The Hat
Foreign title: Le Chapeau (French)
- Studio
- National Film Board of Canada
- Distributor
- National Film Board of Canada
Synopsis
A young woman works as an exotic dancer in a bar. The customers' hats remind her of a man she knew as a child, who also wore a hat. The man entered her bedroom, turned back the sheets, and laid his hand on her body. She cannot forget how he defiled her.
"The Hat" strikes hard with its stark, and sometimes crude, imagery of a memory that refuses to go away. The woman, conscious of having been abused body and soul, draws the audience into the shadows of a wounded childhood.
The woman can never forget. The hat becomes for her an overwhelming, invasive obsession, constantly resurfacing in a rapid and implacable succession of metamorphoses. Animator Mich?e Cournoyer uses black ink on white paper to illustrate this painful tale. With a quick stroke, she throws ink on paper, creating an occasional blotch. Stains on the soul, stains on paper.
"The Hat" is a tough, visceral experience. The filmmaker, with naked honesty, invites the audience to share in the pain of a woman, an exotic dancer whose body is on display, and whose soul is forever soiled.
"The Hat" strikes hard with its stark, and sometimes crude, imagery of a memory that refuses to go away. The woman, conscious of having been abused body and soul, draws the audience into the shadows of a wounded childhood.
The woman can never forget. The hat becomes for her an overwhelming, invasive obsession, constantly resurfacing in a rapid and implacable succession of metamorphoses. Animator Mich?e Cournoyer uses black ink on white paper to illustrate this painful tale. With a quick stroke, she throws ink on paper, creating an occasional blotch. Stains on the soul, stains on paper.
"The Hat" is a tough, visceral experience. The filmmaker, with naked honesty, invites the audience to share in the pain of a woman, an exotic dancer whose body is on display, and whose soul is forever soiled.
Characters
Young Woman
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Michèle Cournoyer
Producing
- Producer
- Thérèse Descary, Pierre Hébert
- Assistant to the Producer
- Francine Langdeau
Writing
- Writer
- Michèle Cournoyer
Animation
- Animator
- Michèle Cournoyer
Music
- Music
- Jean Derome
- Music - Interpretation
- Fabienne Bélair, Jean Derome, Normand Guilbeault, Joane Hétu, Jean René, Pierre Tanguay, Rainer Wiens
Editing
- Editor
- Fernand Bélanger
- Sound Editing
- Esther Auger
Crew
- Animation Camera
- Pierre Landry
- Sound Design
- Fernand Bélanger, Jean Derome
- Foley
- Monique Vézina
- Foley Assistant
- Martine Collin
- Sound Recording
- Geoffrey Mitchell, Robert Langlois
- Recording
- Serge Boivin, Jean Paul Vialard
- Post-Production Coordination
- André Delagrave
- Administration
- Maryse Chapdelaine
- Administration Assistant
- Diane Regimbald
- Marketing Officer
- Michèle Bélanger
Awards
Best Animated Short, Soir? des Jutra, Montr?l, 2001.
AQCC-T??ilm Canada Award, Best Short or Medium-Length Film, with a cash prize of $4,000 (ex-aequo), Rendez-vous du cin?a qu??ois, Montr?l, 2001.
Special Jury Award, Ottawa International Animation Festival, 2000.
Telefilm Canada Award for Best Canadian Short Film, with a cash prize of $4,000, International Francophone Film Festival in Acadie, Moncton, New Brunswick, 2000.
John Spotton Award, with a cash prize of $2,500, Toronto International Film Festival, 2000.
Special Jury Award, Los Angeles Animation Competition/World Animation Celebration (Wacfest), Agoura Hills, California, 2001.
Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury, International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany, 2001.
Prize of the City of Vienna (ex-aequo), with a cash prize of 25,000ATS (approx. $2,612.50 Canadian) divided between the winners, Culture2Culture - Tricky Women 1st International Women's Animated Film Festival, Vienna, 2001.
Best Animated Short, International Film Festival, Santa Barbara, California, 2001.
Honorable Mention, Films less than 7 minutes, Category A, International Animated Film Festival/CINANIMA, Espinho, Portugal, 2000.
Special Jury Award, For its creativity, sensitivity and personal treatment of a difficult and grave subject such as incest, International Film Festival, Valladolid, Spain, 2000.
Special Mention FIPRESCI Award, International Animated Film Festival, Annecy, France, 2000
AQCC-T??ilm Canada Award, Best Short or Medium-Length Film, with a cash prize of $4,000 (ex-aequo), Rendez-vous du cin?a qu??ois, Montr?l, 2001.
Special Jury Award, Ottawa International Animation Festival, 2000.
Telefilm Canada Award for Best Canadian Short Film, with a cash prize of $4,000, International Francophone Film Festival in Acadie, Moncton, New Brunswick, 2000.
John Spotton Award, with a cash prize of $2,500, Toronto International Film Festival, 2000.
Special Jury Award, Los Angeles Animation Competition/World Animation Celebration (Wacfest), Agoura Hills, California, 2001.
Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury, International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany, 2001.
Prize of the City of Vienna (ex-aequo), with a cash prize of 25,000ATS (approx. $2,612.50 Canadian) divided between the winners, Culture2Culture - Tricky Women 1st International Women's Animated Film Festival, Vienna, 2001.
Best Animated Short, International Film Festival, Santa Barbara, California, 2001.
Honorable Mention, Films less than 7 minutes, Category A, International Animated Film Festival/CINANIMA, Espinho, Portugal, 2000.
Special Jury Award, For its creativity, sensitivity and personal treatment of a difficult and grave subject such as incest, International Film Festival, Valladolid, Spain, 2000.
Special Mention FIPRESCI Award, International Animated Film Festival, Annecy, France, 2000