NFB Celebrates International Animation Day

By Sonya Davidson

Once again this year, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has a wealth of activities planned in celebration of International Animation Day, offering plenty of opportunities to view animated films online and on the big screen.

Beginning on International Animation Day, October 28, and running until November 2, the eighth edition of Get Animated! gives audiences a chance to explore a wide range of animated short films.

Making its online debut on October 29 at NFB.ca, Chris Landreth’s Subconscious Password is a mind-bending romp through a game show of the unconscious—complete with animated celebrity guests—in which “Charles” is paralyzed by his inability to remember a friend’s name. Charles is played by Landreth himself, winner of an Academy Award in 2005 for Ryan and the mentor for the 10th-anniversary edition of Hothouse, the NFB Animation Studio’s program for emerging animators. Subconscious Password received the Cristal Award for Best Short Film at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival and was named best animated short at the Canadian Screen Awards.

Also available online are six shorts directed by the apprentice filmmakers in Hothouse 9, for which Munro Ferguson was the mentoring director. Hothouse 9 plunges into the almost impossible realm of abstract storytelling: films imbued with wonder about the mysterious forces at work within and around us, and which range in technique from 2D animation, to 3D CGI, stop-motion, and more. This online program curated especially for International Animation Day is complemented by a selection of works by past winners of NFB French Program’s Cinéaste recherché(e) competition for emerging filmmakers.

On Tuesday, October 28, at 7 p.m. in Montreal, Cinéma Excentris will also present Animez-Vous 2014, a one-night-only program of recent NFB shorts (all films screened in French).

Montreal: Animez-Vous 2014 lineup

• The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer by Randall Okita (Best Canadian Short Film, TIFF 2014; Best Short Film, Focus Québec/Canada, FNC 2014)

• Bus Story by tali (Junior Jury Prize for a Short Film and Jury Distinction for a Short Film, Annecy 2014)

• No Fish Where to Go by Janice Nadeau and Nicola Lemay (FIPRESCI International Film Critics Prize, Annecy 2014

• Me and My Moulton by Torill Kove (Honourable Mention, Narrative Short, Ottawa 2014) 

• Pilots on the Way Home by Pritt and Olga Pärn (Best Sound, Animage Festival, Recife, Brazil, 2014)

• Home Cooked Music by Mike Maryniuk

• Monsieur Pug by Janet Perlman