National Film Board of Canada in the spotlight at OIAF with 15 standout films—four in competition. Veteran NFB animators share the spotlight with a new wave of rising talent at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

September 3, 2025 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) returns to the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) with a stellar lineup of 15 films.

Highlights include four shorts in competition by Alex Boya, Matea Radic, Abbey Collings and the acclaimed duo of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski—whose wonderfully “strange universe” is also the subject of a special tribute.

Also on hand at OIAF 2025 is veteran NFB filmmaker and past honourary festival president Donald McWilliams, for a special screening of his feature documentary A Return to Memory, illuminating the achievements of the intrepid women who helped create Canadian cinema.

This year’s lineup of NFB projects at OIAF features works by animators from across Canada. The largest festival in North America dedicated exclusively to animation, offering screenings, workshops and entertainment since 1976, the OIAF will welcome festival goers from September 24 to 28.

NARRATIVE SHORT ANIMATION COMPETITION

Bread Will Walk by Alex Boya (11 min 17 s)
Sept. 26, 7 p.m. & Sept. 28, 3 p.m. | ByTowne Cinema
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/bread-will-walk

• A devoted sister races to save her brother, a bread-turned zombie. A mob of hungry living pursues. Can love defy appetite? This darkly delicious short by Montreal-based animator Alex Boya was selected to screen in the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Actor Jay Baruchel voices all the characters in the original English version of this frenetic, surrealist satire of our dehumanizing society, designed as a continuous shot.

Paradaïz by Matea Radic (9 min 28 s)
Sept. 25, 3 p.m. & Sept. 27, 3 p.m. | ByTowne Cinema
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/paradaiz

• Welcome to a place where the houses have holes, tomatoes are ticking time bombs and snails wander the streets in search of a safe space. In her short-film debut, Winnipeg-based artist Matea Radic uses absurdist animation, family photos, a wry sense of humour and her own slippery memories to return to the war-torn city of Sarajevo she fled as a child in the ’90s.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (16 min)
Sept. 25, 3 p.m. & Sept. 27, 3 p.m. | ByTowne Cinema
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-girl-who-cried-pearls

• The latest stop-motion marvel by the Oscar-nominated Montreal animation duo of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Madame Tutli-Putli). Narrated by Colm Feore with music by Patrick Watson, The Girl Who Cried Pearls is 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 is in Official Competition at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Young Audiences 7–12 Competition

Get a Grip by Abbey Collings (1 min)
Sept. 27, 9:30 a.m. | Ottawa Art Gallery
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/get-a-grip

• Get A Grip is a tiny tale of self-discovery and the wonder of being special. The film explores the balance between learning from the world around us and staying true to ourselves. Produced as part of the 15th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse mentorship program.

CANADIAN PANORAMA

Hypersensitive by Martine Frossard (6 min 44 s)
Sept. 25, 5 p.m. | Ottawa Art Gallery & Sept. 26, 9 p.m. | Art Court Theater
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/hypersensitive

• Selected for the Official Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 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.

Imprint by Duncan Major (5 min)
Sept. 25, 5 p.m. | Ottawa Art Gallery & Sept. 26, 9 p.m. | Art Court Theater
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/imprint

• Chance encounters can leave a lasting effect, like ink on paper. Imprintis a heartfelt animated short about the lasting creative bond between two kindred spirits.

Panoptic by Katie Finn (1 min)
Sept. 25, 5 p.m. | Ottawa Art Gallery & Sept. 26, 9 p.m. | Art Court Theater
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/panoptic

• Panopticis a kinetic visceral experience that unfolds entirely from the point of view of an unfeeling computer system. Produced as part of the 15th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse mentorship program.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Universe Room – A Tribute to Clyde Henry
Sept. 25, 1 p.m. & Sept. 28, 11 a.m., ByTowne Cinema
Gymnasia VR at ArtEngine, Sept. 25 – 28

• Discover Clyde Henry—the stop‑motion and illustration studio of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski—at this comprehensive retrospective screening. Includes their NFB works Madame Tutli‑Putli; Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life; the vignettes We Eat Shit and We Drink Too Much; and the VR project Gymnasia.

A Return to Memory, a feature documentary by Donald McWilliams (116 min)
Sept. 25, 1 p.m., OAG: Alma Duncan Salon | Sept. 26, 3 p.m., Arts Court Theatre | Sept. 27, 11 a.m., ByTowne Cinema
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/memory

• When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to create Canadian cinema as we now know it.
• There will also be a special companion screening of short animated films by Alma Duncan, Evelyn Lambart, and Gretta Ekman.

NFB GEMS

Ryo Orikasa’s OIAF 2023 Grand Prize-winning short Miserable Miracle (Miyu Productions/NFB/New Deer) will be presented in the program “New Way, New World: Connecting Japanese Animators to the World.”
Sept. 25, 7 p.m. & Sept. 26, 5 p.m. | OAG Alma Duncan Salon

Jacques Drouin’s landmark 1976 pinscreen animated short Mindscape will be featured in “Touch Frame,” presented by 24 Memes Per Second.
Sept. 25, 3 p.m. & Sept. 26, 9 p.m. | OAG Alma Duncan Salon

INDUSTRY EVENT

Industry Connect: Animation Community Roundtable
Sept. 26, 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. | National Arts Centre, O’Born Room (Terrace Level)
The NFB’s distribution and production teams will be taking part in a dynamic networking session alongside several organizations. The event will focus on community development and inclusive collaboration—an opportunity to share ideas and make connections across the animation community.

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