Boat People
As a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history.
Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma
Thao Lam is a critically acclaimed Vietnamese-Canadian children’s book author and illustrator. Her books include THAO, Wallpaper, My Cat Looks Like My Dad, Skunk on a String, and the multi-award-winning Paper Boat. Thao arrived in Canada with her parents at the age of three as a refugee from Vietnam. Learning English was difficult, and it was picture books that helped her understand this new world and ignited her passion for visual storytelling. She has an insatiable love for coloured and textured papers, which she uses to create her exuberant collages.
Kjell Boersma is a writer, director and animator from Toronto. Kjell’s work includes short films, animation for feature documentaries, music videos and experimental works. His projects combine traditional and digital animation techniques in novel ways. He directed the short film Monster Slayer (2015) and co-founded the arts council Gallup Arts. He was also commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and TIFF Kids to write and direct DAM! The Story of Kit the Beaver (2017).
Pendulum
11 MINUTES 16 SECONDS | ENGLISH | CANADA
A woman carries on her shoulders her most precious heritage: the liberation of our souls. This liberation comes with a spiritual choreography that underlines the complexities of our humanity.
Boat People
10 MINUTES | ENGLISH | CANADA
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As a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history.
High End Dying
12 MINUTES | ENGLISH | CANADA
When elite level chef Eloise Vaughn receives a scathing review from famed critic Alistair Brown, she invites him back for a private dinner service aimed at redeeming her name. Alistair accepts, and as the service commences, the pairs shared history is revealed, as are the extreme lengths Eloise is willing to go to impress him.
Content Warning: This film contains depictions of blood and gore. Some viewers may be sensitive to this subject matter.
ZIP
15 MINUTES | ENGLISH, FARSI | CANADA
Meet Melody; at fifteen, she is outspoken, intelligent and creative. Melody enjoys hanging out with her friends, keeping up with 70s pop culture, and dreams of performing in her school talent show. The problem? Her strict father, a traditionalist who shakes Melody's world overnight after sewing a zipper onto her mouth on her sixteenth birthday.
Hope Is the Thing With Feathers
12 MINUTES | ENGLISH | CANADA
Four women connected through time and space come together to save a girl from a tragic end.