Maral Mohammadian

Director Carrie Haber delves deep into the anxiety, thrill and uncertainty of six aspiring animation artists as they are plunged into the twelve-week trial-by-fire that is the NFB's Hothouse for animation filmmakers.

The distinctive three-note chime of the Toronto subway kicks off a zippy tale of bike theft and survival in an unfamiliar new town. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Shannon Amen unearths the passionate and pained expressions of a young woman overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety as she struggles to reconcile her sexual identity with her religious faith. A loving elegy to a friend lost to suicide.

A modern adaptation of the myth of Hercules, BAM tells the story of a young boxer struggling to negotiate between his shy, bookish nature and a divinely violent temper. Where does this rage come from? Is it psychological or environmental - or is it something altogether more primordial?

The Korean legend of Ungnyeo, a bear reborn as a woman, becomes a percussive and mesmerizing riff on the themes of transformation and quarantine. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Are we there yet? When the kids act up in the back seat, a family road trip gets knocked hilariously off course. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Knowing Gaze is a loving roast of gay culture. This animated short moves fluidly through a series of interconnected vignettes—from online personas to offline hookups, from the thrift store to the dance floor to the bathhouse. Rendered in expressive brush strokes, the story unfolds as candid conversations carried by acidic dialogue and vulnerable interior monologues. At its core, the film probes the tenderness and tension of modern gay identity. Beneath a million witty one-liners, the soul cries out.

It was the perfect hiding spot. No one would find him there.

An unapologetic confrontation of cultural appropriation and everything that’s wrong with hipsters in headdresses. The takeaway? Just don't do it.

A bleak picture of sex in the digital age.

In a frenzied attempt to break the isolation, a man drums his head against the wall, unleashing a battery of brightly hued hallucinations. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Chance encounters can leave a lasting imprint, like ink on paper. At 13, Duncan Major met artist Tara Bryan and discovered a shared passion for letterpress printing that shaped his life. In her memory, Duncan created Imprint, a poetic animated film that serves as a heartfelt tribute. Using the letterpress and craft material she passed down to him, the film brings hand-printed art to life with vibrant animation, evocative imagery and a beautifully designed soundscape. Imprint celebrates how the relationships we build echo outward, leaving an enduring legacy.

When Delia announces a breakup on group chat, she’s bombarded with inappropriate and comic remarks from her Salvadoran family. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

A woman writes a letter that will be read by a man in prison. A letter full of love, worry, compassion, suffering and hope. Freedom for Jafar Panahi, and all imprisoned Iranian filmmakers.

Alone in an aging cosmos, a traveller's pilgrimage comes to an end.

A woman awakes to mysterious sounds—and confronts an astonishing surreal world summoned forth by her innermost fears. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

An ode to what can happen when Man plays God.

Three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and maybe some elephants, find themselves in Nairobi. What could possibly go wrong?

An unapologetic warning about how complacent we can be.

An unapologetic take on the vicious cycle of earning too little and consuming too much.

A choir of tropical frogs performs infectious pop in delightfully unsettling animation from Costa Rican-Canadian artist Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes. Riffing on karaoke companion videos and the swipe-n-scroll conventions of handheld media, she infuses candy-coloured digital animation with the spectre of ecological collapse.

When an extraordinary new resident – Balakrishna, an Indian elephant – arrived in the town of East River, Nova Scotia, in 1967, no one was more in awe of the creature than young Winton Cook, who became inseparable from his mammoth new friend. Using painterly animation, photographs and home-movie treasures, Balakrishna transmits the wistfulness of childhood memories, while evoking themes of friendship and loss, and issues of immigration and elephant conservation.

ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. An ode to what can happen when Man play god.

This short animation presents the haunting story of two brothers who share the scars, though not the memories, of an untold history that has driven them to existential extremes.

Two lifetimes from now the world hangs in the balance. Dove, a young, enigmatic, gender-shifting warrior, discovers the gifts and burdens of their Inkwo (medicine) to defend against an army of hungry, ferocious monsters. Dove’s courage, resilience and alliance with the Earth culminates in a battle against these flesh-consuming creatures, who become stronger with each body and soul they devour. Inkwo for When the Starving Return is a call to action to fight and protect against the forces of greed around us.