GCI student's film to premiere at OIAF.
Paper Man, a new short film by David Borish, will be making its world premiere at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Submitted photo
A Glebe Collegiate Grade 12 student is excited his film is among the few that were selected to be screened when thousands of film buffs, art lovers, filmmakers and cartoonists descend on Ottawa for the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Paper Man, a new short film by David Borish that will be making its world premiere at the Sept. 21-25 festival, presents a unique animation adventure come to life.
“I’m super excited for my work to be on display, since I want to get as many people to see it as possible,” said 17-year-old Borish.
His film is one of only five high school films selected to be part of the festival’s High School category.
Borish said Paper Man is about an ordinary picture that jumps out of its frame and comes to life, taking a tour around a house that is made for a giant.
Being so small, there are certain challenges that he meets, like the stuffed animals that are hungry for paper.
Paper Man also meets some friendly toys like those in Lego town that help him on his little journey.
Borish said it took him about 300 cut outs and 700 photos to create this short stop-motion film.
“I have always been into stop-motion and the creative side to it, and after watching some drawing and Lego stop-motions on Youtube, I wanted to put some creative ideas together to make Paper Man, even if it would take hours and hours of tedious work,” said Borish.
Organizers of the festival say it’s one of the most difficult events to be accepted into.
This year they received more than 2,000 entries, of which only 150 were accepted.
Borish started doing animation in Grade 10 when he took a communications technology course that allowed him to work on games, graphics and videos. He said he never thought of submitting an entry to the festival.
“I had heard about the OIAF, but didn’t know anything about it so I never thought I would send an entry in,” he said.
OIAF is one of the leading animation events that has provided first-class screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment since 1976.
Borish, a Rockliffe Park resident, said he enjoys doing animation but isn’t sure whether he will pursue it as a profession.
“I love animation, but I honestly have no idea what I want to get into in the future. For now it is more of an interest and hobby,” he said.
This isn’t Borish’s first stop-motion video. In 2009 he created a youth privacy video for Canada’s Privacy Commission that won second place nationally.
Other highlights of this year’s OIAF competition include the finest new animation from the National Film Board of Canada, with new work by legendary animators such as Paul Driessen (Oedipus), Koji Yamamura (Muybridge's Strings), Georges Schwizgebel (Romance) and Wild Life, a new short film directed by Short Film Palme d’Or winners and Academy Award nominees Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis.