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Interpersonal Relationships (58)
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Animal BehaviourAlison Snowden & David Fine 2018 14 minDealing with what comes naturally isn’t easy, especially for animals.
In Animal Behaviour, the latest animated short from the Oscar®-winning team of Alison Snowden and David Fine (Bob’s Birthday), five animals meet regularly to discuss their inner angst in a group therapy session led by Dr. Clement, a canine psychotherapist. The group includes Lorraine, a leech who suffers from separation anxiety; Cheryl, a praying mantis who can’t seem to keep a man; Todd, a pig with an eating disorder; Jeffrey, a bird with guilt issues; and Linda, an obsessive-compulsive cat. -
Affairs of the ArtJoanna Quinn 2021 16 minHow many obsessions can one family have? In Joanna Quinn and Les Mills’ Affairs of the Art, we reconnect with Beryl, the working-class heroine who not only reveals her own obsession with drawing but exposes the addictions of her eccentric family, which include pickling, screw threads and pet taxidermy.
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AccordionMichèle Cournoyer 2004 5 minThis animated short explores the connections between sex, love and technology. A woman connects to the Internet. She not only embraces technology but surrenders to it entirely as she sends her entire body and soul to her electronic lover. In this world of Pandora's boxes, sexual desire and dehumanizing machine intertwine till they're finally and brutally disconnected.
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As Night DescendsNadine Gomez 2020 10 minIn conversations with passionate sociologist and political thinker Jean Pichette, the filmmaker views the forced downtime stemming from the current crisis as an opportunity to rethink our modes of existence and our relationship to others, nature, science, the economy, art, politics—in short, everything that makes us human.
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BalloonsJonas Brandao 2007 1 minThis short animation film is about two little men floating into the deep blue sky, tied to balloons. But then each decides the sky belongs to him.
Produced as part of the fourth edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. -
Biology Made Un-easyJames Braithwaite 2007 1 minThis short animation film is a close look at the microscopic world that surrounds us. Within each basic human interaction there is something strange festering under the surface, and we just need a good magnifying glass and a strong stomach to see it.
Produced as part of the fourth edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. -
Bearing Witness: Luke MelchiorDan Curtis 2003 51 minThis feature documentary is a portrait of Luke Melchior (1973-2021) who, at 26, had already lived longer than most people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive wasting of the muscles. Knowing his life would be relatively short had made Luke feel an urgency about making a lasting contribution. Living independently, with the help of 3 homecare workers, he ran a web-based business selling outdoor gear, and chaired the board of the Disability Resource Centre in Victoria, BC, where he was a passionate advocate for the rights of the disabled.
Bearing Witness consists of 3 films, each approximately one hour long, on people with life-threatening illnesses. The series also profiles Jocelyn Morton, who died of liver cancer at 44, and Robert Coley-Donohue, who died of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) at age 74. -
Banquet of the ConcubineHefang Wei 2012 12 minIn the year 746, during the Tang Dynasty, a banquet is given in the Imperial City in honour of Emperor Li’s favourite concubine. An unsatisfied craving, suspected infidelity and fevered imagination lead Yang to bitter excess, which not even the luscious lychee can appease.
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Child, Part 4: Kathy and Ian: Three-Year-OldsRobert Humble 1977 28 minBy the age of three children become aware of themselves as unique. This happens through their continuing interaction with parents, siblings and friends. This film explores these relationships and the resulting development within the child.
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"CONTACT" Requiem for a WordOlivier D. Asselin 2020 7 minAn investigation into how language is changing in the age of COVID-19. The complete upheaval of social relationships today is leading to the reinterpretation of certain terms, which have suddenly taken on a fatal connotation. This film is a funeral mass in memory of the word “contact.”
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Dark IntentMireille Dansereau 2000 51 minA poetic meditation by a man and a woman whose teenage son has threatened to end his lifee. What drives someone to that terrible extreme? In an effort to understand and demystify the phenomenon of suicide, the two parents search for answers within themselves. Their personal reflection is intercut with dramatic sequences, archival footage, animation, interviews and first-person accounts that look at suicide from an emotional, rational, cultural, social or medical perspective. Mireille Dansereau has made a sobering film that nevertheless expresses an abiding faith in life. In French with English subtitles.
