to console him. In an attempt to reconnect with his roots, Ali travels to Arwad, an island located off the Syrian coast. Leaving Montreal and his family behind, he is accompanied by Marie, his mistress, who is discovering the island for the first time. After an unexpected turn of events, the confrontation between Gabrielle and Marie will become inevitable.
How unbelievably boring is the life of a solitary cowboy living in the middle of a vast prairie, surrounded by stupid chickens clucking and a shapeless bovine! Not surprising then if his temper turns fowl. Based on a strip cartoon by the Swiss writer Ibn Al Rabin, Cot Cot is a hilarious parody of the western, featuring a cowboy at the end of his tether and a cow that's much smarter than she looks.
Short animation from Tali
An elderly man tells his granddaughter his personal story of the Second World War. His life as a child and all the strange characters he populates it with takes the little girl to a bizarre world she doesn't understand.
A haunting tribute for the late Dede Fortin, the frontman of the Quebecois band Les Colocs.
This animated short by Theodore Ushev combines warmth, humour and magic in a story about a young girl who misses her grandmother. When Lili finds a tzaritza (magic shell) along the seashore, she hatches a plan to bring her Grandma from Bulgaria to Montreal to make her father happy.
Exploration of the connections between sex, love and technology.
With its interplay of shadow and light, of paint in movement, BLUE LIKE A GUNSHOT is a work of great visual power. It is also a reflection on our world. In its evocation of the conflict between civilization and nature, the absurd vanity of human warfare contrasts with the harmony of the natural world.
A man exchanges his shadow for wealth, then, disappointed with the result, he has to be content with the seven-league boots, which will help him to find his way.
Who hasn't felt apprehensive at the thought of starting high school? This is the central theme of this short animated film. Playing on imagination and humour, the director offers viewers a thought provoking piece dealing with the transition that young people between the ages of 10 and 13 experience. Inspired by the work of Escher and Magritte, Catherine Arcand has created a graphically rich film through optical illusions and trompe-l'oeil effects. Her style aptly illustra tes the theme of perceptions and is perfectly suited to conveying the dream world into which the film takes us.
A woman plays out her existence on the screen of her life. Alcohol is the essence of her being. She imbibes her youth and becomes completely absorbed by the desire to satisfy her thirst. Moving from parties to binge drinking, pleasure to distress, joy to delirium, she lets herself be lulled by the undulating waves of bottles. She floats in the intoxicating liquid, sees her childhood re-emerge, and feels as if she is a tiny fish lost in an ocean of madness. Her craving for alcohol engenders a burning passion. Drinking becomes a fatal embrace... On the verge of drowning in the torrent of this insane obsession, will she find the strength to rise to the surface?
Propelled by Claude Cloutier’s signature drawing style and absurdist humour, this animated short offers an overview of the evolution of life on Earth from rock to human, with some surprising twists in between.
Billionaire businessman Noel Noel is long on cash but short on social graces; so when he finds himself falling for the fairy Beatrice, he mistakenly thinks he can buy her love with material gifts. It takes a little girl named Zooey, her dog Snooze, and a blue-eyed reindeer to help Noel Noel learn the true meaning of love in this animated Christmas fable that features narration by Leslie Nielson (AIRPLANE, NAKED GUN) and music by French-Canadian songstress Ariane Moffatt.
A man is taken to the doctor's office, but it's not for an ordinary checkup. A huge syringe is thrust into his head. Out of the syringe oozes a sticky yellowish liquid that magically turns into two sinister-looking men. These are the opening images of this chilling animation film, in which two chimney sweeps clear all the memories out of their victim's brain. Fearsome puppets inhabit a world of strange objects. What goes on in a man's head?
