Canticle of All Creatures
Short Films and Mid-Lengths
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20m
Directed by Miguel Gomes | 21 mins | 2006
This playful but sincere tribute to St. Francis takes the form of a cinematic triptych. From the present day, in which a guitar-wielding bard ambles through the historic center of Assisi, Gomes jumps back 800 years, reviving the saint himself in a lusciously kitsch dramatization. The final section, in which children pipe a song of devotion over footage of the wild animals that Francis so loved, evokes a realm outside of time.
Up Next in Short Films and Mid-Lengths
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Christmas at Moose Factory
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A legendary figure in First Nations filmmaking, Alanis Obomsawin made her documentary debut with this charming, crayon-drawn portrait of a Cree community at Christmastime, as illustrated and narrated by a number of the local children. -
Christmas Cracker
Directed by Jeff Hale, Norman McLaren, Grant Munro, and Gerald Potterton | 9 mins | 1963
A kinetic, cut-out rendition of “Jingle Bells,” a stop-motion face-off between a gaggle of tin wind-up toys, and a hand-drawn quest for the perfect Christmas tree topper: collectively, an upbeat and utterly c... -
Christmas Inventory
Directed by Miguel Gomes | 22 mins | 2000
In this early work by the beloved and formally daring Portuguese auteur, the portrayal of a multi-generational Yuletide family gathering gives way to documentation of the season’s chintzy and charming accouterments: tinsel twinkles, baubles bob, and a Spi...
