Toronto – WEBWIRE – Friday, August 8, 2025
The 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will present the North American debut of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animated short The Girl Who Cried Pearlsthe latest stop-motion marvel by the Montreal animation duo of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, Oscar nominees for their acclaimed short Madame Tutli-Putli.
Screening in the festivals Short Cuts section, The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a timeless parable of desire, deception and the price of innocence. This meticulously crafted film features handmade puppets, mesmerizing narration by distinguished stage and screen actor Colm Feore and a haunting score by Polaris Music Prize winner Patrick Watson.
Also, as previously announced, Min Sook Lees Toronto-produced NFB feature doc There Are No Wordswill be having its world premiere at TIFF.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles) by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (NFB, 16 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-girl-who-cried-pearls
- The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a haunting fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds.
- At the dawn of the 20th century, a poor boy in Montreal falls in love with a girl whose sorrow turns into pearls. He sells them to a ruthless pawnbroker, who hungers for more. Tempted by greed, the boy must choose between love and fortuneand the choice could damn his soul.
- Along with the talents of Feore (voice) and Watson (music), The Girl Who Cried Pearls features sound design by Olivier Calvert,sound designer on the NFB Oscar-nominated shorts Affairs of the Art, Blind Vaysha and Animal Behaviour, and part of Sylvain Bellemares Oscar-winning team on Denis Villeneuves Arrival.
- The Girl Who Cried Pearls had its world premiere in Official Competition on the opening night of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
- The film is produced for the NFB by Julie Roy, Marc Bertrand and Christine Nol, with Brigitte Henry as artistic director.
More about Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
- Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Clyde Henry Productions) are award-winning writers, directors and animators, whose work is rich in surreal detail, dark humour and evocative artistry, as they explore the mystery and strange beauty of life.
- Their first film, Madame Tutli-Putli (NFB, 2007), received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short along with 45 awards and mentions.
- Their acclaimed NFB credits also include Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life (NFB/Warner Brothers, 2019), a Maurice Sendak adaptation featuring Meryl Streep; art direction for Guy Maddins The Forbidden Room (Buffalo Gal Pictures/Phi/NFB, 2015), recognized with a Canadian Screen Award nomination; and the VR stop-motion work Gymnasia (Felix & Paul/NFB), winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Immersive Experience.
- Most recently, they collaborated with Montreals Compulsion Games and X-Box to direct a short stop-motion introduction to the game South of Midnight.
- Honoured this year with a special tribute at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Lavis and Szczerbowski were also celebrated with retrospectives at the Cinmathque Qubcoise in Montreal and the Annecy International Animation Festival in France in 2017.
French version here | Version franaise ici.
About the NFB
For more than 80 years, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has produced, distributed and preserved those stories, which now form a vast audiovisual collectionan important part of our cultural heritage that represents all Canadians.
To tell these stories, the NFB works with filmmakers of all ages and backgrounds, from across the country. It harnesses their creativity to produce relevant and groundbreaking content for curious, engaged and diverse audiences. The NFB also collaborates with industry experts to foster innovation in every aspect of storytelling, from formats to distribution models.
Every year, another 50 or so powerful new animated and documentary films are added to the NFBs extensive collection of more than 14,000 titles, half of which are available to watch for free on nfb.ca.
Through its mandate, its stature and its productions, the NFB contributes to Canadas cultural identity and is helping to build the Canada of tomorrow.
( Press Release Image: https://photos.webwire.com/prmedia/7/342188/342188-1.jpg )
WebWireID342188
This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.
News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.