Julie Roy Presents: The Films of Michèle Cournoyer

Kaboom Animation Festival 2022

To animation film buffs, Canadian filmmaker Michèle Cournoyer is no stranger. Known for her socially powerful works (including her many films with the National Film Board of Canada), her metamorphoses and surrealist touches, Cournoyer is one of Canada's dearest filmmaking treasures.

Feminist in nature, her work often focuses on personal conflict and confronts powerful themes ranging from alcoholism and sexual abuse to other violations of the mind and body. Her trademark black ink style and morphing choreography - clearly on display in her most recognized short The Hat - aid to make her films uncompromising and incredibly tense. Cournoyer never fails to inspire us, even though we go with her to the darkest of places.

Julie Roy is one of this year's jury members and curated this special programme on Michèle Cournoyer. A well-respected producer of animated films, Roy was appointed Director General of Creation and Innovation at the National Film Board of Canada in May, 2020. She has produced more than 50 films and interactive projects, primarily animated shorts. Her notable recent productions include Jean-François Lévesque’s I Barnabé/Moi, Barnabé (2020); Regina Pessoa’s Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days/Oncle Thomas: La comptabilité des jours (2019), winner of the Jury Prize at the Annecy film festival; Patrick Bouchard’s The Subject/Le sujet (2018), which premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight; and Matthew Rankin’s The Tesla World Light/Tesla, lumière mondiale (2017), selected to screen in competition at the prestigious Cannes Critics’ Week.