Discover Movies

This short animation presents the haunting story of two brothers who share the scars, though not the memories, of an untold history that has driven them to existential extremes.

A short illustrating Wade Hemsworth's folk song about a woman's admiration for the agility of her boyfriend, the log driver.

A vain and arrogant youth dares to enter Baba Yaga’s living house of bones. What emerges will forever fill our nights with terror.

This film explores the distant relationship between an elderly amateur musician, the woman who lives in the apartment above him, and the leaky bathtub that is bothering them both.

This short animated film features the sandman and the creatures he sculpts out of sand. These lively creatures build a castle and celebrate the completion of their new home, only to be interrupted by an uninvited guest. Cleverly constructed with nuance, the film leaves interpretation open to the viewer. The film took home an Oscar® for Best Animated Short Film.

This animated short co-animated by René Jodoin and Norman McLaren was produced for inclusion in the Let's All Sing Together sing-along series. It illustrates the popular song Alouette, gentille alouette. The technique used is single-frame animation of paper cutouts.

Described as "the jauntiest meat-is-murder movie ever made" and "irrational," "Deadpan" deals with dinner-table angst from the fifties. Laughter is forbidden. Anxiety reigns. Cow tongue is served. What to do?

A child founds a strange ball.

In this short film, a young man, a girl and a dog attempt to fly with wings more symbolic than practical.

This short animated fable stars witches, cloaked riders and other Gothic characters, in a tale about the hungry natural world. Here the artist plays cat's cradle with ideas, especially the notion that one thing leads to another and that lives lead from one to another. Without words but featuring a witch's brew of sounds.

Heirloom is a stop motion journey through a papery land... from lost love to found freedom. Every once in a while I hear a song that stops me in my tracks. This was the case when I heard Heirloom by Kim Harris. It moved to tears. It created a flurry of images in my mind. Two years later, I finally had some time to manifest those images. It's a celebration of Kim's song and also of the power of collaboration because we're so much better together than alone.

Unfolding with the rhythm of the seasons, Winds of Spring tells the tender story of a young girl who, driven by the irrepressible need for self-fulfillment, decides to leave the family nest. Keyu Chen employs her signature style of fluid transitions and fine, spare lines inspired by Chinese ink painting in her delicately crafted first film.

The SPACE KNIGHTS are a group of slightly outdated superheroes who drive Honda accords that when linked together, can transform into a variety of giant robots, from a pterodactyl, to a giant T-Rex, to a saber tooth tiger. They use these and other powers to stop a never ending stream of bizarre creatures and insane villains. The irreverent comedy follows the misshapen adventures of the crime-fighting team who must battle bickering and in-fighting almost as much as the external foes they face.

In the days leading up to Christmas a young girl, Leah Carpenter, moves to a new city with her parents. While at Santa's workshop in the North Pole, Santa Clause is meeting with Shaily, the youngest fairy ever to be asked to help Santa keep track of all the children on the "Naughty and Nice" list. Shaily comes to visit Leah and the two become fast friends and although she knows it is against the rules, Shaily takes Leah into the fairy world where their new friendship is tested and their true adventure begins.

When morning arrives in Society of Clothes, shirts and pants step outside the closet, transforming into living entities. In the world of the film, everyone exists solely as clothes, wandering into the streets bodiless and faceless. But the routine of this strange place is disrupted one day when a human child with flesh and bones appears, turning their everyday existence upside down.

A nonsense song, sung by Burl Ives and given unrestrained interpretation by the cartoonist. Of course, by the time the song ends the old lady has swallowed much more than a fly. Written by Canadian folksinger Alan Mills.

In this short animation, a girl is so carried away by her love of music that she forgets about her household chores. Her father tells her to finish the dishes. Instead of washing them, she turns them into musical instruments, and he finally recognizes her talent. Based on Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this film illustrates children's right to develop their talents and abilities to their fullest potential.

In an era when beavers held dominion over the lands of Quebec, invaders from distant shores made their arrival, enforcing their edict and forbidding all things sugary. Employing their ingenuity, the beavers found themselves compelled to adapt, bequeathing us with a heritage that continues to grace our lives to this day.

Joyously reclaiming "spinsterhood" from its sexist implications, the filmmaker recalls the undauntable great aunt who provided her first driving lesson. Female agency grabs the wheel in a beautifully constructed animated homage.

