Rosalina Di Sario

Miserable Miracle

Directed by Japanese filmmaker Ryo Orikasa, this animated short was inspired by Henri Michaux’s book of poetry and drawings of the same name, about his experiences with mescaline. The film explores the limits of language and perception, creating connections between sound, meaning, shapes and movement.

What Rhymes With Toxic

There’s been another toxic spill. For the city councillor responsible, it’s just a big nuisance, having to endure media scrutiny until the crisis has passed. For the creatures in the lake, however, it’s a catastrophe. One turtle, in her desperate hour, summons up the courage to leave her home and speak truth to power. Turns out there’s more at stake than just the lake. Animated directly under the camera by Lynn Smith using paint and collage, What Rhymes with Toxic is both funny and deadly serious, and a sharp reminder that we are all interconnected.

Bone Mother

A vain and arrogant youth dares to enter Baba Yaga’s living house of bones. What emerges will forever fill our nights with terror.

Manivald

Manivald is a fox in his early 30s. He is still living at home with his mother. One day a young hot wolf called Toomas comes to fix the washing machine. A love triangle develops between the three of them. Things get out of hand and Manivald realizes that it is time to move out.

Hedgehog's Home

In a lush and lively forest lives a hedgehog. He is at once admired, respected and envied by the other animals. However, Hedgehog’s unwavering devotion to his home annoys and mystifies a quartet of insatiable beasts: a cunning fox, an angry wolf, a gluttonous bear and a muddy boar. Together, the haughty brutes march off towards Hedgehog’s home to see just what is so precious about this “castle, shiny and huge.” What they find amazes them and sparks a tense and prickly standoff.

The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer

This 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.

Meltdown

A polar bear must try his luck finding a job in the big city when the last of his Arctic ice environment disappears. It’s hard fitting into the human world, however, so this bear finds a more creative solution to his predicament. This film was made as part of the 8th edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

Land of the Heads

Emile is an unhappy little vampire, doing a job he detests, in a world plunged into perpetual gloom. He serves a despotic mistress who loathes wrinkles, in the most extreme way.

Walk In The Forest

Diane Obomsawin's whimsical animated short follows medicine man Walk-in-the-forest on a walk in the woods that leads to the discovery of an intriguing secret world.

Peggy Baker: Four Phrases

“A primary metaphor for dance is simply transformation,” explains Peggy Baker as her image dissolves into a flurry of loose contour drawings and ink splatters. Built around an intimate interview with the acclaimed Canadian dancer and choreographer, Peggy Baker Four Phrases is an artful animation and documentary hybrid that travels through a variety of techniques to celebrate Baker’s work and legacy.

Balloons

Two little men float into the deep blue sky, tied to balloons. But then each decides the sky belongs to him. This film was made as part of the fourth edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

A Prairie Story

A prairie landscape undergoes a metamorphosis: rural idyll to over-urbanized dystopia. Director Anne Koizumi laments the changing face of her hometown of Calgary in this critique of the bacteria-like spread of suburbia and exurbia. This film was made as part of the third edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

Maq and the Spirit of the Woods

When an elder in the community offers him a small piece of pipestone, Maq carves a little person out of it. Proud of his work, the boy wants to impress his grandfather and journeys through the woods to find him. Along the path Maq meets a curious traveller named Mi’gmwesu. Together they share stories, medicine, laughter and song. Maq begins to care less about making a good impression and more about sharing the knowledge and spirit he's found through his creation. It is only when Maq joins his grandfather that he understands who Mi’gmwesu really is.