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Panoptic

Panoptique
Katie Finn
2025 | 1 min
2D traditional + procedurally generated animation
Without words

Awards and Festivals

  • Official Selection – Canadian PanoramaOttawa International Animation Festival, Canada (2025)

A prison security system detects an explosion. All systems engage to contain the jailbreak. Every decision matters. Every millisecond counts. Panoptic is a kinetic visceral experience that unfolds entirely from the point of view of an unfeeling computer system.

 

Produced as part of the 15th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse mentorship.

Watch the films with behind-the-scenes extras on NFB.ca


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.



Excerpt


Images


Title: Still_04
Photo:
Caption:
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/Still_04.jpg
Description: Film still – Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada, 2025
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Title: Still_03
Photo:
Caption:
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/Still_03-1.jpg
Description: Film still – Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada, 2025
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Title: Still_02
Photo:
Caption:
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/Still_02.jpg
Description: Film still – Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada, 2025
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Title: Still_01
Photo:
Caption:
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/Still_01.jpg
Description: Film still – Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada, 2025
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Title: Still_05_EPK
Photo:
Caption:
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/Still_05_EPK.jpg
Description: Film still – Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada, 2025
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Title: Still_06_EPK
Photo:
Caption:
URL: https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/wp-content/uploads/Still_06_EPK.jpg
Description: Film still – Courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada, 2025
Download

Contact NFB publicist for high-resolution images for print. 

Team


Katie Finn
Apprentice Filmmaker-Animator

Photo




Lilian Chan
Mentoring Director

Photo
Photo : NFB



Fred Casia
Associate Producer

Photo
Photo : NFB



Maral Mohammadian
Producer

Photo
Photo : NFB



Christine Noël
Executive Producer (NFB)

Photo
Photo : Valérie Sangin


Credits

Written, Directed and Animated by
Scénario, réalisation et animation
Katie Finn

Additional Animation
Animation additionnelle
Brandon Blommaert

Editor
Montage
Jesse Riviere

Music
musique
Vid Cousins

Sound Design
Conception sonore
Vid Cousins
Joseph Sims

Mentoring Director
Mentorat de réalisation
Lillian Chan

Associate Producer
Production déléguée
Fred Casia

Voices
Voix
Katie Finn
Abbey Collings

Musicians
Musique, interprétation
Kate Bevan-Baker
Vid Cousins

Foley
Bruitage
Karla Baumgardner

Recording
Enregistrement
Geoffrey Mitchell

Mix
Mixage
Isabelle Lussier

Technical Director
Direction technique
Mathieu Tremblay

Technical Support – Animation
Soutien technique à l’animation
Alexandre Roy

Technical Coordinator
Coordination technique
Luc Binette

Titles
Titres
Cynthia Ouellet

Online Edit
Montage en ligne
Luca Di Gioacchino

Administration
Karine Desmeules

Senior Production Coordinator
Coordination de la production
Dominique Forget

Marketing
Mise en marché
Judith Lessard-Bérubé
Marion Duhaime-Morissette
Emilie Ryan

Publicist
Attachée de presse
Nadine Viau

Consultation
Donald McWilliams

Producer
Production
Maral Mohammadian

Executive Producer
Production exécutive
Christine Noël

© 2025 National Film Board of Canada
© Office national du film du Canada, 2025


Media Relations

  • Nadine Viau
    NFB Publicist – Montreal
    C.: 514-458-9745
    n.viau@nfb.ca

  • About the Hothouse program

    Hothouse is a mentorship program for emerging Canadian animation filmmakers. It was created in 2003 by NFB Animation Studio Producer Michael Fukushima and Executive Producer David Verrall to nurture new talent. Participants work alongside industry leaders, gaining real-world experience.

    They have only 12 weeks to craft an original one-minute film. But it’s not just about speed. It’s about helping the next generation of storytellers find inventive ways of using animation while maintaining the creative and technical hallmarks of NFB animation.

    Hothouse is not a funding program, nor is it a school. It is a mentorship in real-world animation filmmaking, with the NFB serving as both producer and distributor.

  • 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 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, 7,000 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.