7 animated shorts among newly announced NFB projects in production
The first six months of 2023 saw the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) give the go-ahead to an exciting new film slate of work from established and upcoming artists and directors.
Among the sixteen recently-greenlit productions and co-productions are seven new auteur animated shorts that have commenced production at the NFB and across a number of Canadian studios. The slate also includes nine upcoming, feature-length documentary films, another area of filmmaking that has historically been considered one of the NFB’s strengths.
Information on the animated projects are as follows:
Image: NFB
Bread Will Walk
Director: Alex Boya
Producer: Jelena Popović | Animation & Interactive Studio | 100% NFB
In a world confronted by climate change and food shortages, a mysterious agrochemical corporation produces engineered synthetic bread—which accidentally turns the hungry into slow, non-violent, zombie-like creatures made of loaves of freshly baked bread.
Les gens dans l’armoire
Director: Dahee Jeong
Co-producers: Dahee Jeong (Between the Pictures) and Christine Noël (NFB) | French Animation Studio
In a strange world of people who have clothes but no bodies, the arrival of a little girl made of flesh and blood shakes things up.
Image: NFB
Imprint
Director: Duncan Major
Producer: Maral Mohammadian | Animation & Interactive Studio | 100% NFB
Imprint is an experimental animated short about creativity and loss. It’s inspired by the relationship between filmmaker Duncan Major and his friend and mentor, who passed away, leaving him a collection of rare printing presses.
Image: NFB
Paradajz
Director: Matea Radic
Producer: Jelena Popović | Animation & Interactive Studio | 100% NFB
After 25 years, filmmaker Matea Radic returns to Sarajevo and tells a hopeful tale of survival and self-discovery that reinforces the importance of “home” when one is searching for paradise.
Image: NFB
Parandeh
Director: Ehsan Gharib
Producer: Maral Mohammadian | Animation & Interactive Studio | 100% NFB
Parandeh is about the power of stillness. Its premise is simple and stands out in the blur of modern life. A bird is trapped in a cage. Only when it stops struggling does it find itself free.
Image: NFB
Piluk
Directors: Elisapie Isaac and Marc Séguin
Producer: Marc Bertrand | French Animation Studio | 100% NFB
A poetic meditation on identity, attachment to the land and the power of art as a source of human and spiritual guidance. Piluk leaves her remote world to join another: the world of the South and the city.
Image: NFB
Something Over There
Director: Arash Akhgari
Producer: Jelena Popović | Animation & Interactive Studio | 100% NFB
An endless parade of fragmented mass media and the audiences compulsively consuming them. A hypnotizing mix of collage, ink and paint becomes a space for introspection and reflects our viewing and reading habits.
For more information on these and other projects currently in the works across NFB studios, visit the NFB Production web page