Howie Shia

In this short animation, a young boy takes a flying leap away from normal, waves goodbye to his classmates, and disappears into the cityscape and beyond. At the same time, a young girl is inspired to reinvent her space with art.

A modern adaptation of the myth of Hercules, BAM tells the story of a young boxer struggling to negotiate between his shy, bookish nature and a divinely violent temper. Where does this rage come from? Is it psychological or environmental - or is it something altogether more primordial?

As a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history.

Seeking shelter from a thunderstorm, a man sits in a pub watching the ice in his glass melt away. Howie Shia marries his graphic illustration style with subtle animation and a haunting soundtrack to conjure up anxiety and foreboding. He used pen and ink on tracing paper and later composited and coloured digitally. This film was made as part of the second edition of the NFB's Hothouse apprenticeship.

An informal look into the personalities and frenzy behind the second edition of the NFB Animation Hothouse. The six Hothouse filmmakers and their NFB collaborators comment on the nature of auteur animation, the place and role of the NFB in that world and the excitement and fear of making a first professional film.

The story of a young woman facing her father’s death, remembering moments in life that help her make sense of it, and finding connection in unlikely places.

A futuristic noodle shop in small-town Saskatchewan has become the world’s first purveyor of the latest in culinary fashion: psychedelic polydimensional comfort food. In this lovingly bizarre short, director and animator Howie Shia examines the small, largely unnoticeable ways in which colonization seeps into our lives, and asks, what is the responsibility of those who dine at a colonial supper table? Dig in.

“A primary metaphor for dance is simply transformation,” explains Peggy Baker as her image dissolves into a flurry of loose contour drawings and ink splatters. Built around an intimate interview with the acclaimed Canadian dancer and choreographer, Peggy Baker Four Phrases is an artful animation and documentary hybrid that travels through a variety of techniques to celebrate Baker’s work and legacy.

For the first time in Canadian history, 15 of Canada’s most acclaimed independent animators have come together to create a collaborative animated film. Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam is an innovative and global approach to animation filmmaking and unites animators from coast to coast, from Vancouver to Halifax and all parts in between, to self reflect on one day of their lives using only 4x6 inch yellow sticky notes, a black pen and animation meditation.

Driven by a dream of revenge against those who made her an outcast in Edo-period Japan, a young warrior cuts a bloody path toward her destiny.