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Caroline Leaf

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Caroline Leaf
Born (1946-08-12) August 12, 1946 (age 78)
Seattle, Washington, United States
Alma materRadcliffe College
Occupations
Years active1969–present
Websitehttp://www.carolineleaf.com

Caroline Leaf (born August 12, 1946) is a Canadian American filmmaker, animator, director, tutor and artist. She has produced numerous short animated films and her work has been recognized worldwide. She is best known as one of the pioneering filmmakers at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). She worked at the NFB from 1972 to 1991. During that time, she created the sand animation and paint-on-glass animation techniques. She also tried new hands-on techniques with 70 mm IMAX film. Her work is often representational of Canadian culture and is narrative-based. Leaf now lives in London, England, and is a tutor at The National Film and Television School. She maintains a studio in London working in oils and on paper and does landscape drawing with an iPad.[1][2][3]

Biography and early work

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Leaf was born in Seattle, Washington and lived in Boston. She attended Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and majored in architectural sciences and visual arts from 1964-1968. During her last year of studies, she enrolled in an animation class. The class was taught by Derek Lamb as a creative practice, not as a professional training. Lamb encouraged his students to focus on movement. Leaf worked with beach sand spread on a lightbox. This is when she created sand animation. Using this technique, she produced her first film Sand, or Peter and the Wolf and was awarded a scholarship from Harvard University. After graduation, she moved to Italy for a year to focus on her drawing. Returning to Harvard, she made her second animated film, Orfeo painting on glass. She then did freelance work from a studio in Boston and made How Beaver Stole Fire. Leaf moved to Montreal to work as an animator / director for the National Film Board of Canada in 1972. She worked at the NFB in the French and English animation departments until 1991. She made nine animated and live puppet films and a documentary film during those years.[2][3][4][5][6]

Career

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Leaf made her first film, Sand, or Peter and the Wolf, in 1969 at Harvard University. The short was made by pouring sand on a light box and manipulating the shapes frame-by-frame. Her second film at Harvard, Orfeo, was painted on glass under the camera. In 1972 she was invited to join the National Film Board of Canada's French Animation Studio. Her first film for the NFB was The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend.[3]

Making the film involved two trips to the Canadian Arctic, first to collaborate on designs with the Inuvialuk artist Agnes Nanogak and afterwards to record the sound effects for the film. Her most renowned short film was The Street, which was drawn directly under the camera with a mix of paint and glycerin. It was adapted from the short story by Mordecai Richler, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 49th Academy Awards.[7] It is also featured in the Animation Show of Shows.[8]

Leaf co-directed an animated documentary film called Interview with Veronika Soul. She made a documentary film on the singers Kate & Anna McGarrigle, produced by Derek Lamb.[9] In 1990, she made her first animation in nearly a decade by scratching into the emulsion of exposed black 70 mm colour film and reshooting it on 35 mm film. She worked for two years using this technique on her film Two Sisters original version called Entre Deux Soeurs. The tone and story of this film is dark. Two Sisters won the award for best short film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 1991.[10]

Leaf worked as an animator/director at the NFB until 1991. In 1991 she left animation to establish herself as a fine arts artist working in oils. In 2004 she contributed animation to a film about the Underground Railroad produced by Acme Filmworks in Los Angeles called Suite for Freedom. Her part was called Slavery.

Animation techniques and influence

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Leaf discovered a spontaneous and artistic hand crafted way of animating in her animation class at Harvard and developed it in her professional career, pioneering: sand and paint-on-glass animation, along with hand etching on film stock. All of her techniques have been described as having "fluid transitions".[6] She used different techniques to best tell the story of each of her films which showcased her narrative-based style. She created simple anecdotal and fictional stories based on literary works. Her films contain characters with relatable and complex issues. Her stories are mostly adaptations from literature and reflect her often dark narrative content.[2] Every decision when I am animating is for the benefit of the story."[11]

Leaf is also considered an influential Canadian filmmaker for her long standing service with the National Film Board of Canada and her representation of Canadian culture in her films. This can mainly be seen in her films The Street, The Owl who Married a Goose, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle.[11]

Painting and drawing

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Since 2000 Leaf has maintained a studio in London, England, and developed a personal style of painting in oils as well as drawings on paper. Her work is abstract and very much guided by mark-making and a personal search to create spaces a viewer is invited to enter. She has also developed a lively landscape style of direct observation from nature and works on field trips with paper and pencil and also iPad, using programs called Brushes and ProCreate.[citation needed]

