Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming, Window Horses is a feature animation about love—love of family, poetry, history, culture.
Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet, is invited to perform at a poetry festival in Shiraz, Iran, but she’d rather go to Paris. She lives at home with her over-protective Chinese grandparents and has never been anywhere by herself. Once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians who tell her stories that force her to confront her past: the Iranian father she assumed abandoned her and the nature of poetry itself. The film is about building bridges between cultural and generational divides. It’s about being curious. Staying open. And finding your own voice through the magic of poetry.
The film’s voice actors include Sandra Oh (Rosie), Ellen Page (Kelly, Rosie’s best friend), Don McKellar (a young poet named Dietmar), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Mehrnaz, a professor at the University of Tehran) and Nancy Kwan (Gloria, Rosie’s overprotective grandmother). More than a dozen animators, including Kevin Langdale, Janet Perlman, Bahram Javaheri and Jody Kramer, worked on the film with Fleming.
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
Ann Marie Fleming
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Sandra Oh
PRODUCED BY
Ann Marie Fleming (Stick Girl Productions)
Shirley Vercruysse (NFB)
Michael Fukushima (NFB)
CAST
Sandra Oh (Rosie Ming)
Shohreh Aghdashloo (Mehrnaz Filsoof)
FEATURING
Nancy Kwan (Gloria)
Omid Abtahi (Ramin/Rumi)
Camyar Chaichian (Cyrus Kazimi)
Mehdi Darvish (Sassan)
Esme Finley (little Rosie)
Nima Gholamipour (tour guide)
Azadeh Khatibi (doctor)
Eddy Ko (Stephen)
Payman Maadi (Payman)
Ramin Mahjouri (taxi driver)
Taylor Mali (himself)
Don McKellar (Dietmar Langweillig)
Panta Mosleh (Shahrzard Abbibi)
Navid Negaban (Amir/Mehran)
Azita Sahebjam (aunt Farah)
Kristen Thomson (Caroline)
Houshang Touzie (Hassan)
Jun Zhu (Di Di)
AND
Ellen Page as Kelly
LEAD DESIGN AND ANIMATION
Kevin Langdale
COMPOSER
Taymaz Saba
SOUND DESIGN & SUPERVISOR
Gordon Durity
EDITORIAL TEAM
Ann Marie Fleming
Ileana Pietrobruno
Jean-Denis Rouette
LINE PRODUCER
Ruth Vincent
ANIMATION TEAM
GUEST ANIMATORS
Ian Godfrey
Nathaniel Akin
ANIMATION SERVICES
Jester Coyote Animation Inc.
Jesse Cote
Brad Gibson
Chloe Liu
Eben Sullivan
Patrick Dufresne
Prajay Mahta
Jacyntha Cadwell
GUEST DIRECTOR-ANIMATORS
Rosie’s poem – Janet Perlman
History of Iran – Sadaf Amini
Hafiz history – Bahram Javaheri
Bani Adaam – Dominique Doktor, Shira Avni (consultant)
Taylor Mali’s poem – Elissa Chee
Dietmar’s Poem – Michael Mann
Hafiz poem – Jody Kramer
Cow poem – Kunal Sen
Masnevi – Louise Johnson
Rumi poem – Lillian Chan
HORSE DESIGN, ANIMATION & CALLIGRAPHY
Younger Yang
HORSE DESIGNS & KEY FRAME SEQUENCES
Joe Chang
ANIMATION ASSISTANT
Christine Li
ADDITIONAL ANIMATION
Natty Boonmasiri
Reid Blakely
Gemma Goletski
Pyrrha Powilanska-Burnell
Ceile Prowse
SCENE SET UP ARTISTS
Mona Lisa Ali
Natty Boonmasari
Pyrrha Powilanska-Burnell
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Lever Ruhkin
Adam Greydon
PRODUCTION TEAM
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Alexis Adams
Dan Emery
ANIMATION MANAGEMENT
Pyrrha Powilanska-Burnell
Claire Maxwell
ASSISTANT CO-ORDINATOR
Natty Boonmasiri
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Devon Ellis-Durity
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Gordon Durity
Mehrdad Farbod
Azadeh Khatibi
PRODUCTION ACCOUNTANT
Wendy Jackman
AUDIT SERVICES
Optis Finance
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
Jordan Acomba
IT ASSISTANCE
Joe Truesdale
Paul Martin
Werner Thomas
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS
Mike Sangalang
Justin Li
SOCIAL MEDIA
Michael Patience
LEGAL SERVICES
Eva Schmieg
Suzanne Cross
Chandler, Fogden, Aldous
STORY CONSULTANT
Michael MacLennan
POETRY CONSULTANTS
Malini Mahin
Jan Walls
FARSI CALLIGRAPHY
Sadaf Amini
Yadolla Kaboli
FARSI TRANSLATION
Mehrdad Farbod
Maryam Najafi
Taymaz Saba
IRANIAN CULTURAL CONSULTANTS
Mehrdad Farbod
Bahram Javaheri
Maryam Najafi
MUSIC CONSULTANTS
Mashallah Mohammedy
Jamal Salavati Khurdistani
MUSICIANS
VOCALS
Jamal Salavati Kurdestani
Taymaz Saba
Sahra Amini
Setar – Ali Mahinpour
Ney – Amir Eslami Mirabadi
Taar – Soroush Nasab
Percussion/synthesizer/digital instrument programmer- Mehrdad Abkenari
Guitar – Ammar Sedqui
Oboe/flute/clarinet/melodica/violin/erhu- Marco Del Rio
Dastaan songs
Kamancheh- Saeed Farajpouri
Oud – Hossein Behrouzinia
Santoor – Amir Mohandesan
Vocals – Anita Zanganeh, Sahra Amini
POEMS
“I need to know…” (Rosie’s poem)
written by Ann Marie Fleming
from “Breathless: the book of Anne”
“Mah” (Di Di’s poem)
written by Sean Yangzhan
“Bani Adaam”
Abu-Muhammad Muslih al-Din bin Abdallah Shirazi (Saadi)
English adaptation by Ann Marie Fleming
Hafiz, “We Should Talk About This Problem”
From the Penguin publication I Heard God Laughing
renderings by Daniel Ladinsky
Copyright © 1996 & 2006 by Daniel Ladinsky and used with his permission
“The Moon Exactly How it is Tonight”
written and performed by Taylor Mali
“Masnevi”
Mowlana Jalal-e-Din Mohammad Molavi Rumi (Rumi)
composed and arranged by Kavan Honarmand
performed by Payman Maadi, Haanaah Kamkar vocals, Fardin Laharpoor, ney
“do you know what this lute music tells you?”
