Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
That sparkle in Madame Tutli-Putli's eyes results from two wins at Cannes and the top animation prize at the Worldwide Short Film Festival. The 17-minute stunning stop-motion animation returns to Toronto, where it was filmed, offering an exhilarating existential journey. Adrift between real and imagined worlds, Madame Tutli-Putli is drawn into an undertow of mystery and suspense. This powerful film introduces groundbreaking visual techniques and is supported by a haunting and original score. Painstaking care and craftsmanship in form and detail bring to life a fully imagined, tactile world unlike any seen before. This is the first professional film by Montreal-based filmmaking duo Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. Madame Tutli-Putli is produced by Marcy Page. David Verrall is executive producer.
Cédric Louis, Claude Barras
Little bald Léon loves his grandfather's bushy black beard, endowed with magic powers. But Léon's grandmother wants to cut off the unkempt beard and leave just a tidy moustache. Léon and grandpa both agree: as long as grandpa lives, the beard will stay!
A moving fantasy about family love, Sainte-Barbe also offers a tender but irreverent look at death, grief and memory. Claude Barras and Cédric Louis' expressive puppet animation creates a magical world open to the imagination, where little Léon, with his grandfather's unintended help, finds an extraordinary way to grow up. In keeping with the old man's rebellious spirit, Léon ends up with a shock of thick black hair rising straight up in defiance of all the scissors in the world.
Claude Cloutier
Jesse Rosensweet
Jesse Rosensweet follows his jury prize win for short film at Cannes in 2002 (Stone of Folly) with the stop-motion animation Paradise, a metallic, mid-century city whose painted tin denizens buzz happily and obediently. Set in an entirely metal world, the houses, the streets and the people move happily and obediently along slotted tracks -- tin toys in a tin-toy world. Paradise tells the story of a man, John Small (voiced by Dave Foley), whose actions are controlled by fate. Lacking free will, Small looks to a better tomorrow, but fails to find fulfillment in the present. Written and directed by Rosensweet, the film is produced by Steven Hoban and co-produced by Mark Smith. A CopperHeart Entertainment Film ( Ryan), distributed worldwide by the NFB.
Catherine Arcand
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 illustrates the theme of perceptions and is perfectly suited to conveying the dream world into which the film takes us. Without words.
Jonas Brandão
Two little men float freely in the deep blue sky, tied to balloons. But then each decides the sky belongs to him.
Maya Ersan
Have you ever felt like you're walking with a black cloud above your head? This multi–layered film is the story of an accumulation of encounters between such black clouds.
Diego Stoliar
ONE is a minimalist piece of animation about the origin of life.
Dale Hayward
ROY G BIV is a simple film with basic elements combined together, showing a normal thing occur in a point of view, off to the left-hand-side-of-regular approach.
Date Modified: 2007-09-21
National Film Board of Canada Production
© All Rights Reserved, 2008
