A Couple Short Films by Caroline Leaf

Hello fellow animation fans, I would guess many of you are probably aware of the National Film Board of Canada. From the 1960's until today this studio has brought us some absolutely incredible animation ranging from slapstick comedy to art house animation. One of the most artistically daring directors to work for this studio was Caroline Leaf. She allowed her work to take chances and dare to be different. Because of this and her sheer talent as a filmmaker, her films will always have a place in my heart. That is why today we will look at just a couple short films she directed.

Oud first short is The Street from 1976. This is a fantastic and very touching adaption of Mordechai Richler's short story, written by Richler himself. For this film Leaf used a very different style of animation than pretty much anyone had before. She used color oils to animate directly on the glass beneath the camera. Leaf animated this film completely by herself. The style proved very effective and so did the film.

   

Our second and last short for the day is Two Sisters from 1991. This is a dark and disturbing tale about what happens when you take trying to protect someone too far. The film has a very abstract style of animation provided by Leaf herself (with an assistant animator, Jacques Sainte-Marie). This style of animation adds to the uncertain and dark atmosphere of the film. However I cannot properly describe this film in words watch it below to see why this short is so brilliant.





-Michael J. Ruhland