Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis' short film, WHEN THE DAY BREAKS (The
National Film Board of Canada), won the Palme d'Or at the recently
concluded 52nd Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France. It
took four years for Forbis and Tilby to finish the softly colored,
wordless, but musical, story of a pig whose world shifts after a car
accident kills a stranger (a chicken) on her block. Forbis and Tilby began
the production of "When the Day Breaks" by shooting High-8 video of the
action using real people. Forbis put on a cardboard chicken beak, and Tilby
shot it! Then the footage was divided into individual frames and
photocopied. The two filmmakers penciled and colored each image, turning
people into pigs and chickens. The only other animated film in this year's
short film competition, which groups animated and live-action films
together, was Don Hertzfeld's comedy "Billy's Balloon."