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A lonely old lady sits in an empty room knitting. As her thoughts wander, her dreams take the shape of fanciful knitted creatures and objects that cocoon her in a pattern of wonder and comfort. This film was made as part of the 5th edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

This Oscar-nominated animated short tells the story of a dapper young remittance man who is sent from England to Alberta to attempt ranching in 1909.

Award winning animated short film.

Set in 1830’s Europe, follow the story of 11-year-old Ingrid; a young girl forced to fend for herself in a ravaged city overrun by fearsome beasts from another world.

A young princess and the admiral of her father's navy are in love, but an evil sorcerer separates them while trying to take over the kingdom using dark magic from the blood crystal.

Shannon Amen unearths the passionate and pained expressions of a young woman overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety as she struggles to reconcile her sexual identity with her religious faith. A loving elegy to a friend lost to suicide.

Through stop-motion animation, drawings and interviews, directors Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan recreate an astonishing true story from the First Palestinian Intifada: the Israeli army’s pursuit of eighteen cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared "a threat to the national security of the state of Israel."

Norman McLaren attempts to give the opening speech for the first Montreal International Film Festival, but his microphone won't cooperate.

A girl finds herself kidnapped by foxes. Animated.

The sudden approach of a giant meteorite to Earth gives Tintin nightmares of death. Luckily, it lands in the Arctic Sea. Then, Tintin is appointed press delegate aboard Captain Haddock's ship Aurora, along with an international expedition to find it.

A short animation about a boy who sees an iceberg coming. Will he be in time to warn the captain?

Animated Student Short Film By Xierra Also Known As XrayAlphaCharlie

A multi–layered story of an accumulation of encounters between black clouds. This film was made as part of the fourth edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

A walking sign, fed up with his job, dreams to dance.

Three aliens from an unknown planet, who bear a strong resemblance to the Biblical Magi, visit earth to know the true meaning of Christmas. Peter, a young boy, and Lucy, his goose, are the first to encounter them. Unable to find the true meaning of Christmas in town, Peter takes them to his family's house in the woods. While Peter's grandmother tells the aliens about her memories of Christmas, Marvin, one of the town's bullies, steals Lucy. In the chase to rescue Lucy, Marvin falls through the ice in a lake. Peter attempts to rescue him but falls into the lake as well. The townsfolk, who were out searching for the aliens, attempt to save the boys but their human chain isn't long enough to reach them. The three aliens, who had sworn not to interfere with events on earth, decide to help in order to learn the meaning of Christmas.

When a man becomes blind, his life is all turned around. He can only use his touch to get around in his house. The objects become enemies. But an angel is looking over him.

Three books: a film festival catalogue, a dictionary, the Bible. Three works whose materiality has become obsolete by the digital dematerialization. A commentary on the fragility of culture.

Alex Anna’s body is a canvas: her scars come to life to tell a new story of self-harming.

In this animated short, a woman, taking on her lover's fantasies, adorns herself in her finest feathers and assumes a seductive but demeaning role. Caught up in his own game, the man plays on to the bitter end--a cruel game in which love is stripped of its golden glow, leaving only the naked reality of dependency and desperation.

Based on the beloved children's book, this fun-filled animated feature follows a spirited young fruit bat who finds friendship, love and acceptance in the most unexpected places! Brimming with music, laughter, warmth and excitement, Stellaluna is sure to capture your heart. When the adorable fruit bat Stellaluna is separated from her mother, she is adopted by a family of birds, but soon finds that she just can't fit in. Her playmates like to sleep at night; she wants to fly. They whistle and sing; she doesn't even have a beak! But just when it seems like she'll always be an outsider, Stellaluna makes an amazing discovery. Now she'll learn to cherish the things that make her different from everyone else. And she'll see that an open mind and an open heart can lead to the greatest gifts of all.

Inspired by a real-life news item, this animated short paints a pulsating portrait of a mixed-use, working-class neighbourhood where young families cross paths with prostitutes, their interactions leaving unpredictable ripples in the motley fabric of urban life.

A long list of arduous tasks and obstacles pushes a single Mother to her breaking point. Her children must figure out a way to help their mother and find a way to bring their family back together.

