Julie Roy: Film Programme Presentation
First, thank you to Igor Prassel and the Animateka team for giving me the opportunity to present this carte blanche that groups together some of my productions from 2008 to present day. As a producer for a Canadian public institution, the National Film Board of Canada, I am committed to supporting various talents, from the newest to the most experienced, guiding artists in creative pursuits, some of which are traditional and others completely unique, and exploring narrative forms that are sometimes classic and sometimes completely surprising. Moreover, this is what has built the NFB studio brand over the years. This multiplicity of approaches, the experimentation, research, innovation, all carried out in artisanal fashion by directors who control every step of their work’s production. And still today, we owe this to the pioneering vision of the NFB’s animation studio founder, Norman McLaren. Nearly 75 years later, this creation philosophy lives in and still inspires our animation artists who create within our community day after day.
Therefore, it gives me great pleasure to help you discover talented directors through eight short films that cover a very wide variety of subject matter. From a tale about the history of an African musical instrument to violence in a working-class neighbourhood, from metaphysical questions through the mythical tool that is the pin screen to the theme of marginality or the sensitive issue of intolerance to electromagnetic waves, from the exploration of urban life through a high-colour, non-linear approach to the transposition of human history through a clay-like medium or an ecological tale sung by cars, each of these works brilliantly asserts the evocative power of animation through the unique views of their creator.
Julie Roy
Hungu
Under the African sun, a child walks in the desert with his kin. Death is prowling, but a mother's soul resurrected by music will return strength and life to the child when he becomes a man. Inspired by the grace and raw beauty of African rock paintings, Nicolas Brault paints a story without borders, with the humanity and elegance of a universal narrator.
Paula
Inspired by a real-life news item, this animated short paints a pulsating portrait of a mixed-use, working-class neighbourhood where young families cross paths with prostitutes, their interactions leaving unpredictable ripples in the motley fabric of urban life.
Here and the Great Elsewhere
This abstract yet compelling philosophical tale uses the Alexeïeff-Parker pinscreen as a metaphor for the particles that make up the universe. Through 4 tableaux that explore her character’s thoughts, filmmaker Michèle Lemieux takes a look at the profound reflections of this everyman, whose questions are part of humanity’s eternal quest for meaning.
Edmond Was a Donkey
This animated short about social conformity tells the story of Edmond - a very "different" sort of guy. When his co-workers jokingly crown him with a pair of donkey ears, Edmond suddenly discovers his true identity. And while he enjoys his newfound self, the ears create an ever-widening gap between himself and others.
Reflection
An exploration of Montreal through an abstract lens: how reflected images pervade our surroundings, how our senses filter out these ghost images and, finally, how the camera can capture emotions created by a shimmering puddle or a sparkling coloured glass surface. At the same time, Trouvé raises a new awareness of our urban environment. Though inspired by reality, the film is thoroughly immersed in the world of animation.
Quiet Zone
Through the use of complex imagery and sound, filmmakers Karl Lemieux and David Bryant take us deep into the world of those who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Combining elements of documentary, film essay and experimental film, Quiet Zone defies genres, weaving together an unusual story in which sound and image distort reality to make the distress of these “wave refugees” palpable.
Bydlo
An allegory of mankind heading for disaster, this animated short is a tragic vision inspired by the 4th movement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Drawing on the composer’s brilliant ability to evoke work and labour in his music, animator Patrick Bouchard brings earth to life through animated clay sculptures, creating a tactile nightmare in which man is his own slave driver.
Carface
In this whirling, twirling automotive waltz, carefree cars cavort in all directions to the tune of “Que Sera, Sera,” while the black ooze that fuels them is unremittingly pumped from Mother Earth. If Busby Berkeley and Mel Brooks were asked to co-direct the apocalypse, it might look like this uproarious festival of destruction—the ultimate spectacle for our Big Oil-based civilization. Let the games begin!