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15th edition of NFB’s Hothouse program now online. Discover bold new animation from across Canada at nfb.ca

PRESS RELEASE
28/08/2025

August 28, 2025 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Beginning today, six eclectic animated shorts from the 15th edition of the National Film Board of Canada’s Hothouse program for emerging animators are available worldwide on NFB platforms.

Hothouse 15 features the work of talented emerging animation filmmakers from across Canada:

  • Get a Grip, by Abbey Collings, a Georgetown, Ontario-born filmmaker based in Boylston, Nova Scotia;
  • I Want to Go Home, by Mégan Dupont, a Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec-born filmmaker based in Quebec City;
  • Intruder, by Max Ma, a Chengdu, China-born filmmaker from Mississauga;
  • Panoptic, by Katie Finn, a London, Ontario-born filmmaker based in Montreal;
  • Springrise, by Mitchell Keys, from London, Ontario;
  • Super Mr. Woods, by Aerin Wu, a Vancouver-based filmmaker, born in Shanghai, China.

Animators had 12 weeks to create a one-minute film on the theme “People Watching.”

The public can also go behind the scenes in the companion series Inside Hothouse, launching in September on NFB platforms, with exclusive access to the NFB’s world-renowned animation studios.

Hothouse 15 lineup 

From Boylston, Nova Scotia

Get a Grip by Abbey Collings
Stop-motion animation
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/get-a-grip

  • Logline: A tiny tale of self-discovery and the wonder of being special.
  • Director’s Statement: Inspired by the Bird Islands of Nova Scotia, Get a Grip shows how observing others shapes our beliefs, influences our interactions and ultimately helps us define who we are. The film explores the balance between learning from the world around us and staying true to ourselves.
  • Official Selection, Young Audiences 7+ Competition, 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival. 

From Quebec City 

I Want to Go Home by Mégan Dupont
3D + collage animation
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/i-want-to-go-home

  • LOGLINE: A poetic journey through darkness, memory and the fragile miracle of vision.
  • DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT: This film is my way of processing a time filled with fear, confusion and unanswered questions about my vision. Through chaotic visuals and quiet moments of beauty, I wanted to share that journey and offer a different perspective on something we often take for granted. 

From Mississauga 

Intruder by Max Ma
3D animation
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/intruder 

  • LOGLINE: A man tries to direct his own dreams, unsuccessfully.
  • Director’s Statement: I gravitate towards filmmakers like Edward Yang and Mia Hansen-Løve, who write characters in conflicts that are at once mundane and consuming. The tenderness they show these characters is what I kept in mind when writing my character: a man who finds himself not the auteur but the audience of his own dreams. Visually, the surrealist and sculptural designs are influenced by the works of Robert Wilson and Eiko Ishioka.

From Montreal 

Panoptic by Katie Finn
2D traditional + procedurally generated animation
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/panoptic

  • LOGLINE: A battle between inmates and a prison security system.
  • Director’s Statement: My short is a prison break told through the point of view of the prison’s own security software. It’s a fast, compressed narrative—with an aesthetic shaped by the same efficiency protocols of the systems it depicts.
  • Official Selection, Canadian Panorama, 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival.

From London, Ontario

Springrise by Mitchell Keys
2D animation
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/springrise

  • Logline: Spring is always coming.
  • Director’s Statement: This project was inspired by our planet and all the ways it holds us, takes care of us and keeps us together. I’ve always been inspired by the beauty of our world, and I remain optimistic that, despite all the turmoil and terror, there is a brilliant sunrise ahead. 

From Vancouver

Super Mr. Woods by Aerin Wu
2D rotoscope animation
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/super-mr-woods

  • Logline: Step into the myth. Witness the madness.
  • Director’s Statement: Our world feels chaotic and overwhelming. People are always too busy working, creating and consuming to imagine a better tomorrow together. From a distance, this constant motion feels frantic and absurd, and that inspired me to create Mr. Woods, a mysterious creature who represents the tension between such hope and frenzy. 

Hothouse Quick Facts 

There were 241 applications to fill the program’s six spots—a testament to the strength of Canadian animation and the popularity of Hothouse, now in its 15th edition.

Hothouse 15 filmmakers were supported by mentoring director Lillian Chan, associate producer Fred Casia, producer Maral Mohammadian, a professional crew and the specialized team of the NFB’s English Animation Unit.

Created in 2003, Hothouse has helped kick-start the careers of acclaimed animators. Over 90 animators have come through the program, including Alex Boya, Patrick Doyon, Paloma Dawkins, Philip Eddolls, Howie Shia, Malcolm Sutherland, Eva Cvijanovic, David Barlow-Krelina and the creative duo of Dale Hayward and Sylvie Trouvé.

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Version française ici.

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