In this experimental animated short from Renaud Hallée, we travel inside a mysterious mechanism made up entirely of revolving gearwheels, triangles and lines. In this whirling, hypnotic world, dozens of tiny gymnasts leap, somersault and twist through the air. Their spirited acrobatics trigger both narrative and musical sequences that are mesmerizing and, at times, dizzying. Half-figurative and half-abstract, The Clockmakers is a playful creation that is sure to captivate and dazzle its audience.

When her mentor is kidnapped, a young relic hunter must locate an ancient technological artifact known as the Crown of Babylon, rumored to have the power to bring back the dead and possess the living, before a dangerous cult leader uses it to endanger their world.

Set in a decayed urban core, Robota, a homeless robot, wins enough money at the robot cockfighting arena to afford a trip downtown to fulfill her dream.

The body is a magnificent system. But its harmony can be interrupted, sometimes by subversive agents within. Sick uses stop motion to bring to life a knitted body in a fanciful journey through the pulsating organs and dark recesses of the human body. This film was made as part of the 7th edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

When the travelling circus comes to town, Maximiilian Mole meets Margaret Mouse, one of the acrobats, and it's love at first sight. Max is kind of clumsy so he doesn't believe that Margaret will even notice him, but unbeknownst to him, Margaret feels the same way. The circus manager does his best to keep them apart and Max almost gives up. But love is a mysterious thing and when a determined Max overcomes his shy nature and sails down a treacherous river, not even fate can keep them apart.

This animated film flows through a vibrant underwater landscape, shown at night time. Sound and picture are drawn directly on film - cameraless animation.

From the creators of the huge trading card sensation, Bella Sara, comes this wonderful family adventure that takes viewers on a magical journey to "North of North."

When a young female mouse makes a deal with the devil to become a rock star and learns the price, her boyfriend has to help her avoid damnation.

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.

Tintin and Captain Haddock search for Red Rackham's treasure with the help of an eccentric but lovable professor.

In this animated short, simple geometric forms as thin and flat as playing cards constantly form and re-form to the sound of the koto, a 13-stringed Japanese instrument.

Dog attempts to sleep in the hills of Laval, Québec, Canada.

This is a fable about a woman’s right to choose her husband: it tells the story of a princess, who has several suitors. She puts them to the test, and finally chooses the one who has demonstrated the finest moral qualities.

During the ice storm that hit Quebec in 1998, the inhabitants of the region known at the time as the Triangle of darkness, experienced an unprecedented power outage. In the depths of winter, the absence of heating quickly gave way to mutual aid and human warmth, suggesting that in Quebec, loneliness could be more dangerous than the cold. The film sketches the portrait of a woman and an old man whose precariousness usually remains invisible, but which the crisis situation reveals. Triangle of Darkness tells the story of how the woman tries to reproduce the human warmth that has so much marked the collective imagination of disaster victims.

A demented parody of the Canadian government.

This animated short challenges enduring myths, spawned by fairy tales and romances, about women in medieval society. It explores the differences and similarities between that distant period and our own, and shows what medieval women’s lives were really like.

This short probes the taboos around a very particular second-hand trauma, leading us to a more universal understanding of human experience.

A little banjo-picking monster is trying to find her way at a signpost by the railway tracks. She sets out and finds what she is looking for in a rather surprising way. This film was made as part of the fourth edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

Working in sublime self-isolation during the strange pandemic spring of 2020, avant-garde filmmaker Mike Maryniuk composes a surreal ode to rebirth and reinvention. Juxtaposing archival imagery with handcrafted animation, he conjures up a shimmering utopian dreamscape, a post-COVID world shaped by the primordial forces of nature—haunted by the genial spectre of Buster Keaton.

World-renowned animated filmmaker Frédéric Back has devoted his unique talent to a cause that is central to his life and more topical than ever: a profound respect for nature coupled with a keen sense of humanity's responsibility toward the environment. Abracadabra (9 min., 1971). Inon, ou, La conquête du feu (10 min., 1972). La création des oiseaux (10 min., 1973). Illusion? (11 min., 1976) Taratata! (9 min., 1977) Suppléments

Squares and other geometric shapes appear to "dance" along to music through their ever-changing movements.

Working, as in other films, with relatively simple materials and a contemplative stance, Ratté begins by exploring the flickering movement of light and its distortion as it is translated into the digital realm, using chromatic excess as a means to corrupt her sources' integrity. These somewhat inform images of natural events slowly morph into geometric grids with which moving human silhouettes are later juxtaposed before we are finally sent back to the abstract shapes that opened the film, now harmonised with these colour-looms and figurative forms.

