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Thao Lam and Kjell Boersma’s acclaimed National Film Board of Canada animated short Boat People now available worldwide. Featured as Vimeo Staff Pick starting November 19.

PRESS RELEASE
19/11/2024

Boat People

November 19, 2024 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Thao Lam and Kjell Boersma’s multi-award-winning National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animated short Boat People is being featured as a Staff Pick on Vimeo, starting November 19.

Boat People is also available in Canada on nfb.ca and YouTube, and in the US on POV.org and the PBS app.

Boat People has been selected by more than 40 festivals around the world, receiving 10 awards to date including the Helen Hill Award for Animated Short at the New Orleans Film Festival, a short-films qualifying festival for the 97th Academy Awards.

Quotes:

“We’re proud to feature Kjell Boersma and Thao Lam’s Boat People as a Vimeo Staff Pick. The curation team was impressed by how the film employs a deceptively simple, children’s storybook-like animation style to tell an emotionally rich and complex story of war, loss and survival.” – Vimeo Staff Picks

“This film began as an opportunity to explore one family’s unspoken history. Along the way, we met families with similar struggles; the details vary, but the theme of sacrifice and resilience is consistent. Boat People is a reminder that nobody willingly abandons their home, leaving behind their family, friends and possessions. Throughout history, every migration, animal or human, is done out of necessity, and should be embraced with empathy and understanding. Grateful to Vimeo for bringing this to a global audience.” – Thao Lam and Kjell Boersma

Selected awards and mentions for Boat People

  • Helen Hill Award for Animated Short and Audience Award for Animated Short, New Orleans Film Festival (2023)
  • Milos Stehlik Global Impact Award, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (2023)
  • Grand Jury Prize for Animated Short, Calgary International Film Festival (2023)
  • Special Mention, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (2024)

Selected list of Official Selections

  • DOC NYC (2023)
  • Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (2023)
  • BFI London Film Festival (2023)
  • Palm Springs ShortFest (2023)
  • Ottawa International Animation Festival (2023)

More about Boat People

Boat People by Thao Lam and Kjell Boersma (10 min)
Produced by Justine Pimlott and Jelena Popović for the NFB
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/boat-people-2

  • As a little girl in Vietnam, Thao’s mother would rescue ants from bowls of sugar water. The tiny creatures would later return the favour, leading her desperate family through darkness—and pointing the way to safety.
  • With Boat People, illustrator and author Thao Lam undertakes a creative rescue mission of her own, joining forces with animator Kjell Boersma to recount the experiences of her family, who were among over 1.6 million refugees who fled the chaotic aftermath of the Vietnam War, venturing across the South China Sea in precarious open boats.
  • Boat People employs a hybrid of traditional 2D animation, stop-motion multiplane, and 3D rendering to capture the unique aesthetic of Lam’s handmade paper textures and patterns. The film speaks across time and culture to anyone who’s ever fought to protect their family or community.

How to watch Boat People

Vimeo: Boat People is available worldwide on Vimeo.

NFB: Canadians can also continue to enjoy Boat People on the NFB’s free online screening platform, nfb.ca.

POV: Boat People is featured in season seven of POV Shorts—a collection of the best and boldest independent short films streaming free of charge on POV.org and on the PBS App. POV Shorts will be airing on PBS affiliate stations—check local listings.

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French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • About the NFB

    Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of distinctive, engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 6,500 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.