While packing up before a move, cartoonist Zviane comes across an old audiocassette that plunges her back into her childhood fantasies and perceptions of the world. Based on a real-life recording, Sweet Childhood is a playful animated short with two narrators—namely, the Zvianes of past and present. Guided by her own voice from 30 years ago, the celebrated author of Les deuxièmes employs a range of techniques to evoke the naïve charm of children’s drawings, giving graphic form to her quirky, youthful narrative. The result is a hilarious short that questions just how “sweet” childhood really is. A slice of everyday life, courtesy of the Comic Strip Chronicles.

An animated short film about an astronaut lost in outer space.

This short animated film presents an allegorical portrait of a society where men have lost their autonomy in the struggle to be recognized by the very society that restricts their freedom.

An ordinary-looking chair refuses to be sat upon.

This animated short is an ode to Louise, a fiercely independent 96-year old inspired by animator Anita Lebeau's grandmother. Speaking in her own voice, Louise takes us through a day in her busy life near the town of Bruxelles, in rural Manitoba. Between coping with garden gophers and reaching cupboards that have grown taller, Louise's plans sometimes miscarry, her sense of humour is foolproof.

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.

An animator dissects his own body, extracting memories, emotions and fears that will nurture his work. As he cuts into his skin, various symbolic objects recalling his past emerge. Reaching the heart, he succeeds in identifying the burden he’s been dying to cast off.

In this spellbinding hand-drawn odyssey by the celebrated Oscar-winning animator Torill Kove, a bustling urban habitat becomes an enchanting web of human connection. Threads explores how fundamental attachment is to the experience of being human.

This short puppet animation gives life to 3 traditional folk songs: The Riddle Song, Who Killed Cock Robin? and The Cooper of Fife.

The Nature of Frédéric Back draws a masterful portrait of an exceptional man. A visual artist and animation filmmaker, he has produced an immense body of work that imparts an essential message. With their luminous poetry, their freshness and emotion, his films are both universal and timeless.

An abstract animated film, using computer and experimental techniques in choreographing quilt motifs and designs to music. A tribute to the unique and long-established art form of patchwork quilting. A film without words.

This film was made out of the capture of a live animation performance presented in Rome in January 2005 by Pierre Hébert and the musician Bob Ostertag. It is based on live action shooting done that same afternoon on the Campo dei Fiori where the philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned by the Inquisition in 1600. A commemorative statue was erected in the 19th century, that somberly dominate the market held everyday on the piazza. The film is about the resurgence of the past in this place where normal daily activities go on imperturbably. The capture of the performance was reworked, shortened and complemented with more studio performances.

Hyo-Ki, a local freelancer familiar with her city's streets, is hired by the police to meet and "seize" members of a human trafficking ring, but things get a little more interesting when her police contact, Alek, shows up unannounced and ill equipped for the night Hyo-Ki has planned.

With dynamic energy captured using India ink on paper, a liberating tango with a stranger enables a woman to reconnect with herself.

Molly’s a creative professional, which of course means she dreams of pursuing her own vision, but is stuck in a dreary commercial job to pay the bills. Things change for her when an endlessly mutable inkblot creature oozes its way into her life. Molly might just be able to follow her bliss — if she and her new friend can dodge the sea-demon and the giant-robot death-rays.

An exploration of intestines

Tintin and his friends travel to the Moon aboard the Syldavian nuclear powered rocket.

A man has to get out of the shower multiple times to pick up the phone.

Season two has reached its end, and everyone is living the big life outside of the show, and some… not so big. All twenty-two contestants gather at the Gemmie Awards for their show's nomination. However, their world comes crashing down when the former host announces a new reality show to replace them. In a desperate attempt to save their fame, all of the contestants (plus a new face) join together in a race to New York City in a bus to beat a team of dirtbags and their leader. All the while, a third show documents their every move. Can they make it in time and stop the world from knowing them as Reality TV has-beens? What does their old host really have planned?

Dirty Donna is a 3-part animated horror/comedy. Circling around a vengeful set of sisters trying to deal with their favourite brand of smokes being permanently discontinued.

A mouse and pig as members of the constabulary on their quest across a variety of print media elements to return a kidnapped egg to its distraught parents.

