The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is headed to the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival once again, with four productions and co-productions selected for the 2021 edition's Short Film competition. The contingent includes the eagerly awaited return of internationally acclaimed filmmakers Joanna Quinn and Les Mills, with Affairs of the Art, and Claude Cloutier, whose Bad Seeds will be screening at the festival. Meanwhile, two Annecy first-timers will be presenting their latest creations: Andrea Dorfman, with How to Be at Home, and Mike Maryniuk, with June Night. The festival takes place June 14 to 19, 2021, with details of this year's format still to be confirmed.
Quick Facts
Short Film Competition
Affairs of the Art by Joanna Quinn and Les Mills (16 min)
Co-produced by Beryl Productions International and the NFB
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/affairs-of-the-art
- Beryl's back in Affairs of the Art, which showcases one family's eccentric yet endearing obsessions with everything from drawing to screw threads and pet taxidermy.
- The film recently won the 2021 Award for Best Animation at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
Mauvaises herbes (Bad Seeds) by Claude Cloutier (6 min 22 s)
Co-produced by L'Unité centrale and the NFB
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/bad-seeds/
- Growth goes hand-in-hand with rivalry, and evolution with competition, in this shocking animated duel that's peppered with allusions to the western film, the Cold War, board games, and much more.
- This will be the seventh film by Claude Cloutier to screen at Annecy. Previous festival selections include Carface (2015), The Trenches (2010) and Sleeping Betty (2007).
How to Be at Home by Andrea Dorfman (4 min 55 s)
Produced by the NFB
Press kit in French only (English version coming soon): espacemedia.onf.ca/epk/a-la-maison
- Filmmaker Andrea Dorfman reunites with poet Tanya Davis to craft a tender and profound animation on the theme of isolation.
- The film is part of The Curve, an NFB collection of projects exploring life during the pandemic: social distancing stories that bring us together.
June Night by Mike Maryniuk (4 min 12 s)
Produced by the NFB
Press kit in French only (English version coming soon): espacemedia.onf.ca/epk/nuit-de-juin
- This surreal ode to rebirth and reinvention conjures up a post-COVID world shaped by the primordial forces of nature-haunted by the genial spectre of Buster Keaton.
- The film is part of The Curve, an NFB collection of projects exploring life during the pandemic: social distancing stories that bring us together.
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