The Street

1976 10m12sec director and animator Caroline Leaf, story Mordecai Richler, producer Guy Glover

Never mind all the awards showered upon Caroline Leaf's The Street;, it is important because it is one of the first Canadian animation films--inspired by a collection of stories by Mordecai Richler--to tell a distinctly Canadian story. Leaf's unique paint-on-glass technique enriches Richler's tale about a family's reactions to the passing of a grandmother by creating dreamlike and transitory images that breathe in and out of one another; barely giving us (or the characters) time--as with our own lives--to fully comprehend the magnitude of what is passing before us. In creating this sensitive, unique and very Canadian film, Leaf also shows us that animation, when it wants to be, can be a powerful and poignant dramatic tool, a medium capable of uncovering the deepest recesses of the human soul.

AWARDS: Canadian Film Awards--Animated Short, Wendy Michener Award; Academy Award Nomination --Animated Short; AV Trust--Masterwork

COPYRIGHT 2004 Canadian Independent Film & Television Publishing Association
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group