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Dialogue(s)Philippe David Gagné 2016 6 minAir force pilots, a heavy metal band and two fans of modified cars are the unlikely focus of a deadpan film essay on language. Through a clever, unpredictable edit, Philippe David Gagné takes great delight in revealing the strange ways that men communicate.
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The Day Is ListeningFélix Dufour-Laperrière 2013 8 minThis short animation is set to the words of poet Hélène Dorion. In the film, a man and a woman's love for each other rivals only their affection for the written word. Literature accompanies the murmur of their lives and the harmony of their feelings. Filmmaker Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s imagery parallels Dorion’s words to articulate the familiar cycles of longing, loss, and desire.
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EdgeCode: Sayonara Super 8Pia Yona Massie 2006 5 minPia Yona Massie's Sayonara Super 8 uses personal archival footage to ask questions about the fragile nature of memory, human relationships and the foibles of the medium itself.
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Everest from WithinSylvie Van Brabant & Claude-André Nadon 2001 52 minThis feature-length documentary retraces the journey of 4 Canadians who set off to climb the perilous north side of Mount Everest without the use of oxygen or sherpas. The group's ordeal gives us a rare insight into the human condition under stress, and, while immobilized on the edge of the mountain by extreme weather, we share the tensions that afflict the group's solidarity - threatening the dream of attaining the summit itself.
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Each Day That ComesGraham Parker 1966 27 minA glimpse into the nature of loneliness. Frances Hyland plays the part of a small-town girl who enjoys position and respect in her community as the owner of a successful dress shop, but who wonders if marriage might not have been a better choice. Disturbed by thoughts of what might have been, she resolves to live each day as it comes.
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EmbracedJustine Vuylsteker 2018 5 minStanding before an open window, a woman gazes at black clouds darkening the horizon. She loves two men—the one who shares her present, and the one who marked her past. Frozen, she struggles against surging memories evoked by objects, the sky—everything. In the clouds, a passionately intertwined couple appears.
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Fire-Jo-BallAudrey Nantel-Gagnon 2023 16 minJo-Ann, a 57-year-old bartender, dreams of becoming a singer and actress. Oscillating between spectacular and intimate, between extra and ordinary, Jo-Ann infuses her daily life (and the film) with true main-character energy. At the crossroads of genres, Fire-Jo-Ball paints the portrait of a woman who loves all things rosy even, if her life isn’t always so.
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FlawedAndrea Dorfman 2010 12 minFlawed is nothing less than a beautiful gift from Andrea Dorfman's vivid imagination, a charming little film about very big ideas. Dorfman has the uncanny ability to transform the intensely personal into the wisely universal. She deftly traces her encounter with a potential romantic partner, questioning her attraction and the uneasy possibility of love. But, ultimately, Flawed is less about whether girl can get along with boy than whether girl can accept herself, imperfections and all.
This film is both an exquisite tribute to the art of animation and a loving homage to storyboarding, a time-honoured way of rendering scenes while pointing the way to the dramatic arc of the tale. -
Feeling of HostilityRobert Anderson 1948 31 minDramatizes the factors producing resentment and hostility in personal relationships. In the story of Clare we see how the death of her father and the later remarriage of her mother discouraged her from seeking affectional relationships with others. Although successful at college and in her business career, she feels the lack of fellowship and understanding. The factors behind this emotional inadequacy are reviewed by a psychiatrist.
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Ghosts of the SeaVirginia Tangvald 2024 1 h 37 minWhile searching for clues about the death of her brother, who was lost at sea, Virginia Tangvald embarks on a fascinating investigation into her family’s dark secrets. Calling into question the idyllic life of her father, legendary sailor Peter Tangvald, her quest dismantles the myth of absolute freedom and offers the hope that a toxic cycle has been broken.
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How To Be At HomeAndrea Dorfman 2020 4 minLean into loneliness — and know you’re not alone in it. Filmmaker Andrea Dorfman reunites with poet Tanya Davis to craft tender and profound animation on the theme of isolation, providing a wise and soaringly lyrical sequel to their viral hit How to Be Alone.
