BEST CANADIAN SHORTS - 3
The Saddest Boy In The World by Jamie Travis (2006) (Can) (13m)
Written and directed by Toronto-based filmmaker, Jamie Travis, The Saddest Boy in the World, feels much like a Wes Anderson comedy, full of strange characters and weird sets and not with a whole lot of story to it. Travis is much vaunted as a director in Canada and started shooting the feature film (penned by Lauren Miller & Katie Anne Naylon) For A Good Time Call... staring Seth Logan in 2011. The title of this short tells you all need to know really....
The Man Who Planted Trees by Frédéric Back (1988) (Can) (30m)
The Man Who Planted Trees (L'Homme Qui Plantait Des Arbre) is another animation from French Canada (although this version his in English). It is based on the 1953 novella by French author, Jean Giono. It tells the story of a man who embarks on a trek through the desolate foothills of the Alps and encounters a recluse, Elzéard Bouffier, who is planting one hundred trees a day, has been doing so for three years, and will continue to do so evermore...
The Bead Game by Ishu Patel (1977) (UK) (5m)
The Bead Game was made by Indian born animator Ishu Patel, who worked at the National Film Board of Canada for more than 20 years. The NFBC so dominated animation during the latter half of the 20th century that they really warrant their own page. Patel won the BAFTA for Best Short Fictional Film with The Bead Game in 1978. It was nominated for an Oscar the same year and remains a mesmerising example of stop-motion animation to this day.
