Maq and the Spirit of the Woods

Christopher hates his name - it's just too common! When Aunt Gail from Trinidad tells him a story about a larger-than-life character called Tiger, Christopher changes his name to Tiger. But then he finds a better name... When he has trouble cashing Aunt Gail's birthday cheque made out to Christopher Mulamba, he realizes how special his real name truly is. Maybe he could stick with it... or maybe not! Christopher Changes His Name is part of the NFB's Talespinners collection. Created for children aged five to nine, Talespinners uses vibrant animation to bring popular stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.

Maq et l'Esprit de la forêt raconte l'histoire d'un jeune Mi'gmaq qui s'ouvre à la vie grâce au discret soutien de ses mentors. D'abord, un Ancien de son village lui offre un morceau de pierre à sculpter. Maq le prend et façonne un petit personnage. Tout fier, il traverse la forêt pour aller voir son grand-père qui le complimentera sûrement. Sur sa route, il rencontre un curieux voyageur appelé Mi'gmwesu. L'homme et le garçon échangent des histoires, des chansons, des blagues, et cueillent des herbes médicinales. Peu à peu, l'envie d'impressionner cède le pas, chez Maq, au plaisir de partager ce qu'il sait et ce qu'il ressent depuis qu'il a créé son petit personnage. C'est seulement en arrivant chez son grand-père que Maq comprend qui est en fait Mi'gmwesu. Maq et l'Esprit de la forêt est un conte adapté d'histoires qui ont bercé l'enfance de Phyllis Grant. Raconté par le père de Phyllis, le folkloriste mi'gmaq Gilbert Sewell, il parle de la Création et de la découverte des ressources intérieures qui donnent la force et la confiance en soi. L'histoire est bien servie par une palette de couleurs fortes, la qualité du graphisme et un mouvement simple qui fait le lien entre la tradition orale ancienne et les techniques contemporaines d'animation.

Filmmaker Jonathan Ng turns the notion of “otherness” on its head in his animation film, Asthma Tech. In this semi-autobiographical whimsy, young Winston is burdened by the hardships of chronic asthma and isn't able to participate in the everyday activities of his peers and classmates. Winston copes with the predicament through his vivid imagination and with paper and crayons, and on one particularly rainy afternoon his talents and skills save the day. Winston discovers that the magic of imagination has the power to bridge, transform and empower. Asthma Tech is part of the NFB's Talespinners 2. Like the eight films in the first Talespinners collection, this second set of films is for children age 5 to 9. Vibrant animation brings tales from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. Talespinners 2 includes four original stories and three inspired by books. The Talespinners 2 films are multicultural but aren't about being culturally or racially different…these aren't classic immigrant or “fish out of water” tales. These are culturally diverse stories that will charm and amaze five- to nine-year olds and their families: stories that feature kids as strong central characters; stories told from a kid's point of view. Truly, these are stories that place kids in real world situations, where they must use wits, logic and compassion to resolve dilemmas. The films are post-immigrant, post-acculturation stories told by a new generation of filmmakers who are artists, Canadians and diverse, in that order, for whom diversity is no longer an identifier of otherness but an identifier of profound Canadian-ness.