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Ježeva kuća/ Hedgehog's Home (with English Subtitles)Eva Cvijanovic 2017 10 minBased on the story by Branko Ćopić, this animated short tells the tale of a hedgehog living in a lush and lively forest. He is respected and envied by the other animals. However, Hedgehog’s devotion to his home annoys a quartet of insatiable beasts. Together, they march off towards Hedgehog’s home and spark a tense and prickly standoff. (Serbo-croatian with English Subtitles)
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Hedgehog's HomeEva Cvijanovic 2017 10 minIn a lush and lively forest lives a hedgehog. He is respected and envied by the other animals. However, Hedgehog’s unwavering devotion to his home annoys a quartet of insatiable beasts. Together, they march off towards Hedgehog’s home and spark a tense and prickly standoff.
Exquisitely directed by Eva Cvijanović and based on the classic story by Branko Ćopić, a writer from the former Yugoslavia, Hedgehog’s Home is a warm and universal tale for young and old that reminds us there truly is no place like home. -
I'm OKElizabeth Hobbs 2018 6 minFollowing the end of a stormy love affair, Expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka enlists in the First World War. After suffering serious injuries in battle, he experiences a series of memories and visions as medics transport him through the forests of the Russian front. Playful and imaginative, I’m OK explores the wounds of heartbreak and trauma.
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I Am Syd StoneDenis Thériault 2020 1 h 21 minWhile shooting a film in a small town, a famous actor puts his personal life and career in jeopardy by starting an intense affair with another man.
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John and MichaelShira Avni 2004 10 minThis animated short pays tribute to two men with Down syndrome who shared an intimate and profoundly loving relationship that deeply affected the filmmaker. Narrator Brian Davis brings the characters to life with great sensitivity.
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Jump, DarlingPhil Connell 2019 1 h 30 min
A rookie drag queen, reeling from a break-up, escapes to the country where he finds his grandmother in steep decline, yet desperate to avoid the local nursing home.
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Ludovic - Magic in the AirCo Hoedeman 2002 12 minIt's autumn in all its glory and Ludovic is playing in the park. A bigger teddy bear knocks him down, and the little cub is rescued by a little girl teddy bear. Her kind gesture teaches Ludovic that the magic of friendship can help him face the fiercest bully.
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LOCAVéronique Paquette 2024 5 minThrough the energy of tango, a woman finds a path to freedom. A mesmerizing visual performance created with waves of ink and black-and-white geometric shapes.
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A Love That KillsAnnie O'Donoghue 1999 19 minA Love That Kills is a powerful documentary that tells the tragic story of Monica, a nineteen-year-old woman who was murdered by her former boyfriend. Monica's mother speaks passionately throughout the video, bravely telling viewers about her daughter's life and tragic death. She describes the helplessness she felt watching the emotional and economic abuse. She later discovered that physical battering was also part of the violence that Monica endured. In a parallel conversation, young people list the symptoms of partner abuse from male and female points of view. A Love That Kills helps to identify the warning signs of partner abuse, especially in young people, and the damage it causes emotionally and physically.
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Living TogetherHalima Elkhatabi 2024 1 h 15 minIn a series of captivating encounters, several young people try to find the ideal roommate, that rare gem with whom they can share their space—and their values. A complex and engaging picture of a generation accustomed to playing all their identity cards, Living Together maps a mosaic of cultures and ideas, with explorations of community, individualism and the right to housing in constant interplay.
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Le grand serpent du MondeYves Dion 1998 1 h 38 minThis feature drama tells the story of Tom Paradise, a young 40-something refusing to grow up. Behind the wheel of his bus, he drives endlessly through the city dreaming of the landscape of the American West that forever impressed him. In love with freedom and Jack Kerouac's On the Road, he resists all the sensible people who try to persuade him to settle down. For Tom has only one idea in his head: to once again head south, riding the waves of love and fate.
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Love in QuarantineMillefiore Clarkes 2020 10 minWhen COVID protocols impose restrictions on human interaction, Millefiore Clarkes seizes the opportunity to reflect on the nature of love itself, juxtaposing her own existential quest with those of a teenager grappling with identity and self-worth in a time of social distancing, and a woman who finds surprising new romance despite pandemic isolation.
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Multiple Choices - Loves Me Loves Me NotAlison Burns 1995 17 minWhat's love got to do with it? Not only has the importance we place on romantic love changed through the centuries, betrothal customs and rituals differ from culture to culture and between men and women. The participants discuss fidelity, monogamy, polygamy, arranged marriages, love and lust and how love has figured in their relationships.
