Netflix and Women in Animation Vancouver (WIA) are pleased to present the world premiere of Ostinato, the latest short film from ACE Canada, produced with the support of the Canada Media Fund, Creative BC and Telefilm Canada. The ACE Program (ace-program.com) has previously produced the 2024 Oscar-qualifying short film Pivot and its debut project, The Butterfly Effect.
The film will debut with the entire team in attendance at the Oscar-accredited Spark Animation festival (sparkcg.org) in Vancouver as a part of the Mothers of an Artform program on Friday, November 10 at 6:30 p.m. followed by a Q&A. On Saturday, November 11, there will be another special event screening at 4 p.m. with a panel discussion and a Cartoons & Cocktails celebration to follow at 6:30 p.m.
Inspired by writer Sunita Balsara’s own experience with tinnitus, Ostinato follows Nuha, a composer who sees the world as a vibrant soundscape. She is having the best and gentlest kind of morning when her playing is interrupted by a mysterious Tone. As she struggles to confine and banish it, the Tone grows larger and louder, drowning out her music. It’s only when Nuha stops fighting that she is able to discover a way to incorporate the Tone into her music and her life.
The team behind this year’s film Ostinato includes artists from BC, Quebec and Ontario. Composer Amanda Cawley (Fireman Sam), story supervisor Anna Bohac (Carmen Sandiego), editor Isabel Ribeiro (HitPig), assistant art director May-Yun Ong (Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie), animation director Molly Lacoursière (Pinecone & Pony), director Sonia Furier (Unicorn Academy), producer Stephanie Hodgson (Spidey and His Amazing Friends) & writer Sunita Balsara (Thomas & Friends) will all be in attendance to screen Ostinato, talk about their experiences and share authentic, challenging, funny, career-changing stories from experience of making this film.
The ACE Program is an immersive animation career excel-erator mentorship program for mid-level animation professionals who identify as women and non-binary, which through mentoring and workshops, was designed to advance was designed to advance the careers of women in the animation industry by giving them a key credit in the creation of their very own short film. With the support of Netflix through the Fund for Creative Equity, this third iteration of the program has expanded roles and accepted applications from across Canada.
