Shorts for Tots
Age 5 - 9. Running time: Approx. 65 min.
- Sat, Feb 13, 2:00 pm
A collection of short, animated films aimed at our youngest audience members.
This screening will include (other films to be added):
Pachelbel Kanon
Walter Santucci, US, 3:30
A surreal, whimsical 2D animation about a group of monsters performing a modern rendition of Johann Pachelbel’s “Kanon in D” in an abandoned Detroit neighborhood. Their DJ, who overslept, rushes to get to the performance in time. The film is a combination of traditional hand drawn animation and digitally altered photographic backgrounds. The music is likewise a combination of traditional (cello) and modern (electric bass, guitar and turntables).
Asthma Tech
2006, Jonathan Ng, Canada, 7 min
Filmmaker Jonathan Ng turns the notion of “otherness” on its head in his animation film, Asthma Tech. In this semi-autobiographical whimsy, young Winston is burdened by the hardships of chronic asthma and isn’t able to participate in the everyday activities of his peers and classmates. Winston copes with the predicament through his vivid imagination and with paper and crayons, and on one particularly rainy afternoon his talents and skills save the day. Winston discovers that the magic of imagination has the power to bridge, transform and empower.
Maq and the Spirit of the Woods
2006, Phyllis Grant, Canada, 8:29
Maq is a Mi’gmaq boy who hopes to impress his grandfather with his new carving. Maq journeys through the woods to find him. Along his path he meets a curious traveller named Mi’gmwesu, and together they share stories, laughter and song. It is only when Maq joins his grandfather that he understands who Mi’gmwesu really is.
Jaime Lo, Small and Shy
2006, Lillian Chan, 7:48
Jaime Lo, a shy Chinese-Canadian girl, observes the world around her through her drawings. When Jaime’s father is sent to Hong Kong for a year-long work assignment, Jaime must use her creativity to cope with his absence. This story offers us a lighthearted glimpse into a common dilemma that many immigrant families face, where one parent must work overseas in order to provide for the rest of the family back home.
“Mind Me Good, Now!”
2005, Chris Cormier and Derek Cummings, 8:15
Mind Me Good Now is an animated folktale about Tina and Dalby. When the two children disobey their mama, the consequences are almost tragic. However, Tina’s resourcefulness and cunning outwit the wicked cacoya and send them running back into their mama’s forgiving arms. Author Lynette Comissiong draws her tale from generations of Trinidadian storytellers. Their stories have built-in moral values to help guide the children. Mind Me Good Now, with its brilliant colours, Caribbean flavour and African score, serves up a useful lesson in bright wrappings – multicultural style.
Oma’s Quilt
Izabela Bzymek, Canada, 8:15
Oma’s home for half a lifetime is brimming with memories, but on this day, her house stands empty, all the fragments of her life packed neatly into boxes. She is moving to a senior’s residence where she doesn’t know anyone. Her granddaughter Emily does something to ease the burden of such a momentous change in all their lives.
The Girl Who Hated Books
2006, Jo Meuris, Canada, 7 min
Meena, whose name means “fish” in Sanskrit, does not like to read. In fact, she hates (yes, hates) anything to do with books and reading. Which worries her parents, who love (yes, love) books, to the point of being able to read three at a time. One day while searching for her kitten Max, Meena is introduced to the magical worlds within books, and nothing, as they say, is the same after that. Based on the book by Manjusha Pawagi.
Tzaritza
Théodore Ushev, Canada, 8:15
Six-year-old Lili misses her grandma, who lives near the Black Sea in Bulgaria. Thanks to a tzaritza, a magic shell, the little girl brings her grandma to the heart of Montreal to make her father a happy man.