Boat People
Directors: Thao Lam and Kjell Boersma
Crew:Producers: Justine Pimlott, Jelena Popovi?.
Email:festivals@nfb.ca
Synopsis
As a child in Vietnam, Thao's mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour.
About the directors
Thao Lam - Thao Lam is a critically acclaimed Vietnamese-Canadian children's book author and illustrator. Her books include THAO, Wallpaper, My Cat Looks Like My Dad, Skunk on a String, and the multi-award-winning Paper Boat. Thao arrived in Canada with her parents at the age of three as a refugee from Vietnam. Learning English was difficult, and it was picture books that helped her understand this new world and ignited her passion for visual storytelling. She has an insatiable love for coloured and textured papers, which she uses to create her exuberant collages.
Kjell Boersma - Kjell Boersma is a writer, director and animator from Toronto. Kjell's work includes short films, animation for feature documentaries, music videos and experimental works. His projects combine traditional and digital animation techniques in novel ways. He directed the short film Monster Slayer (2015) and co-founded the arts council Gallup Arts. He was also commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and TIFF Kids to write and direct DAM! The Story of Kit the Beaver (2017).