Having suffered the loss of their plane, three pilots inexplicably find themselves stranded in the middle of the desert. While following the perilous and unpredictable course that will ultimately lead them home, they fall prey to visions and must confront the siren call of their own strange fantasies. With Pilots on the Way Home, Priit and Olga Pärn (Divers in the Rain) have created a new, satirical meditation on male-female relations. The film tackles masculinity and the male psyche with the same pointed sense of the absurd that has marked Priit Pärn's previous films. Pilots on the Way Home is also a journey through time and space, and to the universal sources of artistic eroticism. Olga Pärn is a master of the art of animating sand, giving Priit Pärn's unique line drawings a warm and subtle texture reminiscent of etching. Her work is perfectly matched to the impassioned beats of this tale.

An ode to what can happen when Man plays God.

Three characters share a common traumatic experience when they were born.

In the near future, a technical diver couple, Ina and Claude, join the crew of an underwater drilling station on a mission to stop a cataclysmic oil spill. While working cut off from the world in extreme conditions, the onboard doctor is infected by a parasitic worm. One by one, the crew members are infected by this tapeworm, which exacerbates its host's most extreme impulses, feeding off their endorphins like an emotional vampire.

As Pacworlders excitedly decorate for Berry Day, Pac is saddened about missing his parents as he receives a picture ornament of them from his Aunt Spheria. The teens reminisce of their childhood Berry Day as they enjoy Christmas eggnog. Since Berry Day is one of the happiest days of the year, Betrayus launches a plan to get rid of the day by capturing Santa Pac and his Round Deer and to possess the gifts and Berry Day decorations. All Pac wants for Berry Day is to see his parents Sunny and Zac and is overjoyed when they arrive. But, his parents tell him they want to see the tree of life in the secret location which is forbidden. Are these Pac’s real parents or are they a trick from Betrayus and Dr. Slimestein? Let’s hope Berry Day can be merry after all.

A Seussian tale of friendship, shrews and karma.

This documentary is a portrait of the animator of Le Paysagiste, from his childhood in Eastern Quebec to his career at the NFB. Trained at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Drouin became in some ways the heir to Alexandre Alexeïeff when he began working with the Alexeïeff-Parker pinhole screen in 1974. Recounting his relationship with the filmmaker and inventor, coming back with lucidity and precision on the whole of his own filmography, Jacques Drouin delivers here a precious testimony on creation. Enriched with numerous excerpts and unpublished images from the filmmaker's personal archives, Jacques Drouin en relief is both the adventure of a lifetime and a valuable lesson in cinema.

The spiders Miss Spider and Holley marry and hatch five spiderlings. When one of them, Squirt, discovers a lost chicken egg, he goes on adventure to return it to his mother.

A figure floats in landscapes and spaces without a ground plane. There is only water. The reflected skies are endless and mirrored interiors are doubled in height. This film explores experiences within environments that are recognizable but surreal. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

After a failed armed attack during which she abandons her companions, Hélène flees into the forest and meets Catherine, a mysterious alter ego, a carnivorous and tempting alter ego. This double will take her to a fantastic valley, where metamorphoses, poisonous powers and great upheavals will soon shake up the order of things. Hélène will have to revisit her choices and the moral, political and human dilemmas that circumscribe them.

A poignant story of redemption that takes us into the relationship between a man and a woman trapped in a spiral of mutual destruction after 26 years of marriage, the Spine continues Landreth's pursuit of a twisted, beautiful and highly original visual aesthetic, using digital imagery to create characters whose physical appearances are metaphors for their unique souls.

The West. A prospector is awakened by the sound of music outside his cave to see an animal band and a chorus line of dancing cacti.

A concert pianist prepares to begin his practising for a major concert coming up. Unfortunately, he has this procrastination problem that prevents him from getting any serious time done, even when his frustration with it literally driving him into a frenzy.

An exotic dancer recalls an incident from her childhood where she was physically abused by a male visitor.

Pushing the boundaries of paranormal science, a top secret project captures and dissects inter-dimensional creatures. But their curiosity soon turns to terror when they try to trap a mysterious being with power beyond their understanding.

Jennie the terrier has everything a dog could ever wish for, but still feels that something is missing. She leaves home to discover what that is.

Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama tells the epic journey of the late Japanese Canadian photographer Tamio Wakayama who decides to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the deep south during the 1960’s American civil rights movement. Learning the art of dark room photography along the way, this transformative moment in time allows him to confront his own identity and return ‘home’ to the west coast of Canada to begin a body of photographic work that continues to celebrate, re-present and document the spirit of Japanese Canadians who resided in the former Paueru Gai/Powell Street neighborhoods.