The Flying Sailor

The Flying Sailor is a 2022 Canadian independent[1] animated short film directed by Oscar-nominated directors[2] Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis.[3] The film debuted at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival[4][5] and has received several nominations and awards, including a nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[6] and winning the award for the Best Canadian Film at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.[7]

The Flying Sailor
Directed byWendy Tilby
Amanda Forbis
Written byWendy Tilby
Amanda Forbis
Produced byDavid Christensen
Music byLuigi Allemano
Production
company
Release date
13 June 2022
Running time
8 minutes
CountryCanada

The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2022.[8]

Plot

When a nearby ship explodes, a sailor is launched on an unexpected existential voyage.[9] The 8-minute short explores the fragility of life through a sailor's near-death experience[10] inspired by the real life catastrophic Halifax Explosion of 1917. The last credit states the film is dedicated to "Charlie Mayers - A Sailor who, in the Halifax Explosion of 1917, flew over 2 kilometers and lived to tell about it."[11][12]

Inspiration

Charles Mayers was an officer aboard the SS Middleham Castle, a ship moored at a wharf in Halifax Harbour on the morning of the explosion. Mayers was blow from the ship's deck to land on Fort Needham Hill overlooking the harbour, injured and naked but alive. Tilby and Forbis were inspired by the story when they encountered it on a visit the to Halifax Explosion exhibit at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.[13]

Reception
Year Award Award/Category Status Ref
2022 Ottawa International Animation Festival Best Canadian Film Won [7][14]
Calgary International Film Festival Best Animated Film Won [15]
Countryside Animafest Cyprus Best Narrative Film Won [16]
2023 95th Academy Awards Best Animated Short Film Nominated [17]
11th Canadian Screen Awards Best Animated Short Won [18]
Sundance Film Festival Short Jury Award: Animation Won [19]

References
  1. Know Your Indie Filmmaker: Amanda Forbis And Wendy Tilby|Cartoon Brew
  2. Milligan, Mercedes (2022-11-18). "Watch 'The Flying Sailor' in The New Yorker's Screening Room Today". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2022-11-20. 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).
  3. Robinson, Chris (2022-07-29). "Know Your Indie Filmmaker: Amanda Forbis And Wendy Tilby". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2022-11-20. The duo just finished the short, The Flying Sailor. The film is inspired by the apparently true story of a man who survived being blown a mile into the sky during the Halifax Explosion of 1917.
  4. "Put on Your Shorts: Annecy 2022". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  5. "Annecy Festival 2022 chooses 38 animated shorts for competition -". www.animationxpress.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  6. "2023 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  7. Vancouver, 520 East 1st Avenue; V5t 0h2, Bc; Canada (2022-10-18). "'The Flying Sailor' Wins Festival Acclaim". www.ecuad.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  8. Pat Mullen, "Three Feature Docs Make Canada’s Top Ten". Point of View, December 8, 2022.
  9. Alex Heeney, "Ten must-see shorts at TIFF 2022". Seventh Row, September 8, 2022.
  10. Milligan, Mercedes (2022-10-06). "NFB Short 'The Flying Sailor' Sets US Fest Premieres in NYC & LA". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  11. "Serenity Amid Disaster in "The Flying Sailor"". The New Yorker. 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  12. Cooke, Stephen. "Animated short inspired by Halifax Explosion to premiere at TIFF 2022 | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20. The collision of the Mont Blanc and the Imo in the Halifax Explosion is shown in The Flying Sailor, a new animated film from the National Film Board receiving its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. - National Film Board
  13. Sabine Antigua, "In Oscar-nominated film ‘The Flying Sailor history and imagination collide", The Signal, Jan. 27, 2023
  14. Lang, Jamie (2022-09-25). "'Dozens Of Norths,' 'Bird In The Peninsula' Take Top Prizes At Ottawa 2022". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  15. "Calgary International Film Festival jury winners announced". calgaryherald. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  16. "Winners Announced for Animafest Cyprus 2022". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  17. 'The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse' Wins Best Animated Short Film | 95th Oscars (2023)
  18. Jenna Benchetrit, "Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 13, 2023.
  19. Sundance Film Festival
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