Two Canadian Shorts Become Oscar Contenders

Two shorts produced by the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada have been nominated as one of 10 short animated films who will be vying for an Oscar – from Winnipeg producer Cordell Barker is his latest project If I Was God, and from Montreal’s Claude Cloutier is his animated short Carface (Autos Portraits).

Directed by two-time Oscar-nominated animator and long-time NFB collaborator Barker (The Cat Came Back, Strange Invaders), If I Was God… explores the difficult gateway between childhood and adolescence, when the approaching power of adulthood is often mistaken for omnipotence. Drawing inspiration from his own memories of a particularly awkward day in Grade 7, and using a variety of animation techniques, from traditional animation to stop-motion puppets and more, Barker creates a darkly whimsical 3D animated short film with an organic, hand-made feel that’s as imperfectly human as the world we all ultimately craft for ourselves.

Carface is a whirling, twirling automotive waltz as carefree cars cavort in all directions to the tune of “Que Sera, Sera,” while the black ooze that fuels them is unremittingly pumped from Mother Earth. If Busby Berkeley and Mel Brooks were asked to co-direct the apocalypse, it might look like this uproarious festival of destruction – the ultimate spectacle for our Big Oil-based civilization.

The Oscars will take place on February 28, 2016.

Photo: National Film Board

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