Produced by the National Film Board, Naked Island brings together some of Canada’s most talented animators in a series of 15 super-short and incisive films that expose the dark underbelly of modern-day society. Blending the art of animation with the format of advertising, these filmmakers use wit and satire to address topics from global warming to politics to our obsession with technology.

Ranging from Oscar® winners and nominees to emerging talent in animation and fine arts, these filmmakers make bold statements in a variety of styles to create ultimate anti-advertisements that encourage us to stop and think.

We live in a messed up world. What better way to expose the dark underbelly of modern-day society than with a series of 15 super-short and incisive films created by some of Canada’s top animators? Framed as “Public Service Alerts,” and produced by the National Film Board of Canada, this series blends the art of animation and advertising to promote self-reflection by dissent, satire and wit.

2/3 OF US DON’T KNOW WE’RE ASSHOLES. An unapologetic poke at the self-consumed selfie culture.

Movie Length:  44 seconds

Canadian Panorama Official Selection
Ottawa International Animation Festival 2017

Directed and Animated by
Chris Landreth

Music
Be Cool
Jade Lamarche
Performed by
SEERS (Jade LaMarche, Luis Figueroa, J. Kayle Donner)
© 2015 All rights reserved

Sound Design
Menalon

Technical coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Images
Wikimedia Commons
-Toronto Skyline / Prayitno / https://www.flickr.com/photos/prayitnophotography/8216501686 (CC-BY-2.0)
– Statue of Liberty, NY / William Warby / https://www.flickr.com/photos/26782864@N00/2229937579 (CC-BY-2.0)
– 2010 G20 Toronto / Jeff Denberg / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2010_G20_Toronto.jpg
(CC-BY-2.0)
– Sarajevo Grbavica – Lt. Stacey Wyzkowski (PD)
– Earthquake damage in downtown Port-au-Prince 2010-01-16 – Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock, USAF (PD);

Everystockphoto:
Riocinha Favela – Rio de Janeiro Brazil / David Berkowitz / http://www.everystockphoto.com/photo.php?imageId=10409207 (CC-BY-2.5)

Alamy:
– The Statue of Liberty, New York / philipus / Alamy Stock Photo
– Statues of former Presidents Kim-Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, Pyongyang, North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Asia / Robert Harding / Alamy Stock Photo
– Main gate of Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland / David Ball / Alamy Stock Photo
-Elevated city skyline including the Ryugyong hotel and Taedong River, Pyongyang, North Korea / Robert Harding / Alamy Stock Photo
– G-20 Summit underway in London / ITAR-TASS Photo Agency / Alamy Stock Photo
– Car overturned and burned during a student strike in Santiago’s Downtown, Chile / Luis Sandoval Mandujano / Alamy Stock Photo
– A pig walking evidently looking for food at a garbage dump / Aurora Photos / Alamy Stock Photo

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

SEXT APES YOUR PHONE IS HAVING MORE SEX THAN YOU. A bleak picture of sex in the digital age.

Movie Length:  39 seconds

Directed by
Laurence Vallières

Compositing
Sébastien Denault

Director of Photography
Jean-François Lord

Sound Design
Menalon

Production Manager
Nicolas Comeau

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget
associate producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

MOST OF US DON’T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING THIS MUCH. POV into an ultimate act of protest: self-immolation. What compels someone to go this far?

Movie Length:  44 seconds

Written and Directed by
The Sanchez Brothers

Compositing
Josh Sherret

Post-Production Supervisor
Victor Shiffman

Sound Design
Sam Petty

Sound Mix
BLVD

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Series Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Series Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Series Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima
© 2017 The Sanchez Brothers
© distributed as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada

THEY FIGHT YOU AND THEN YOU WIN. THEY FIGHT YOU AND THEN YOU WIN. An anti-violence statement in reaction to the police brutality that fuelled Quebec’s Red Square student movement.

Movie Length:  22 seconds

Written and Directed by
Malcolm Sutherland

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Series Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Series Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Series Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Closing text inspired by quotation by Nicholas Klein

©2017 Malcolm Sutherland
Distributed as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada

REALITY IS A CHOICE. An unapologetic poke at the burgeoning age of virtual reality.

Movie Length:  39 seconds

Commissioned Animation Official Competition
Ottawa International Animation Festival 2017

Written, Directed and Animated by
Malcolm Sutherland

Sound Design
Luigi Allemano
Menalon

Music
Simulacra Song
Luigi Allemano
© 2014 Luigi Allemano
All rights reserved

Foley
Karla Baumgardner

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

DARE TO PANIC. A poke at climate-change deniers.