Rumi
from “ Say Nothing : poems of Jalal al-Din Rumi in Persian and English ”
English adaptation by Iraj Anvar & Anne Twitty
“Cow Poem”
written by Ann Marie Fleming
“Now that I am with you…”
Rumi
English adaptation by Mehrdad Farbod & Ann Marie Fleming
“Horse” (Rosie’s poem)
written by Ann Marie Fleming
SONGS
“LuckLucky”
written and performed by Veda Hille
courtesy of Veda Hille
“Fromage Français”
composed by Ian Hughes
courtesy of Audio Networks Canada
“Masnevi” (end credits)
composed and arranged by Kavan Honarmand
performed by Payman Maadi, Haanaa Kamkar (vocals) Fardin Laharpoor (ney)
“Improvisations”
Performed by Hamnavazan
“Sarmast”
composed by Saeed Farajpouri
arranged by Taymaz Saba
performed by Hamnavazan
“Saz-O Avaz”
composed by Saeed Farajpouri
arranged by Taymaz Saba
performed by Hamnavazan
“Naghmeha”
composed by Saeed Farjpouri
arranged by Taymaz Saba
performed by Amir Eslami
“Window Horses”
written and performed by Ann Marie Fleming
with Brad Nelson (guitar)
VOICE RECORDING SERVICES
Walker Sound Studios (LA) – Genevieve Vincent
Bad Robot Sound (LA) – Charles Scott
Dark Studios (Toronto) – Gabe Knox
Big World Sound (Vancouver) – Doug Paterson
DIALOGUE EDITOR
Michael Werth
FOLEY
1010 Audio
VIDEO MASTERING
Cinematik Post
POST-PRODUCTION SOUND SERVICES PROVIDED BY
Big World Sound
RE-RECORDING ENGINEER
Doug Paterson
CLOSED CAPTIONING
Line 21
CANADIAN CASTING DIRECTOR
Neera Garg, Your Sound Inc.
ANIMATIC VOICE WORK
Azita Sahebjam • Tara Sahebjam • Kamyar (Kami) • Peter Chow • Camyar Chaichian • Farshid Homayoon Nasserabadi • Ali Abbasi • Kelly Constabaris • Werner Thomas • Pochu Auyeung • Wendy Dallian • Mehrdad Farbod • Ann Marie Fleming • Ruth Vincent • Rebecca • Tara Nazemi • Mahin Milani • Zhangsean Zhang • Kevin Langdale • Banashef Mohseni
PROMOTIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
Telefilm Feature Film Fund – Development Program
John Dippong • Cathy Schock • Bill Hurst
Creative BC Project Development Fund
Canadian Film Centre
Norman Jewison • Kathryn Emslie
Perfect Circle Productions
Karen Powell • Dean English
Joe Cruz
Rock-It Promotions
Indiegogo
Akademie Schloss Solitude
Jean-Baptiste Joly
Indiegogo campaign managers
Social media – Bella Sie
Design & marketing – Pyrrha Powilanska-Burnell
Web support – LeftRight Minds
this film is based on the graphic novel
“Window Horses: the Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming”
written by Ann Marie Fleming
“stickgirl”
appears by the permission of
Ann Marie Fleming
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA BC & YUKON STUDIO
Production supervisor – Jennifer Roworth
Technical edit coordinator – Wes Machnikowski
Production coordinator – Kathleen Jayme
Centre administrator – Carla Jones
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA ANIMATION STUDIO
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR – Eloi Champagne
TECHNICAL CO-ORDINATOR – Steve Hallé
thank you Michelle Van Beusekom and Teri Snelgrove
Telefilm Canada
• Lauren Davis • Steve Bates • John Dippong
With the participation of the Province of British Columbia Film Incentive Program
With the assistance of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit
With the participation of Telefilm Canada Talent Fund and Canada Feature Film Fund
With the assistance of Mehr Studios
