Since the beginnings of the National Film Board of Canada’s (NFB) animation department in 1939, led by Norman McLaren, Canada has produced a number of poetic, witty, unique, provocative and diverse animation films that have influenced and inspired animation artists from around the world. While the NFB, one of the last state-sponsored studios in the world, remains at the forefront of both Canadian and International animation, the Canadian scene is no longer just their domain. For a few decades now, animation has exploded to all areas of Canada. Today there are numerous industry studios and schools in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax and, thanks to technological advancements, there are more independent artists than ever before.
EyeCANdy serves up a sample dish of the wild, provocative, poignant and mildly insane visions of Canada’s brightest contemporary animation artists. Utilizing a rich and unique arsenal of techniques (scratch, stop motion, collage, paint on film, 3D, drawings), the films of EyeCANdy are a mix of award-winning student, experimental, documentary and narrative films that explore Canadian history (Emergency Broadcast), indigenous stories (Biidaaban), deeply personal memories of loss (Casino, The Girl in the Hallway, My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes, Only Lovers Leave to Die), the absurdity of advertising (Erodium Thunk), abstract dreamscapes (Ravines, Insect Express) along with a rather epic odyssey about wanking (the universally applauded, Finding Uranus).
As each one of these films demonstrate, animation is, and has always been, much more than a bunch of “cartoons” littered with talking animals, princesses and fart jokes. At its best, animation is a potent, poetic, beguiling and headscratching as any piece of music, art, film or poem. Animation, more than almost any other art form, can take us deeper into the human soul (whatever that is) and spirit, revealing the unseen, speaking the unspoken.
EyeCANdy will sock your senses, if you let it.
Chris Robinson
Artistic Director, Ottawa International Animation Festival
Curator of EyeCANdy
April 29, 2020 - May 5, 2020
Online Screening
The EyeCANdy program will be available for CFI patrons to view online through Vimeo.
Tickets
Purchase tickets online for a pay-what-you-can price. After purchase, you will receive the URL and password to view the program. You may view at any time and as many times as you like during the available week.
Made possible by the Canada Council for the Arts.
