Jean-François Lévesque / Canada / 2008 / 13 min / Grade 5+

Aparna Kapur / Canada / 2008 / 6 min / Grade 5+
This poetic narration of a young girl's life explores her deep symbiotic relationship with her grandmother and how their love for one another surpasses this physical world.
Screens again at 11:45am as part of Reel Focus program: Animation Nation

Kunal Sen / Canada / 2008 / 7 min / Grade 5+
Caramel custard, ping pong and potty all play an important role in this charming animation about a young Indian boy exploring where he came from as he prepares for the performance of a lifetime. Based on actual events, the film spans 40 years, two generations, and playfully points to the next!
 

*Vancouver Premiere
Milen Vitnov / Germany, Bulgaria / 2007 / 5min / Grade 3+
This unique animation, which makes clever use of simple pencil and paper, tells the story of a dog who finds the best friend he could ever imagine - his own tail!
 
Screens again at 11:45am as part of Reel Focus program: Animation Nation

 *Canadian Premiere
Saga no gabai baachan
Hitoshi Kurauchi / Japan / 2007 / 101 min

Themes: coping with adversity, family relationships, Japanese culture and traditions, perseverance
Set in a rural village in southern Japan in the late 1950s, the film tells the story of seven-year-old Akihiro. When his bar-hostess mother finds it a struggle to support her two sons, he is whisked away from Hiroshima to live with his grandmother in small-town Saga. Akihiro’s unconventional yet charming “super granny” is an expert in finding the bright side of everything despite living in severe poverty. Based on the autobiographical novel of Japanese comedian Yoshichi Shimada, Super Granny is a delightful story that celebrates the wealth and importance of family ties, even in the most meager times.

Mike Maryniuk, Matthew Rankin / Canada / 2008 / 4 min / Grade 7+
This high-speed animated documentary about the North American art of livestock auctioneering features the mesmerizing verbal talents of master auctioneer Tim Dowler. The film uses a variety of classic and avant-garde animation.
Screens again at 11:45am as part of Reel Focus program: Animation Nation

Fabrice Joubert / France / 2008 / 8 min / Grade 5+
In a fancy Parisian Café, an uptight businessman finds out that he has lost his wallet, and that he can't pay the bill. To postpone paying, he decides to order more coffee...
Screens again at 11:45am as part of Reel Focus program: Animation Nation

*Vancouver Premiere
Daniel Janke / Canada / 2008 / 16 min / Grade 5+
The magic of storytelling is revisited with the tale of how Chicken Hawk and Crow find fire for cooking salmon and why Chicken Hawks have short beaks.
Screens again at 11:45am as part of Reel Focus program: Animation Nation

*Vancouver Premiere
Mats Grorud / Norway / 2008 / 9 min / Grade 5+
This clay animation is a story about the modernization of Beijing, as told through the eyes of a young boy, playing with his old, wrinkly grandmother.
Screens again at 11:45am as part of Reel Focus program: Animation Nation

Themes: First Nations history, documentary, historical, re-enactment, oral tradition, and racism

It was news that shook the English-speaking world. Celebrated British explorer Sir John Franklin and his crew of 128 men had perished in the Arctic ice during an ill-fated attempt to discover the Northwest Passage. More shocking, they had descended into madness and cannibalism. The report came in 1851, from John Rae, a doctor from Orkney working for the Hudson's Bay Company. But Rae's horrific news did not sit well with Sir John's widow, Lady Franklin, nor with the Admiralty, nor with many others in British society, including Charles Dickens. They waged a bitter public campaign that would discredit Rae's version of events, banish him to the margins of history and mark the entire nation of Inuit with the horrifying label of murderous cannibals.

This animated film tells the traditional Haida story of a little boy who turns into a tree.