The National Film Board of Canada returns to the Quebec City Film Festival this year with four short films that capture all the vitality and diversity of animation at the NFB. Two of them will be screened in competition: The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles), from the Oscar-nominated duo of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, and Martine Frossard's Hypersensible (Hypersensitive), which was the only Canadian film in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Two other shorts, Hayat Najm's Le bruit des choses qui brûlent (The Sounds of Things Ablaze) and Andrea Dorfman's Hairy Legs (Poil aux jambes), will be shown out of competition. The festival will run from September 10 to 14, 2025.
Quick Facts
Official Competition
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles) by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (NFB, 16 min)
- A haunting fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds. The film, which received its world premiere as an opening night film at the 2025 Annecy festival, will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
- With the voice of James Hyndman (French version). Original Music: Patrick Watson. Sound Designer: Olivier Calvert. Artistic Director: Brigitte Henry.
Hypersensible (Hypersensitive) by Martine Frossard (NFB, 6 min 44 s)
- Hypersensitive recounts the turbulent, surrealistic journey of a young woman struggling to rebuild her self, in defiance of social norms that tell us to repress our emotions. The film is a heartfelt plea for us all to take greater heed of our emotions, even the most painful ones.
- The film was edited by filmmaker and editor Oana Suteu Khintirian (Beyond Paper), and author and actor Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard consulted on the screenplay.
Out of competition
Le bruit des choses qui brûlent (The Sounds of Things Ablaze) by Hayat Najm (NFB, 6 min 35 s)
- Told through animated charcoal drawings, this is a story of resilience about a woman still haunted by the horrors of war.
- Award-winning pianist Jean-Michel Blais composed and performed the original score, and Sylvain Bellemare (an Oscar winner for Denis Villeneuve's Arrival) was the sound designer.
Hairy Legs (Poil aux jambes) by Andrea Dorfman (NFB, 17 min)
- Deciding not to shave her legs at 13 led a young Andrea Dorfman to question and ultimately defy society's expectations.
- The film has won several awards, including the Guy-L. Côté Grand Prize for Best Canadian Animated Film at the 2025 Sommets du cinéma d'animation in Montreal.