Movie Length:  39 seconds

Written, Directed and Animated by
Munro Ferguson

Music
How Dinosaurs Learned to Fly
Normand Roger
© 1995 Normand Roger
All rights reserved

Sound Design
Luigi Allemano
Menalon

Foley
Karla Baumgardner

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

WE DRINK TOO MUCH. An unapologetic take on the vicious cycle of earning too little and consuming too much.

Movie Length:  49 seconds

Commissioned Animation Official Competition
Ottawa International Animation Festival 2017

Written, Directed and Animated by
Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski
(Clyde Henry Productions)

Sound Design
Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski
(Clyde Henry Productions)

Music
Dance of the Hoboes
George Schweinfest
Columbia Phonograph Co.: 23536. (1896-1900)
Permission from: University of California, Santa Barbara Library

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2016 National Film Board of Canada

FEELS GOOD TO BE KIND. A reminder that there is power in small acts of kindness.

Movie Length:  41 seconds

Written, Directed and Animated by
Eva Cvijanović

Music
Champions
Martin Cesar
© 2014 Martin Cesar
All rights reserved

Sound Design
Luigi Allemano
Menalon

Foley
Karla Baumgardner

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

WE EAT SHIT. An unapologetic warning about how complacent we can be.

Movie Length:  45 seconds

Commissioned Animation Official Competition
Ottawa International Animation Festival 2017

Directed and Animated by
Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski
(Clyde Henry Productions)

Sound Design
Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski
(Clyde Henry Productions)

Music
Darkies’ Jubilee
John M. Turner; Frank S. Mazziotta
Edison Gold Moulded Record: 2802 (1902)
Permission from: University of California, Santa Barbara Library

Old Folks at Home
Stephen Collins Foster; George Schweinfest
Edison Record: 2811 (1896-1900)
Permission from: University of California, Santa Barbara Library

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

ALL MEN ARE CREMATED EQUAL. An ode to what can happen when Man plays God.

Movie Length:  42 seconds

Directed by
Luka Sanader

Animation
Frances Adair-Mckenzie

Sound Design
Menalon

Music
Frederic Chopin “Opus 10, Étude 12”
Interpretation by
Martha Goldstein

Images
1951 atomic bomb test at the Nevada Proving Ground
Shutterstock.com

Closing text inspired by a quotation by Dexter Gordon

Production Manager
Nicolas Comeau

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

WE BLEED FOR WHAT? Made with the filmmaker’s blood, a testament to the ideals that we fight and die for.

Movie Length:  40 seconds

Written, Directed and Animated by
Theodore Ushev

Sound Design
Luigi Allemano
Menalon

Foley
Karla Baumgardner

Whistling
Theodore Ushev

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

SOBER IS HARDCORE. A rejection of romanticizing alcohol.

Movie Length:   35 seconds

Written, Directed and Animated by
Élise Simard

Additional Animation
Brigitte Archambault

Music
Magic Fountain
Luigi Allemano
© 2014 Luigi Allemano
All rights reserved

Sound Design
Luigi Allemano

Technical Consultant
Éloi Champagne

Foley
Karla Baumgardner

Recording and Re-recording
Geoffrey Mitchell

Online
Denis Pilon

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

WALLS ARE REAL, BORDERS ARE IMAGINARY. An animated criticism of long-term detention for minors in immigration centres.

Movie Length:   39 seconds

Directed by
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
David Seitz

Animation
David Seitz

Photographer
Sam Javanrouh

Sound Design
Menalon

TechnicalCoordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

JUST DON’T DO IT. An unapologetic confrontation of cultural appropriation and everything that’s wrong with hipsters in headdresses.

Movie Length:   42 seconds

Directed and Animated by
Amanda Strong

Sound Design
Menalon

Music
Drum Party
Joseph Murray and Lodewijk Vos (Menalon)
© 2015 Melanon
All rights reserved

Get Poppin
Dean Hunt
© 2013 Dean Hunt
All rights reserved

Technical Coordination
Steve Hallé
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario
Stéphanie Lalonde
Dominique Forget

Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

Produced as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 National Film Board of Canada

Two gentlemanly pigeons sit next to the fountain at Saint-Louis Square in Montreal, playing checkers and enjoying the summer weather. Little do they know that dangers lurk nearby.

Movie Length:   1 min 26  

Commissioned Animation Official Competition
Ottawa International Animation Festival 2017

Picture and Sound by
Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
(Clyde Henry Productions)

Music
Patrick Watson

Child
Nola Biron Szczerbowska

Technical Coordination
Candice Desormeaux

Administration
Victoire-Émilie Bessette
Rosalina Di Sario

Produced by
Clyde Henry Productions
Tourisme Montréal
Roméo & Fils

Series Associate Producer
Jon Montes

Series Producers
Jelena Popović
Maral Mohammadian

Series Executive Producer
Michael Fukushima

 Distributed as part of Naked Island by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2017 Clyde Henry Productions