The Animation Pimpcast #16: One on One with Michele Cournoyer

Chris Robinson chats with Canadian animator and 2017 Governor General’s Award recipient, Michèle Cournoyer.

Animation gadfly Chris Robinson sits down with a variety of animation types to fondle their minds through informal chats about animation, life and whatever else they feel like discussing.

In the latest episode of The Animation Pimpcast, Chris Robinson and Michèle Cournoyer sit down during the 2015 Ottawa International Animation Festival for an illuminating discussion about religion, addiction, art, families and her, of course, her films.

Throughout Michèle Cournoyer’s body of work (including her many acclaimed films with the National Film Board of Canada), personal conflict has been the central theme of the award-winning Canadian animator’s films. Using her trademark black ink style and metamorphic choreography, Cournoyer’s surreal, tense and deeply personal films confront relationships, rape (The Hat), aging (Dolorosa), technology (Accordion), war (Robes of War), identity (The Artist), and addiction (Soif) in uncompromising, enlightening, provocative and even occasionally humorous ways that will mystify, unsettle, and inspire audiences. Cournoyer’s films take us to places we often avoid, uncovering a darkness that lurks behind our scared small talk smiles.

Chris Robinson's picture

A well-known figure in the world of independent animation, writer, author & curator Chris Robinson is the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.