Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

A ballerina dances in a music box to other people’s tunes as she struggles to find her own voice.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Mostafa Keshvari
Animator: Jóse Miguel Paucara
Lead voiceover actress: Leeza Udovenko
Music: Jordan Irwin

Filmmaker’s statement

Music box is an animation about women’s freedom in a dystopian modern world where everyone and everything sound the same. It’s about finding our own unique inner voice and following it.

I designed the characters and wrote the script based on one of my published poems by the same name:

Life is like a music box, we all dance to the same song
When everything sounds the same, we can’t tell something is wrong
Everyone wants to fit in , be approved or to fade and die
We forget we have a voice, it can be heard when we cry
Just say something authentic, be yourself for the first time
The universe is in you , be different it’s not a crime
Sing louder than a music box, dance to the beat of your voice
You’re not meant to be boxed in, every song must be your choice

About Mostafa Keshvari

Mostafa Keshvari is an award-winning Canadian/Iranian writer, director and producer based in Vancouver, Canada.

Mostafa is a top graduate of the Vancouver Film School. His films have screened at prestigious festivals, including Cannes. His films are mainly about social issues and often portray strong female lead characters.

Mostafa is also a published poet and painter with a degree in financing. Mostafa’s directorial debut feature film, Unmasked, is starting the festival circuit and follows story of a Muslim woman after the recent travel ban.

The post Music Box appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Canadiana is a series in search of the most incredible stories in Canadian history.

This is a tale about a colony, a thief, his wife and her lover.

Creative team

Writers: Kyle Cucco, Ashley Brook, Adam Bunch, Josef Beeby
Directors: Kyle Cucco, Ashley Brook
Producer: Ashley Brook

Filmmakers’ statement

The Maison Pean burned down in a fire in 1791. The building there now was constructed in 1811 and, ever since, has been owned by the Department of National Defence (a glorious bit of irony for a spot that was the nucleus of the corruption during the fall of a ‘nation’ – New France).

Today it houses the families of those serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. A bit of a happy twist to the tale.

The post The Love Triangle that Brought Down Quebec appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).