Exhibitions

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Residencies

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Selected filmography

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Year Title Credit Listing
1969 Sand, or Peter and the Wolf animator, director
1972 Orfeo animator, director
1972 How Beaver Stole Fire animator, director
1976 The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend animator, director
1976 The Street animator, director
1977 The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa animator, director
1979 Interview co-animator, director
1981 Kate and Anna McGarrigle director
1981 The Right to Refuse co-screenwriter, co-producer, director
1982 An Equal Opportunity director, co-screenwriter
1983 Pies animator
1983 War Series animator, director
1985 The Owl and the Pussycat director, producer, designer
1986 The Fox and The Tiger: A Chinese Parable director, designer
1986 A Dog's Tale: A Mexican Parable director
1988 Paradise Found animator, director
1990 Two Sisters animator, director
1991 I Met a Man animator, director
1993 Bell Partout animator, director
1994 Fleay's Fauna Centre animator, director
1995 Brain Battle animator, director
1995 Radio Rock Detente animator, director
2004 Slavery director

Awards

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Year Award Competition Title
1975 Émile Reynaud Special Award Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1975 Etrog for Best Animated Film 26th Canadian Film Awards The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 Victorian Government Prize Melbourne Film Festival, Australia The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 Third Prize - Silver Boomerang Melbourne Film Festival, Australia The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 First Prize Melbourne Film Festival, Australia The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 First Prize - Films for Children Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 Silver Cindy Award Cindy Competition, United States The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 Special Award for Animation Cindy Competition, United States The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 Silver Award Information Film Producers Association Convention, United States The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1976 Grand Prix Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada The Street
1976 Wendy Michener Award 27th Canadian Film Awards The Street
1976 Etrog for Best Animated Film 27th Canadian Film Awards The Street
1977 Blue Ribbon Award - Language Arts American Film and Video Festival The Street
1977 Special Prize Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia The Street
1977 First Prize - Animated Films Cork International Film Festival, Ireland The Street
1977 Chris Bronze Plaque Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, United States The Street
1977 First Prize High Plains Film Festival - Texas Tech University, United States The Street
1977 Special Jury Mention Lille International Short Film Festival, France The Street
1977 Red Ribbon Award - Language arts American Film and Video Festival The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1977 First Prize Melbourne Film Festival, Australia The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1977 Special Jury Mention International Arctic Film Festival, Finland The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
1977 Critic's Award Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa
1978 Award for Best Animation Huesca International Film Festival, Spain The Street
1978 Merit Award Annual International Film Festival, United States The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa
1978 Grand Prize Kraków Film Festival, Poland The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa
1978 Special Jury Award Ottawa International Animation Festival The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa
1978 Certificate for Outstanding Achievement Golden Gate Awards Competition & International Film Festival, United States The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa
1979 AMER Golden Eye Award Annual AMER Film Awards, United States The Street
1979 Jury Award for Best Short Film Montreal World Film Festival Interview
1979 First Prize (5-15 mins) World Festival of Animated Film Interview
1980 Certificate for an Outstanding Film Hong Kong International Film Festival The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa
1981 Grand Prix Melbourne Film Festival, Australia Interview
1991 Best Film Award Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France Two Sisters
1991 Grand Prix International Animation Celebration, United States Two Sisters
1991 Best Animation Award International Short Film Festival, Sweden Two Sisters
1992 Honorable Mention American Film and Video Festival Two Sisters
1992 Special Jury Award International Animation Film Festival, China Two Sisters
1992 Alberta-Quebec Award Quebec-Alberta Prizes, Canada Two Sisters
1992 Best Film Award Tampere Film Festival, Finland Two Sisters
1992 Silver Apple Award National Educational Media Network Competition, United States Two Sisters
1992 Grand Prize of the Festival: Best Story Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada Two Sisters

Other awards

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Nominations

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References

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  1. ^ Roberts, Eric (1998). "Hand-Crafted Cinema Animation Workshop with Caroline Leaf". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Hamel, Jean-François (2010). "Grandeur et Humanisme". Ciné-Bulles. XXVIII (1): 32–33.
  3. ^ a b c McDougal, Dana (January 2000). "Caroline Leaf". The St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia. 18 (4): 88.
  4. ^ Maurice, Elia (January 1978). "Caroline Leaf". Séquences (91): 102–117.
  5. ^ "National Film Board of Canada". National Film Board of Canada.
  6. ^ a b Petrolle, Jean (2005). Women and Experimental Filmmaking. Urbana: University of Illinois. pp. 193–201. ISBN 0252072510.
  7. ^ Leaf, Caroline. "The Street". NFB.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  8. ^ The Street on Animation Show of Shows
  9. ^ "Kate and Anna McGarrigle". Documentary film. National Film Board of Canada. 1981. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  10. ^ Leaf, Caroline. "Two Sisters". NFB.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  11. ^ a b Pagliano, Jean-Pierre (2003). "ENTRETIEN: Caroline leaf: Je n'aime pas les contes de fées". Positif (508): 93–95.
  12. ^ "2017: Caroline Leaf Receives the Winsor McCay Award". Zippy Frames. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  13. ^ "Dragon of Dragons 2019 for Caroline Leaf – pioneer of animation". Krakow Film Festival. February 28, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  14. ^ "Filmmaker Caroline Leaf to Receive Dragon of Dragons Award at Krakow Film Festival". Vimooz. March 8, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  15. ^ Short Film Winners: 1977 Oscars
  16. ^ 1977|Oscars.org
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