The Flying Sailor is a 2022 Canadian independentKnow Your Indie Filmmaker: Amanda Forbis And Wendy Tilby|Cartoon Brew animated short film directed by Oscar-nominated directors Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis. The film debuted at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and has received several nominations and awards, including a nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards, and winning the award for the Best Canadian Film at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2022.Pat Mullen, "Three Feature Docs Make Canada’s Top Ten". Point of View, December 8, 2022.
Plot When a nearby ship explodes, a sailor is launched on an unexpected existential voyage.Alex Heeney, "Ten must-see shorts at TIFF 2022". Seventh Row, September 8, 2022. The 8-minute short explores the fragility of life through a sailor's near-death experience 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."
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 blown 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 to the Halifax Explosion exhibit at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.Sabine Antigua, "In Oscar-nominated film ‘The Flying Sailor history and imagination collide", The Signal, Jan. 27, 2023
Reception
YearAwardAward/CategoryStatusRef2022Ottawa International Animation FestivalBest Canadian FilmCalgary International Film FestivalBest Animated FilmCountryside Animafest CyprusBest Narrative Film202395th Academy AwardsBest Animated Short Film'The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse' Wins Best Animated Short Film | 95th Oscars (2023)11th Canadian Screen AwardsBest Animated ShortJenna Benchetrit, "Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 13, 2023.Sundance Film FestivalShort Jury Award: AnimationSundance Film Festival
References
External links
The Flying Sailor Trailer on YouTube , posted by The New Yorker The Flying Sailor to stream on The New Yorker