One of the five Oscar nominees for the Best Animated Short film t is Sunday from Canada, directed by Patrick Doyon. Sunday is a National Film Board of Canada production.
Every Sunday, it’s the same old routine! The train clatters through the village and almost shakes the pictures off the wall. In the church, Dad dreams about his toolbox. And of course later Grandma will get a visit and the animals will meet their fate.
Here is our short interview with Patrick Doyon about Sunday.
Bijan Tehrani: How did you come up with the idea of Sunday?
Patrick Doyon: I took inspiration from my memories, my memories of the Sundays and it is not autobiographical but everything in the film is based on something from my childhood. I wanted to make a film about boredom without boring the audience.
BT: Please tell us about Sunday’s animation style.
PD : I’m not considering myself a very good animator, so I wanted to make it into a very simple design and I did some research to find some information about the look of the little boy, then I tried to create the whole world around him. It was important that everything needed to exist in this world matches his personality.
BT: The passing train plays a very important role in this film; did you envision it as a symbol of the fast paced world outside the village, where the little boy lives?
PD: There are two subjects in the story of the film, first on is the story of the little boy on a Sunday in his village and second one is the story of the train that passes by and never stops at the village. A small village filled with aging people and abounded factories.
BT: There are two recognizable layers in your film, tragedy and comedy, how did you blend this two in Sunday?
PD: There is a balance between melancholies in the film and also the sense of humor in it, the subject can be dark but the story is not dark, I guess that is one of the reasons that people like this film.
BT: Did working with the National Film Board of Canada assist you with making this film?
PD: Working with National Film Board was very motivating, and they liked the story. By receiving a salary for making the film and I was able to focus my energy in making a solid film, if it was only me to do most of the job
BT: What do you think are your chances of winning the Oscar for your film and how will winning the Oscar help you?
PD: I guess it will help, I don’t know what kind of offer I can get by winning an Oscar but already today I have gained a lot of visibility by receiving nomination and last week I received an offer to direct another film.
BT: What is your next project?
PD: Right now I am doing an illustration for a children’s book. Next year I will try to put together an animated short.
Sunday and other OSCAR nominated animation and live action shorts will be released in Los Angeles on February 10, 2012 at Landmark’s The Nuart Theatre, West LA and Regency Theatres’ South Coast Plaza, Santa Ana.
In New York screening of OSCAR nominated animation and live action shorts starts on Feb. 10.