A woman sits in a hospital room, alone with her dying father. As the constant din of antiseptic hospital noises pushes her to confront her inevitable loss, she escapes into a series of lush childhood memories.

Told with a quiet, expressive soundtrack and beautiful, subdued design that shifts between the pale hospital palette and the impressionistic landscapes of the woman’s memories, 4 North A is both a tender celebration of the fleeting joys of life and a bittersweet reminder that we don’t always get the closure we seek.

Short Synopsis

A woman sits in a hospital room, alone with her dying father. As the din of hospital noises pushes her to confront her inevitable loss, she escapes into a series of lush childhood memories.  4 North A is a celebration of the fleeting joys of life and a bittersweet reminder that we don’t always get the closure we seek.

Long Synopsis

A woman sits in a hospital room, alone with her dying father. As the constant din of antiseptic hospital noises pushes her to confront her inevitable loss, she escapes into a series of lush childhood memories.

With its quiet yet expressive soundtrack, and a beautiful, subdued design that shifts between the pale palette of the hospital and the lively, painterly landscapes of the woman’s memories, 4 NORTH A is a deeply personal film about mortality, memory, and discovering connection in unlikely spaces.

A National Film Board of Canada production, this first-time collaboration between award-winning film and television director Jordan Canning (Schitt’s Creek, Baroness Von Sketch Show) and acclaimed animation filmmaker Howie Shia (BAM) is both a tender celebration of the fleeting joys of life and love and a bittersweet reminder that we don’t always get the closure we seek.

The idea for 4 North A grew out of memories my mother told me about, of summers she’d spent on Amherst Island as a child. I was struck by the recurrence of animals and death in her descriptions and began connecting them to a story of her tending her father’s final days in the hospital. Later, as I too found myself providing care for a beloved partner, I started imagining what it might have been like if my mother and I had been strangers in the same ward, going through these painful experiences—alone, but together. – Jordan Canning