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Mythology (12)
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AltöttingAndreas Hykade 2020 11 min“You know, when I was a boy, I fell in love with the Virgin Mary. It happened in a little Bavarian town called Altötting.” Mesmerizing, haunting, and deeply personal, Altötting is a coming-of-age story about love, faith, mortality, and shattered illusions. -
AmmaAkash Jones 2024 1 min“Wash your hands. Turn off the lights. And don’t forget your prayers to Ganesh.” Having fun with comicbook motifs and plasticine, Akash Jones honours the no-nonsense second-generation immigrant mother who raised him, instilling habits that guide him to this day. Stop-motion animation that says, “Love ya Mom.”
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Goddess RememberedDonna Read 1989 54 minThis documentary is a salute to 35,000 years of the goddess-worshipping religions of the ancient past. The film features Merlin Stone, Carol Christ, Luisah Teish and Jean Bolen, all of whom link the loss of goddess-centric societies with today's environmental crisis.
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How Death Came to EarthIshu Patel 1971 14 minA legend from India, interpreted by a filmmaker from that country. It is a story of gods and men, of suns and moons and Earth, interpreted with an animation style and a richness of colour and design as arresting to the eye as the story and the music are to the ear. Sometimes the illustrations are painted on cells, sometimes the figures are cut-outs moving across shining backgrounds, but always the pace is gentle, inevitable.
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IcarusPaul Bochner 1974 7 minThis short animation artfully revisits the Greek myth of Icarus. The son of the master craftsman Daedalus, creator of the Labyrinth, Icarus attempts to escape the island of Crete by means of a pair of wings constructed by his father. Upon receiving these wings, made from feathers and wax, he is told to fly neither too low, where the sea’s dampness would clog his wings, nor too high, where the sun’s heat would melt them -- precious advice the hubristic Icarus tragically won’t heed.
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In the LabyrinthRoman Kroitor , Colin Low , … 1979 21 minA film without commentary in which multiple images, sometimes complementary, sometimes contrasting, draw the viewer through the different stages of a labyrinth. The tone of the film moves from great joy to wrenching sorrow; from stark simplicity to ceremonial pomp. It is life as it is lived by the people of the world, each one, as the film suggests, in a personal labyrinth.
In the Labyrinth was first released as a multi-screen presentation for Chamber III of the Labyrinth at Expo 67. These separate images were integrated into a single strand of film, using a "five-on-one" cinematic technique. -
Lights for GitaMichel Vo 2001 7 minThis animated short, based on the book by Rachna Gilmore, is the story of Gita, an 8-year-old girl who can't wait to celebrate Divali - the Hindu festival of lights - in her new home in Canada. But it's nothing like New Delhi, where she comes from. The weather is cold and grey and a terrible ice storm cuts off the power, ruining her plans for a party. Obviously, a Divali celebration now is impossible. Or is it? As Gita experiences the glittering beauty of the icy streets outside, the traditional festival of lights comes alive in a sparkling new way.
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 Northern LightsAlan Booth 1992 47 minThis feature length documentary examines the phenomenon of the northern lights, aka the aurora borealis. Though scientists have advanced many theories in an attempt to explain it, mysteries still linger. Experience a visual panorama of animated legends and international space launches as indigenous people and scientists offer their perceptions of the wondrous northern lights.
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SyrinxRyan Larkin 1965 2 minBorrowing from classical mythology, this very short film illustrates the story of Syrinx, the nymph who attempts to escape the goat-god Pan’s amorous advances by fleeing to a nearby river for help, only to be transformed into hollow reeds. Syrinx is the first film by Ryan Larkin, an Oscar®-nominated director who began his animation career in Norman McLaren’s student group. The technique employed is charcoal sketches on paper; the accompanying music is Claude Debussy’s “Syrinx” for solo flute.
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Salmon PeopleTony Westman 1976 24 minContrasting ancient myth and modern reality, this short documentary examines the legendary relationship between West Coast Indigenous people and salmon, once their staple food. In the mythical realm, we learn how Raven finds riches in the harvest of the salmon, only to lose everything through a thoughtless act against the Spirit of the Salmon. So too does modern man jeopardize his living from the sea by heedless action. Images of ancient spear-fishing and smoke-houses contrast with images of today's Indigenous people operating a seiner and working in a cooperative cannery.
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Tales of Sand and SnowHyacinthe Combary 2004 48 minIn a quest to rediscover the spiritual values of his own people, an African filmmaker from the Gourmantche tribe of Burkina Faso visits the Atikamekw of Northern Quebec. The resulting documentary is a dialogue between those who divine the future in the sand with those who use snow-encased sweat lodges to reconnect with the spiritual world.
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What the HellValerie Barnhart 2024 8 minDante's Hell, once the epitome of human suffering and punishment, faces an existential crisis: it loses its relevance on 21C Earth. Charlotte, a sharp-witted Harpy, is determined to set the terms of her own fate by breaking free of her employment in Danté's obsolete Inferno. But not before her ex boyfriend Asterion tries to win her back. Can she reach the promise of a future in a New Hell on Earth before Hell crumbles into oblivion? A contemporary love story for the end times, a horror comedy based on the current state of world affairs.