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Multiple Choices - Picture PerfectAlison Burns 1995 12 minIt's never easy reconciling fairy tales to reality, especially when the reality is, to say the least, complicated. You know things are tough when young people don't expect a good relationship, let alone a perfect one, because as one young woman puts it, "all good things must come to an end." Participants discuss their expectations of marriage, homosexual relationships, and how the changing roles (and role models) of men and women have affected marital responsibilities.
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MichellePedro Pires & Robert Lepage 2014 31 minIn this short film, our protagonist Michelle suffers from schizophrenia and has just come out of a psychiatric institution. Finding refuge in the Quebec bookstore where she works, this tortured poet seems almost serene. But no one knows what she sees and hears when she lets her gaze drift. The ghosts, the self-inflicted wounds, the paranoia: they still weigh on her. When a student wanders into the bookstore, Michelle rediscovers her love of creating with words. Through this chance meeting of two completely different people, Michelle gradually finds her way out of the darkness.
This short film is part of Triptych, a contemporary urban saga based on Robert Lepage's epic theatre piece Lipsynch. -
Mistral SpatialMarc-Antoine Lemire 2022 1 h 42 minThe evening of his break-up with Cath, Sam is victim of an inexplicable phenomenon where he loses consciousness for few hours later. Could his heartbreak be related to the hypothesis of an alien abduction?
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A Mother ApartLaurie Townshend 2024 1 h 29 minAn emotionally sweeping tale of healing and forgiveness, A Mother Apart accompanies powerhouse Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin as she re-imagines the essential art of mothering—having been abandoned by her own mother.
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No ProblemCraig Welch 1992 12 minIn this animated short, an aging bachelor is facing yet another lonely, rain-sodden Saturday. His psyche is shot, neurosis is setting in, and he's reached the end of his little black book. If he has any hopes of breaking his cycle of failure, he must first deal with his two alter egos, both intent on orchestrating his failure.
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Notes for a Film About Donna & GailDon Owen 1966 48 minDon Owen’s groundbreaking short drama tells the story of two young women who go to the city to work in a dress factory, and who share a room to ease their expenses and their loneliness. The film shows the currents that brought them together and the facets of their natures that first made them seem compatible but eventually drove them apart. Their story reflects, to a degree, the situation of anyone who has ever shared the life of another.
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Our Maternal HomeJanine Windolph 2023 27 minFilmmaker and educator Janine Windolph ventures from Saskatchewan to Quebec with her two teens and younger sister, tracing their familial origins to the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi. Against the scenic backdrop of these Traditional Lands, Elders offer newfound interdependence and hands-on learning, transforming this humble visit into a sensory-filled expression of reclamation and resilience. Our Maternal Home lovingly establishes a heart-centred form of resistance to confront and heal from the generational impacts of cultural disconnection, making space for what comes next.
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The Physics of SorrowTheodore Ushev 2019 27 minThe Physics of Sorrow tracks an unknown man’s life as he sifts through memories of his youth in Bulgaria through to his increasingly rootless and melancholic adulthood in Canada.
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Pumpkins and Old LaceJuliette Loubières 2010 8 minThis short animation tells the story of a photographer who’s hunting the perfect “Granny or Grandpa” poster face for an adult diaper company. Camera in hand, he approaches a retirement home. A quick look at a couple of “nice old folks” and that should do it! But it’s just the beginning of the story… or stories, rather. While the folks he meets are a bit long in the tooth, they all have lots to say.
With Pumpkins and Old Lace, Juliette Loubières joins the classic tradition of puppet animation films, creating a sincere, whimsical morality tale that reminds us that old age can sometimes be a mask hiding the treasures of our souls. -
RomanceGeorges Schwizgebel 2011 7 minWhile on an airplane, a traveller's spirit plunges into a dream world. Here, under the influence of the unknown, the logic of his desires prevails, and a romantic saga takes shape. This animated film by Georges Schwizgebel masterfully transports us into a swirling world. Set to the twists and turns of a Rachmaninoff scherzo, Romance exuberantly marries music and movement, erasing the boundary between dreams and reality.
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Reflections on Practice: Relationship BuildingNettie Wild 2007 1 minStreet nurse Janine Stevenson talks about how to show respect and build trust on the street.
*Watch the complete documentary.
*View all 10 educational playlists.
