March 17, 2025 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

The National Film Board of Canada will be well represented at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 8–14) with a diverse selection of works, including the eagerly awaited return of filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. Three NFB shorts are featured in this year’s prestigious official competition:

• The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles) by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Madam Tutli-Putli, 2007; GYMNASIA, 2019);

• Bread Will Walk by Alex Boya (Turbine, 2018); and

• Hairy Legs (Poil aux jambes) by Andrea Dorfman (How to Be at Home, 2020; The Girls of Meru, 2018; Big Mouth, 2012; Flawed, 2010).

Quick Facts

Short Films – Official Competition 

The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles) by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (16 min)
An NFB production (Julie Roy, Marc Bertrand and Christine Noël)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-girl-who-cried-pearls

• The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a handmade, stop-motion animated short by the Oscar-nominated duo of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. It was previously featured at Annecy in a Work in Progress session in 2023.

• This breathtaking modern fable explores greed, wonder and the power of fiction, and features a stellar creative team: Patrick Watson (original score), Olivier Calvert (sound design), Colm Feore (voice, English version) and James Hyndman (voice, French version).

Bread Will Walk by Alex Boya (11 min 17 s)
An NFB production (Jelena Popović)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/bread-will-walk

• A devoted sister flees with her brother, a benevolent, bread-turned zombie. A mob pursues, mouths agape. Streets twist into mazes, reason dissolves, hunger reigns. Can love defy appetite? Bread Will Walk features paper and 2D hand-drawn animation with digital collage.

• In the original English version of this social satire and timely, absurd dark comedy, every single character is brilliantly voiced by actor Jay Baruchel. The sound design is by Olivier Calvert and the score was composed by Martin Floyd Cesar.

Hairy Legs (Poil aux jambes) by Andrea Dorfman (17 min)
An NFB production (Liz Cowie and Rohan Fernando)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/hairy-legs

• Deciding not to shave her legs at 13 led a young Andrea Dorfman to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations.

• Blending 2D animation (ink, gouache and watercolour on paper) and stop-motion, Hairy Legs captures with charm, warmth and humour the universality of girls exploring gender, curiosity and freedom.

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French version here | Version française ici.