The Physics of Sorrow

Closets

October 2015 •English

It's 1986, tormented teenager Henry is struggling with his sexuality and abusive home life. Henry sits in his closet contemplating suicide. In a flash of light he is transported to 2016 where he meets teenager Ben — now occupying his room 30 years later.

Balamos

October 1982 •Greek

In order to buy a horse, a man wanders in the bazaars of Thessaly. His journey will take him further than he imagines, as old prophets, forgotten witches and vampire princes will find himself on his way.

Pickled Puss

September 1948 •English

The cat and mouse are in their usual game of chase-and-pursue until the mouse hides in a pickled-herring barrel. The cat gets intoxicated from inhaling the fumes and immediately becomes the mouse's newest best friend. He defends the mouse from a mean alley cat, and the mouse invites him to come home with him. There, the mouse takes care of him and sobers him up, and the cat immediately begins to chase him again. He reaches the barrel again and regains his newest best friend. Charlie Chaplin deserves an (uncredited) story listing.

Marine Life Interviews

November 2016 •English

Interviews with the animals at the Marine Life Institute about their experiences with Dory.

Alan Smithee

July 2012 •English

'Alan Smithee' is a film about a boy growing up. It delves into the darker side of what 'growing up' sometimes means: growing into your flaws, inevitably being met with the errors of your parents, and the necessity to make room for the pain. While Alan is surrounded by what is thought to be the American ideal, all the material comforts that should equate happiness, he learns that sometimes all we are is lost in the woods.

Stray Dogs

December 2014 •English

Set within the dark world of organized crime, two friends in the same gang must make a choice. Loyalty as brothers will be tested all on one eventful night.

Out

June 2016 •Hebrew

Ran, a seventeen year old teenager lies to his parents and leaves home for pointless wandering. He is thrown within his childhood realm, witnessing his world undermined by a secret just discovered about his father's homosexuality.

Intruders

April 2018 •Portuguese

In the midst of political upheaval in Brazil, Travis Mathews directs this startling and moving film of the intersection between class, privilege and sex. A man lives a lonely, exquisite lifestyle in his large, empty apartment. He hears a noise, of a man stumbling through the window in his bedroom. The man has a gun, and he shakes while he holds it. What follows is a tender, complex exploration of lust and desire between two very talented performers and the faultless Direction of Mathews.

Me + Her

January 2014 •English

Creating a universe between two small pieces of Cardboard. When Jack and Jill of Cardboard City are separated by Jill's torrid illness, Jack must think outside the box to assure they will be together again.

Benchwarmers

April 2021 •English

A father and daughter meet for the first time in months, during a pandemic, still grieving from an earlier loss. This is a story of connection and disconnection, forming a "pod", and continuing to live.

Der Fuehrer's Face

January 1943 •English

A marching band of Germans, Italians, and Japanese march through the streets of swastika-motif Nutziland, serenading "Der Fuehrer's Face." Donald Duck, not living in the region by choice, struggles to make do with disgusting Nazi food rations and then with his day of toil at a Nazi artillery factory. After a nervous breakdown, Donald awakens to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare.

Sing Along

April 2013 •English

A sheltered boy with a dream of starring on Broadway survives day-to-day life by imagining the world as a musical.

Death in Love

July 2008 •English

Death in Love is a psychosexual-thriller about a love affair between a Jewish woman and a doctor overseeing human experimentation at a Nazi German concentration camp, and the impact this has on her sons' lives in the 1990s.

Coyote

Invalid date •Spanish

Bulgarian Rhapsody

March 2014 •Bulgarian

The story of two adolescents, Moni and Zhozho, who meet 17-year-old Zheni in 1943 and with whom both fell in love. The events that follow unfold while Bulgaria has to decide on the deportation of 11 343 Jewish citizens in Macedonia and Thrace.

The Boy and the Convict

May 1909 •English

A boy helps a convict to escape after meeting him at his mother's graveyard. The convict gets rich in Australia and when he returns is arrested again but released in the last moment after a dying convict confesses.

Tooty's Wedding

November 2011 •English

A young couple's marriage hilariously hits the rocks during a weekend wedding in the country.

Bang

August 2022 •English

In a frenzied attempt to break the isolation, a man drums his head against the wall, unleashing a battery of brightly hued hallucinations. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Baek-il

August 2022 •English

The Korean legend of Ungnyeo, a bear reborn as a woman, becomes a percussive and mesmerizing riff on the themes of transformation and quarantine. Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Jean Fell in Love

May 2022 •French

Jean, 18 years old, is the prodigy heeler of his village rugby club. While his team is defending its title, he falls madly in love with Ayoub, a player from the opposing team. The brotherly relationship he has with his teammates turns out to be more fragile than he thought.