*Explore the Teacher's Guide for this chapter. -
StigmaStanley Jackson 1958 19 minThis film tells the story of a young woman who suffers a mental breakdown, recovers fully in a mental hospital and returns home. Instead of the understanding and support she most needs from her friends and associates, she is virtually ostracized. The film makes a plea for a change in the sort of public thinking that places a stigma upon people who have suffered from an illness of the mind rather than of the body.
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SubserviencePatrick Bouchard 2007 8 minIn this animated short, the selfishness of the bourgeoisie and the oppression and exploitation of its servants take centre stage as a puppet show presents the tragicomedy of a society in its death throes.
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She and IMarie-Pier Ottawa 2008 6 minThis short film is inspired by a stormy same-sex relationship in the Manawan community of the Atikamekw Nation, which led to a suicide. Since 2004, Wapikoni Mobile has been giving Indigenous youth the opportunity to speak out using video and music. This short film was made with the guidance of the traveling Wapikoni Mobile studios and is part of the 2007 Selection—Wapikoni Mobile DVD.
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Saturday NightRosana Matecki 2021 15 minA short documentary essay on solitude, filmed in Spanish and narrated by filmmaker Rosana Matecki, Saturday Night offers a poetic and bittersweet snapshot of aging in an urban setting, viewed through the lens of dance. An immersive soundscape and a delicate tempo set the mood for this intimate exploration of resilience and nostalgia.
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TruthHubert Davis 2007 2 minIn this short film Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Hubert Davis gets to the harsh truth of why a couple broke up. Part of the mobiDOCS: Confessions in a Digital Age series.
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Tales of Ordinary FatphobiaJosiane Blanc 2019 24 minWhat is fatphobia and what can be done to overcome it? With poetic illustrations and painful, compelling testimony, Tales of Ordinary Fatphobia offers multiple examples of the psychological effects of weight-based discrimination and bullying on adolescent girls.
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Two ApplesBahram Javahery 2022 9 minWhen a young woman leaves her homeland in search of a better future, she brings with her a single memento from her past: a ripe apple studded with fragrant cloves. A true labour of love, Bahram Javahery’s animated film is infused with longing and the tender perfume of hope.
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Two SistersCaroline Leaf 1991 10 minThis animated short, etched directly onto tinted 70 mm film, depicts the story of two sisters: Viola, who writes novels in a dark room, and Marie, her only companion. Disfigured, Viola counts on her sister to take care of her and shelter her from the outside world. But when an unexpected stranger turns up on their front door, the sisters' quiet lives are disrupted and their routine turns to chaos.
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ThomasPedro Pires & Robert Lepage 2014 29 minThis short fiction is part of Robert Lepage's three-piece cinematic work Triptych, itself an adaptation of Lepage's own epic nine-hour theatre play. Like his namesake in Caravaggio's iconic painting, Thomas is doubtful of everything: his marriage, his profession, and even the city where he lives. Marie, a jazz singer from Montreal, is devastated by the news that she must undergo brain surgery and finds herself desperately in search of comfort.
Bathed in dreamlight, London is the half-fantasized, half-real backdrop for the improbable but fateful meeting of these two troubled souls. Beneath Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco and on the chilly docks of the Thames, the singer and the brain surgeon seek, find and then lose each other in this existential urban fable.
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Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the DaysRegina Pessoa 2019 13 minUncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days is about the special relationship between Regina Pessoa and her uncle. The film is a testament to her love for this eccentric, who was an artistic inspiration and played a key role in her becoming a filmmaker. A moving tribute to a poet of the everyday.
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The Weatherman and the ShadowboxerRandall Lloyd Okita 2014 9 minThis short animation presents the haunting story of two brothers who share the scars, though not the memories, of an untold history that has driven them to existential extremes. Combining high-speed camerawork, striking art direction and intricate animation sequences, acclaimed visual artist and filmmaker Randall Lloyd Okita crafts a poetic elegy to connectedness and survival.
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YUL 871Jacques Godbout 1966 1 h 10 minIn this feature film, an engineer from Paris flies to Montreal (on Air Canada Flight YUL 871), partly on business, partly in search of parents displaced by World War II, and partly because of the prevailing restlessness of the age. He achieves little that is conclusive, but in the short time between his arrival and departure he has a love affair, enjoys a flight over Montreal and the Expo pavillions, and is adopted by a little girl.
