Animation Blog

The National Film Board of Canada’s animated documentary Tying Your Own Shoes by Shira Avni was honoured with the Golden Dove Award for a short film at the 52nd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film. The film made its world premiere at the festival.

The Jury gives this award to a film that gives voice to a segment of society that has long been rendered voiceless – while at the same time expanding the vocabulary of documentary film aesthetics. The Golden Dove award comes with a prize of € 5,000. The International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film – DOK Leipzig – is the largest German and one of the leading international festivals for artistic documentary and animated films.

Tying Your Own Shoes is an animated documentary offering a rare opportunity to hear the unique perspectives of four adult artists with Down Syndrome. Shira Avni follows her award-winning animation, John and Michael, with this auteur hybrid film in which Petra, Matthew, Daninah and Katherine discuss their pasts, relationships and ambitions, challenging widely-held stereotypes. While Down Syndrome is often discussed in terms of disability, Tying Your Own Shoes is an artful, four-way essay about ability.

Canada’s public film producer and distributor, the National Film Board of Canada creates social-issue documentaries, auteur animation, alternative drama and digital content that provide the world with a unique Canadian perspective. In collaboration with its international partners and co-producers, the NFB is expanding the vocabulary of 21st-century cinema and breaking new ground in form and content, through community filmmaking projects, cross-platform media, interactive cinema, stereoscopic animation – and more. Since the NFB’s founding in 1939, it has created over 13,000 productions and won over 5,000 awards, including 12 Oscars and more than 90 Genies. In 2009, the works of NFB animation pioneer Norman McLaren were added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Registry. The NFB’s new website features over 1,000 productions online, and its iPhone app has become one of the most popular and talked about downloads. Visit today and start watching!

Source NFB