Official competition selections include ‘Maybe Elephants’ by Torill Kove, ‘In the Shallows’ by Arash Akhgari and ‘Hairy Legs’ by Andrea Dorfman; 4 NFB shorts included in “What Is It Good For? Experiences Of War in Animation” special screening.
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) returns to OIAF 2024 with 17 productions/co-productions in official selection, including six in competition. This year’s lineup of NFB projects animators from across Canada.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), the largest festival in North America dedicated exclusively to animation, offering screenings, workshops, and entertainment, runs September 25 to 29.
Here’s the NFB’s rundown for Ottawa 2024:
Narrative Short Animation - Official Competition Selection
Maybe Elephants by Torill Kove (Mikrofilm/NFB)
- A playful, loving homage to family, adolescence, and the therapeutic power of memories, however unreliable.
Les gens dans l’armoire (Society of Clothes) by Dahee Jeong (Miyu Productions/Between the Pictures/NFB)
- When morning arrives, a shirt and a pair of pants steps outside the closet, transforming into a human figure.
Non-Narrative Short Animation Competition
In the Shallows by Arash Akhgari (NFB)
- The film, a choreographed merging of hand-made sculptural collages and ink and paint animation, takes viewers on a deep dive into the shallow and fragmented world of news, entertainment ,and ads.
Samaa by Ehsan Gharib (NFB)
- The hand-painted animated short tells the story of a caged bird, yearning to fly, which finds release through the transcendent power of music and movement.
Animation Made for Teen Audiences (13+) Competition
Hairy Legs by Andrea Dorfman (NFB)
- Dorfman’s animated short documents a 13-year-old girl’s small yet life-changing act of rebellion on the road to womanhood and feminism.
- The filmmaker’s decision to not shave her legs led her to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations.
Unblending by Michelle Ku (NFB)
- For people living with structural dissociation, falling asleep can be a challenge—a time when multiple contradictory thoughts conspire to keep you awake. Produced as part of the 14th edition of the Hothouse mentorship program.
Canadian Panorama
Inkwo for When the Starving Return by Amanda Strong (Spotted Fawn Productions/NFB)
- In this stop-motion animated short, Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from a swarm of terrifying creatures.
Le tableau (The Painting) by Michèle Lemieux (NFB, 11 min 56 s)
- Animated on the Alexeïeff-Parker pinscreen, the film revisits the tragic fate of Queen Mariana of Austria and her 1652 portrait by painter Velázquez.
LOCA by Véronique Paquette (NFB)
- A woman finds a path to freedom through the energy of tango.
Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us by Cameron Kletke (NFB)
- The short, created with hand-drawn animation, watercolors, and pastel, takes viewers into a comic battle of wills, an in utero skirmish between twins. Produced through Hothouse 14.
Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying by Natalie Baird and Toby Gillies (NFB)
- The film follows mother, elder, and narrator Edith Almadi’s imagination transcending grief, revealing a vibrant world of art where love endures.
Special Presentation
Graver l’homme: arrêt sur Pierre Hébert (Scratches of Life: The Art of Pierre Hébert) by Loïc Darses (NFB)
- The feature-length documentary by the Quebec writer-director guides viewers through the inspiring, poetic labyrinth that is the life and work of the animation filmmaker.
From the NFB Collection
Presented in Restless Stillness: The Puppet Animations of Ivana and Thomas Vold
- Hedgehog’s Home by Eva Cvijanović (NFB/Bonobostudio)
What Is It Good For? Experiences Of War in Animation
The special screening will include the following four NFB animated shorts:
- The Trenches by Claude Cloutier (NFB)
- Flowing Home by Sandra Desmazières (Les Films de l’Arlequin/NFB)
- Through My Thick Glasses by Pjotr Sapegin (Pravda/NFB)
- My Yiddish Papi by Éléonore Goldberg (Picbois Productions/NFB)
Also, at OIAF:
“Fireside Chat with Annie Awards Nominated Director Torill Kove”
- Kove and ASIFA-Hollywood executive director Aubry Mintz dive into the art form of storytelling within the medium of animation. Kove will also share her journey as a creator at the NFB.
Jeong (Les gens dans l’armoire) serves as a jury member this year in the Feature Competition category.
Source: National Film Board
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