A young woman leaves the comfort of her small rural community to pursue opportunities in a big Canadian city. She encounters obstacles that almost force her to return home, but she eventually picks up the skills to adjust to the city.

Ms. Frizzle’s cousin, a pop star, performs worldwide on New Year’s Eve and the class has been invited backstage. When the Bus undergoes a software update during the tour, it starts to glitch and malfunction.

During Christmastime, a bum discovers a magical box.

This film promotes, in the best K-Tel tradition, a new device used to speak French.

A solitary man works in a tall office building. The only moment in his drab life that's out of the ordinary each year seems to be opening the birthday card and gift from his mother. Usually it's a tie, but one year it's an accordion. It goes into the closet with his many ties. A year or two later, he discovers what happens to the papers he processes every day. His discovery sends him first to the building's top floor, then to his closet.

The Formation of Clouds follows the steps of a young girl in the midst of transformation, clearly delineating that odd moment when one is no longer a child, exactly, but not yet an adult either.

An ice crystal from a frosty realm is freezing everything in the Rainbow Kingdom, its citizens too! Can True save Winter Wishfest -- and her friends?

Dan has a gaping hole in his neck that won't heal. Why? He can't remember, nor talk about it. Back in the sinister arena of his childhood, he must find the part of himself he once left behind that prevents him, now an adult, from being whole.

A neurotic man relates his unsuccessful attempt to open a simple savings account at a bank.

A bunch of vain TV snippets put together in a weird musical way to make you feel something.

"Littoral Zones peaks around the corner of an entryway – looking out over the threshold and seeing a world of crystalline light anticipating our departure. But the room spins with our uncertainty to exit, and with each turn the light in the doorway becomes all the more enticing. The marvelousness of the light compels us to keep turning, but when the video settles on departure we find ourselves confronted with a multitude of paths, each more complex and inviting than the last." - Nicholas O'Brien

The film is based on an interview of John Lennon by Jerry Levitan in 1969. Levitan, then 14 years old, tracked Lennon to his hotel room at Toronto's King Edward Hotel after hearing a rumour that Lennon had been sighted at the Toronto Airport. Jerry made his way into John Lennon's suite and persuaded John to agree to an interview. The animation is based on Levitan's historic 30 minute recording of the interview, which was edited down to 5 minutes.

A girl takes a wild ride on the metro in Montreal. Travelling from station to station, she encounters an array of colourful characters in a bizarre musical journey that’s peppered with hilarious and unexpected incidents. This joyful, heartwarming animated film portrays Montreal in all its vitality, creativity and diversity, with plenty of humour and good cheer, to the tune of Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s timeless hit “Complainte pour Ste-Catherine.”

The fishing girl on her way of recovering her lost beloved fishing boat.

A young prince offers a fruit to the altar of a withered temple when he is faced with the divinity he worships. Ashta is a tale of desire, of spirituality, and of our innate human greed, which only leads to pain and destruction.

In a beautiful mountain village, Santa and his trusty mule sidekick Napo are preparing for yet another busy holiday season. After hearing a large crash come from Santa’s workshop, the mule gallops to the scene, only to find a large mess and an empty cage. When Napo realizes a wicked goblin has escaped and has set out to ruin Christmas, he must giddy-up, saddle up, and save the holidays. Because when it comes to Christmas, there’s no horsing around.

Infamous bikers “The Gold Vipers” are taking over the city. On a pivotal night, Tami uncovers a difficult truth about them.

This animated short tells the story of J.B. Edwards, an Easterner who went west to create a fuel company called Consolidated Dragons. When the supply of dragons starts drying up, the company's profits are sorely affected and a solution has to be found.

Every person is born without conditioning. They are raised and taught who they are and who they should become. They’re expected to fit into an idealized mold of the perfect “boy” or “girl.” What happens when someone doesn’t fit that mold… Through interviews paired and poetic images Formless creates a portrait of the trans body. The film pairs sketched animations with live-action bodies to match and highlight differences in body shapes and to create a contrast between the “ideal” mold of a gendered body and the real bodies that trans and gender non-conforming people live in. It is an honest exploration of dysphoria, euphoria, and the molds that society offers. The body is a deeply personal thing to many trans people and this film explores the unique ways trans people experience their bodies in modern society; the liberation of stepping outside of those molds and the liberation of fitting within them.