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World Literature (15)
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Alias Will JamesJacques Godbout 1988 1 h 23 minThis feature-length documentary tells the incredible story of Ernest Dufault, a.k.a. Will James, a French-Canadian man who became one of the most legendary cowboys of the American West. For over 30 years, as he went from cattle rustler to ex-convict, he managed to keep his secret. And when he took up the pen, he became a Hollywood legend. Watch this compelling exploration of the powerful attraction the West still holds for young adventurers. -
The ErlKingBen Zelkowicz 2002 5 minThis animated short is a visual representation of Goethe's poem, The ErlKing that uses sand-on-glass animation set to the music of Franz Schubert. The moving images, resembling woodcuts, capture the haunting, nightmarish quality of the tale of the ErlKing who steals and kills a little boy.
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The Family That Dwelt ApartYvon Mallette 1973 7 minIn this short animation, adapted from E.B. White's tall tale, we meet a family of seven who live happily in isolation on a small island in Barnetuck Bay. Somehow, word gets out that they are in distress and an ill-conceived rescue attempt makes for some unexpected adventures.
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Harry in WonderlandBarbara Willis-Sweete 1990 28 minThis portrait of Canadian composer Harry Freedman shows his creative imagination at work and how he puts it into practical application in the composition and production of a major new work--Fragments of Alice--a musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
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Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to LifeChris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski 2010 23 minOnce Jennie had everything. The terrier had two food bowls, two pillows, and for cold weather, a red wool sweater. She even had a master who loved her. But Jennie didn't care. In the middle of the night she packed everything she had in a black leather bag with gold buckles and looked out of her favourite window for the last time...
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life follows Jennie's suspenseful and unexpectedly moving journey to gain new experiences and realize her dream of becoming the star of the World Mother Goose Theatre.
The National Film Board of Canada and Warner Home Video present this live-action/animated adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book from filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Oscar® nominee and Genie Award winner for Madame Tutli-Putli), featuring the voices of Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker.
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Jack Kerouac's Road - A Franco-American OdysseyHerménégilde Chiasson 1989 54 minPart documentary, part drama, this film presents the life and work of Jack Kerouac, an American writer with Québec roots who became one of the most important spokesmen for his generation. Intercut with archival footage, photographs and interviews, this film takes apart the heroic myth and even returns to the childhood of the author whose life and work contributed greatly to the cultural, sexual and social revolution of the 1960s.
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L'homme sans ombreGeorges Schwizgebel 2004 9 minWhy bother dragging around one's shadow? A man agrees to a pact with a magician and swaps his shadow for riches. He soon discovers that the absence of a shadow can be a humiliating handicap. After fleeing to the far corners of the earth, he ends up in Bali, in a theatre of shadow puppets, where he discovers the true worth of shadows.
Swiss filmmaker Georges Schwizgebel animates this adaptation of Adelbert von Chamisso's The Strange Story of Peter Schlemil (1814), a fantastic tale inspired by Goethe's Faust. His film L'homme sans ombre is a reflection upon human nature and an allegory celebrating the magic of performance. Virtuoso Georges Schwizgebel's images are wonderfully mobile and textured, his composition formally elegant. (Each cel is freshly repainted with the characters and settings.) He is a master conjurer whose images become a bewitching choreography. The animator's eye guides the painter's hand, and vice versa. A film without words. -
The Lost Town of SwitezKamil Polak 2010 19 minIn 19th-century Poland, a traveller loses his way in the forest one stormy night. He witnesses the last days of a medieval town under attack by ruthless warriors. The grandiose tale of The Lost Town of Switez is carried along by the music of Irina Bogdanovitch. Kamil Polak has used advanced computer-assisted animation techniques to create a rich visual universe inspired by religious iconography and Polish romantic painting. The film was screened at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival.
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Listening for Something... Adrienne Rich and Dionne Brand in ConversationDionne Brand 1996 55 minThe nation, the country, where do we belong in it? In this film through conversation and poetry two poets meet for the telling and the listening. Adrienne Rich is a distinguished American feminist poet, and author of numerous books of prose, poetry, essays and speeches. Dionne Brand is a Trinidadian-Canadian femininst poet, writer and filmmaker. Incisive and inquisitive, the two women meet to discuss the world as they each see it. Claiming any subject, they talk about events as they see them, analytic, contemplative, honest and open ended. Topics include political issues, feminism, racism and lesbianism, among others. The viewer is invited into the exchange by the familiar images of two women talking intimately around a kitchen table, in corridors, or casually outdoors in the United States, Tobago and Canada. Shot in black and white and in colour, the conversation takes us over the territories of their poetry.
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The Metamorphosis of Mr. SamsaCaroline Leaf 1977 9 minA film based on Franz Kafka's short story The Metamorphosis, the story is told through the animation of beach sand on a piece of glass. An imaginative sound track and innovative artwork combine to recreate a Kafkaesque world of alienation and guilt. Sound film without words.
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My MacondoDan Weldon 1990 1 h 1 minInspired by the people and landscape of Colombia's Banana Zone, Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez created the Buendia family and the village of Macondo, placing them at the centre of his acclaimed novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Among the events described in Marquez' novel is the 1928 Banana Strike and the subsequent murder of 3 000 banana workers by the Colombian Army. My Macondo sets out in search of Marquez' legendary village and the truth behind that incident. Is the fictional village of Macondo a real place with a real history? Did the slaughter of the strikers actually take place? In trying to answer these questions, My Macondo explores the nature of history and myth, and poses questions about fiction and truth.
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Mind Me Good Now!Chris Cormier & Derek Cummings 2005 8 minIn this animated short 2 children, Tina and Dalby, disobey their mama with almost tragic consequences. Having strayed away from home, they run afoul of a local "cocoya," a wicked spirit that loves to eat little boys! But through Tina's resourcefulness and cunning, the cocoya is vanquished and the children run back to mama's forgiving arms.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
The Magic of AnansiJamie Mason 2001 6 minThis animated short tells the story of Anansi, a little spider who is tired of being snubbed by other the jungle animals, especially Mr. Tiger. As Anansi plots and schemes to change things, he realizes he can't gain respect by putting others down.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
Top PriorityIshu Patel 1981 9 minSet in an unspecified Third World country, this animated film, based on a short story by Enver Carim, suggests that "top priority" means different things to governments and to the governed. A drought-stricken family maintains a long and desperate vigil for a cloud of dust on the horizon signalling the arrival of irrigation pipes and pump. They are rewarded with a military convoy instead. Its top priority is a border war with a neighboring state, not pipes for the life-saving water the family must have.
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Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm LowryDonald Brittain & John Kramer 1976 1 h 39 minThis feature-length documentary focuses on Malcolm Lowry, author of one of the major novels of the 20th century, Under the Volcano. But while Lowry fought a winning battle with words, he lost his battle with alcohol. Shot on location in four countries, the film combines photographs, readings by Richard Burton from the novel and interviews with the people who loved and hated Lowry, to create a vivid portrait of the man.
