''Lipsett Diaries'' (french: Les journaux de Lipsett) is a 2010 short animated documentary about the life and art of

collage film Collage film is a style of film created by juxtaposing found footage from disparate sources. The term has also been applied to the physical collaging of materials onto film stock. Surrealist roots The surrealist movement played a critical role i ...

maker

Arthur Lipsett Arthur Lipsett (May 13, 1936 – May 1, 1986) was a Canadian avant-garde director of short collage films. Life and career Born in Montreal into a Jewish family, Lipsett saw his mother, an immigrant from Kiev, commit suicide when he was 10 years ...

, animated and directed by

Theodore Ushev Theodore Asenov Ushev ( bg, Теодор Асенов Ушев; born 4 February 1968) is a Bulgarian animator, film director and screenwriter based in Montreal. He is best known for his work at the National Film Board of Canada, including the 2 ...

and written by Chris Robinson. The 14-minute film was produced by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, where Lipsett had worked from 1958 to 1972, before committing suicide in 1986. The film is narrated by

Xavier Dolan Xavier Dolan-Tadros (; born 20 March 1989) is a Canadian filmmaker, actor and costume designer. He began his career as a child actor in commercials before directing several arthouse feature films. He first received international acclaim in 2 ...

Inspiration

Ushev was inspired to make a film about Lipsett, after Robinson had forwarded him an email where the late filmmaker was discussed. Until that point, Ushev had never heard of Lipsett. He began to do some research and was surprised to learn that Lipsett had lived on the same street as him in Montreal. Ushev went to the building where Lipsett once lived and met with the concierge, who showed him a locker where belongings from former tenants were stored. There, Ushev discovered a small blue notebook with "Lipsett" written on it, containing notes by the late filmmaker.

Production

The film was animated by hand-painting the frames, using computer editing to link the images. Ushev estimated that 40 frames were painted per day during production. ''Lipsett Diaries'' was Robinson's first attempt at screenwriting.

Reception

''Lipsett Diaries'' received the Genie Award for Best Animated Short at the 31st Genie Awards. In June 2011, it received three awards at the 2011 Golden Sheaf Awards: for Animation, the Founders' Award, and Best of Festival. ''Lipsett Diaries'' also received a Special Jury Award at the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

, a Special International Jury Prize at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival, an audience award at the Melbourne International Animation Festival, Best Canadian Film at the

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by ...

, special mentions at the Bravo!FACT Awards and Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto, Best Animated Film at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, and the grand prize at the Rencontres internationales du cinéma d'animation in

Wissembourg Wissembourg (; South Franconian: ''Weisseburch'' ; German: ''Weißenburg'' ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is situated on the little river Lauter close to the border between France and Germany a ...

. At the end of 2010, the film was included in the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

's Top 10 Canadian films of the year.

References

External links

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''Lipsett Diaries''
at the

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Filmmaker's blog
{{ACCT Short Films 2010 short films Canadian animated documentary films Documentary films about film directors and producers 2010s short documentary films Films directed by Theodore Ushev Canadian animated short films National Film Board of Canada animated short films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Documentary films about mental health Best Animated Short Film Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners 2010 documentary films Films set in Montreal Documentary films about the cinema of Canada 2010s animated short films 2010 animated films 2010 films Canadian short documentary films French-language Canadian films 2010s Canadian films Best Animated Short Film Jutra and Iris Award winners