Press Release from the National Film Board of Canada
Toronto, April 24, 2009 -- Hang on to your hats: things are going to get a little bumpy at the 48th International Critics' Week (May 14-22) at Cannes. That's because acclaimed Winnipeg animator Cordell Barker -- the man who gave us such animated gems as THE CAT CAME BACK -- is back with RUNAWAY, his latest creation. A train wreck of a movie in the finest and funniest sense of the term, RUNAWAY will have its World Premiere during this prestigious one-week event.
What would happen if the world were a driverless train thundering recklessly over bumpy tracks? With his third short film, RUNAWAY (
www.nfb.ca/runaway ), two-time Oscar nominee Cordell Barker provides a caustic answer to this philosophical question.
Fast-paced, colourful and a joy to watch, RUNAWAY shows us happy passengers having a great time on a crowded train, oblivious to the fate that awaits them around the bend. After a breakdown, a class struggle ensues that is as amusing as it is merciless -- with everyone equal in the end. RUNAWAY takes audiences on a journey that is as funny as it is disastrous, set to the infectious music of Benoit Charest, composer for THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE. This 9-minute short is produced by Derek Mazur out of the NFB Prairie Centre in Winnipeg.
International Critics' Week is a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival that features short films alongside feature works by first- or second-time filmmakers.
