So, here's the thing about Canada. There's lots of talent here, but we don't really talk about any of it. It's like being proud of ourselves just isn't part of the national vocabulary. We leave that to the Americans. And so it is quite possible for someone who makes a point of knowing what's bubbling away in the underground (such as myself) can completely miss a major talent with a brace of fantastic animated shorts to her credit (such as Leslie Supnet). It's more than possible, in fact. It's quite easy. Because nobody ever talks about anything. Not until it finds success south of the border, anyway, then we're all over it. So, my thanks go to Kier-La Janisse (fear her! fear her!) for pointing out Supnet's work, because it's made my day a better place.
Based in Winnipeg, Supnet is a visual artist and animator who works in a hand drawn, cut out animation style that maxes up the nostalgia factor. She also very clearly grew up listening to a lot of heavy metal. There were simply too many good clips to choose from, so I've simply taken the easy way out and gone with the newest one - Fair Trade - which you'll find below the break.
Fair Trade from Leslie Supnet on Vimeo.
Truly depressing. Fantastic. You Canadians should really speak up more about all your greatness.
The music does this short justice, it makes you want to see/hear what’s next. The art style also reminds me of David Barnes, the artist for “of Montreal”.
I don’t think I quite understand the full concept behind this short though beyond getting the "monkey" off your back.