Step behind the scenes of The Girl Who Cried Pearls with the film’s creators, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, in an informal deep dive that interweaves the raw moments that went into the making of their haunting new fable of love and greed.
It’s an exclusive inside look at their award-winning National Film Board of Canada short—the latest stop-motion marvel from the makers of the Oscar-nominated Madame Tutli-Putli.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls features meticulously crafted puppets, mesmerizing narration by distinguished stage and screen actor Colm Feore and a score by Polaris Music Prize winner Patrick Watson. Sound designer Olivier Calvert also worked on the NFB Oscar-nominated shorts Affairs of the Art, Blind Vaysha and Animal Behavior, and was part of Sylvain Bellemare’s Oscar-winning team on Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. Brigitte Henry is the film’s artistic director.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls has won seven awards to date as it continues its international festival run, including the Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival, the CFI Award for Best Canadian Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and AniB’s Choice Award at the Bucheon International Animation Festival in South Korea.
The NFB and its productions and co-productions have received 11 Oscars and 78 nominations to date, as well as an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.
Short Synopsis: In Montreal, at the dawn of the 20th century, a poor boy 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 fortune. The choice could damn his soul.
Read our interview with the filmmakers here.
Watch the trailer below:
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