Montreal – The talents of National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animators will be on vivid display in the nation’s capital as the 2024 Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) presents 17 NFB productions or co-productions, including six films in official competition.
This year’s lineup of NFB projects at OIAF features works by animators from across Canada. The largest festival in North America dedicated exclusively to animation, offering screenings, workshops and entertainment since 1976, the OIAF will welcome festival-goers from September 25 to 29.
Quick facts – NFB at OIAF
- Six animated shorts are in competition, including the world premiere of Ehsan Gharib’s Samaa.
- NFB productions and co-productions explore a diverse range of personal experiences, touching on powerful themes such as identity, self-discovery and gender.
- Many works have been inspired and informed by a variety of artistic forms, including prose fiction, poetry, children’s literature, music and dance, and the plastic arts.
- This year’s selection also includes the NFB feature documentary Scratches of Life: The Art of Pierre Hébert, capturing the imprint of an extraordinary artist whose career spans six decades, including 35 years with NFB.
NARRATIVE SHORT ANIMATION COMPETITION
Maybe Elephants by Torill Kove (Mikrofilm/NFB, 16 min 43 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/maybe-elephants
- A playful, loving homage to family, adolescence and the therapeutic power of memories, however unreliable, by Oscar-winning animator Torill Kove.
Kove is also the main guest of a Fireside Chat with Annie Awards Nominated Director Torill Kove. Join her and ASIFA-Hollywood executive director Aubry Mintz as they take a deep dive into the art form of storytelling within the medium of animation, as well as Kove’s journey as a creator at the NFB.
Les gens dans l’armoire (Society of Clothes) by Dahee Jeong (Miyu Productions/Between the Pictures/NFB, 15 min 7 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/society-of-clothes
- When morning arrives, a shirt and a pair of pants step outside the closet, transforming into a human figure. Dahee Jeong has earned international recognition, notably at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and the Annecy festival, where she won a Cristal for short films.
Jeong is also a jury member this year, in the Feature Competition category.
NON-NARRATIVE SHORT ANIMATION COMPETITION
In the Shallows by Arash Akhgari (NFB, 4 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/intheshallows
- Through a carefully choreographed collision of hand-made sculptural collages and ink and paint animation, In the Shallows takes us on a deep dive into the shallow and fragmented world of news, entertainment and ads.
Samaa by Ehsan Gharib (NFB, 2 min 27 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/samaa
- A caged bird, yearning to fly, finds release through the transcendent power of music and movement. Revelling in the magic and mechanics of cinema, Ehsan Gharib crafts a striking, hand-painted animated short on the themes of freedom and ecstasy.
ANIMATION MADE FOR TEEN AUDIENCES (13+) COMPETITION
Hairy Legs by Andrea Dorfman (NFB, 16 min 56 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/hairy-legs
- Andrea 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. Deciding not to shave her legs led filmmaker Dorfman to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations.
Unblending by Michelle Ku (NFB, 1 min 38 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/unblending
- 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.