In a short film by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, two ships collide in a harbor, sending a passing sailor skyward as he contemplates the wonder and fragility of existence.
The award-winning animated short film The Flying Sailor is available on The New Yorker’s digital channels today, November 18, as part of the magazine’s award-winning Screening Room series. A National Film Board of Canada (NFB) production, the film is the latest work by the Oscar-nominated and Palme d’Or-winning duo of Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby. Inspired by the incredible true-life story of a man blown two kilometres through the air by the 1917 Halifax Explosion—the largest accidental non-nuclear explosion in history—The Flying Sailor is an exhilarating meditation on the wonder and fragility of being.
Forbis and Tilby are Calgary-based animators who have shared Best Animated Short Film Academy Award nominations for When the Day Breaks (1999) and Wild Life (2011), with Tilby also nominated individually for Strings (1991). The NFB has a long and distinguished history at the Oscars, with NFB productions and co-productions garnering more Academy Award nominations than any other film organization based outside of Hollywood.
The Flying Sailor debuts on The New Yorker’s digital channels after a world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, a North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and a U.S. festival premiere at the New York City Short Film Festival, where it received the award for Best Animation.
Watch The Flying Sailor now for free
Awards
With more than 20 festival selections to date, The Flying Sailor has already won six awards:
- Best Narrative Film, Countryside Animafest Cyprus, Cyprus
- Audience Award for being one of the 10 favourite foreign films, São Paulo International Short Film Festival, Brazil
- Canadian Film Institute Award for Best Canadian Animation, Ottawa International Animation Film Festival, Canada
- Best Animated Short, Calgary International Film Festival, Canada
- Silver Award for Best Canadian Short Film, Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Canada
- Best Animation, New York City Short Film Festival, United States
A Film By
Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby
Original Music & Sound Design
Luigi Allemano
3D Modeling & Animation
William J Dyer
Additional 2D Animation
Anna Bron
Compositing Artist
Nicolas Mermet
Additional Effects
Jon Jon Atienza
Zane Kozak
Online Editing
Serge Verreault
Titles
Alain Ostiguy
Foley Artist
Andy Malcolm
Foley Mix & Editing
Chelsea Body
Foley recorded at Footsteps Post-Production Sound Inc.
Music Recording & Mix
Geoffrey Mitchell
Assisted by
Bernard Belley
Final Mix
Jean Paul Vialard
Piano
John Sadowy
Violins
Lizann Gervais
Dominic Guilbault
Chantal Bergeron
Madeleine Messier
Annie Guenette
Chloé Chabanole
Violas
Elvira Misbakhova
Madeleine Messier
Bojana Milinov
Cellos
Sheila Hannigan
Alain Aubut
Carla Antoun
Bass
Adrian Vedady
Flute and Piccolo
Jeffrey Stonehouse
Clarinet and Bass Clarinet
Lori Freedman
French Horns
Louis-Philippe Marsolais
Alice Lane Lépine
Trombone, Euphonium, and Ukulele
Luigi Allemano
Technical Coordinators
Luc Binette
Albert Kurian
Digital Imaging Consultant
Eloi Champagne
Production Coordinator
Jessica Smith
Production Supervisor
Esther Viragh
Administrators
Bree Beach
Devon Supeene
Studio Operations Manager
Darin Clausen
Marketing Manager
Judith Lessard-Bérubé
Marketing Coordinator
Jolène Lessard
Publicists
Nadine Viau
Katja De Bock
Legal Counsel
Peter Kallianiotis
Producer & Executive Producer
David Christensen
A National Film Board of Canada production