''Village of Idiots'' is a short animated comedy based on the classic humorous

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

folk tales of

Chełm Chełm (; uk, Холм, Kholm; german: Cholm; yi, כעלם, Khelm) is a city in southeastern Poland with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some ...

, directed and animated by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove, written by John Lazarus, and 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 ...

(NFB). Fedorenko is the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning animator of the 1979 NFB short '' Every Child''. In 1999, it was one of four films in the 1st Annual Animation Show of Shows.

Summary

“Outsiders call

the village of idiots," Shmendrick explains, "but our rabbi said we were a city of natural geniuses, with our own way of figuring things out.” With muted, mesmerizing illustrations and heavy accordion-based music, the film follows Shmendrick as he sets out on a journey away from home for the first time. But along his journey from Chełm to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, He decides to have a rest. He then eats some food that he brought with him and then has a sleep. Afterwards, Shmendrick awakens and continues his journey. But as he travels, he comes upon a city that is eerily similar to the one he left behind. The rest of us might think Shmendrik just took a wrong turn and ended up back home, but for Shmendrik, this discovery sheds light on holy teachings: “the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

tells us that the world is everywhere the same," he recalls.

Awards

* CINANIMA International Animated Film Festival,

Espinho, Portugal Espinho () is a city and a municipality located in the Aveiro District, Portugal. It is located in both the Greater Porto and the Metropolitan Area of Porto, 16 km from its city centre. It is one of the smallest municipalities in Portugal and ...

RTP Internacional RTP Internacional (RTPi) is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's international television service, and is known for broadcasti ...

Jury Honorable Mention, 1999 * CINANIMA International Animated Film Festival,

: Special Jury Award, 1999 * CINANIMA International Animated Film Festival,

: Audience Award, 1999 *

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

: Best Animated Film, 1999 *

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

: FIPRESCI Award

International Federation of Film Critics The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

, 1999 *

: Second Prize, Short Films, 1999 *

Writers Guild of Canada The Writers Guild of Canada is an organization representing more than 2,500 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the Guild write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies of th ...

: Best Script, to John Lazarus, 1999 * Castelli Animati,

Genzano di Roma Genzano di Roma is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is one of the Castelli Romani, at a distance of from Rome, in the Alban Hills. History The origin of the name ''Genzano'' is stil ...

, Italy: Grand Prize, 2000 *

Curtas Vila do Conde Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival, created in 1993, is one of the most important cinematographic and cultural events in Portugal dedicated to short-films and annually produced in July, in the city Vila do Conde. The edition of 2011 ha ...

International Film Festival,

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km². The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of Vila do Conde, Azurar ...

, Portugal: Grand Prize for Animation, 2000 * International Jewish Video Competition of the Judah L. Magnes Museum,

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

: First Prize, Animation, 2000 *

Hiroshima International Animation Festival The International Animation Festival Hiroshima is a biennial animation festival hosted in Hiroshima, Japan. The festival was founded in 1985 by ''Association International du Film d'Animation'' or ''ASIFA'' as ''International Animation Festival f ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, Japan: Renzo Kinoshita Award, 2000 *

Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films The Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (a.k.a. Palm Springs International ShortFest) held annually in Palm Springs, California is the largest film festival for short films in the United States.Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

: Second Place, Animation, 2000 *

Animafest Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb ( hr, Svjetski festival animiranog filma), also known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Fil ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Croatia: Second Prize, 2000 *

Message to Man Message to Man International Film Festival (russian: Послание к Человеку, ''Poslaniye k Chelovyeku'') is an international competitive documentary, short and animated film festival held annually in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Messag ...

International Film Festival,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia – Centaur Award for Best Animation, 2000 *

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 ...

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

, France: Special Jury Award, 2000 *

Brisbane International Film Festival The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held in Brisbane, Australia. Organised by the Screen Culture unit at Screen Queensland, the festival has taken place since 1992, with the program including features, doc ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia: Special Jury Award, 2000 *

Melbourne International Animation Festival The Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF) is an annual animation festival held in Melbourne since 2001. Supported by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Australian Film Commission and the Melbourne City Council, it is Aust ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

: Award for Best of International Session 6, 2001 * California SUN International Animation Festival, Los Angeles: Silver Star Award for Best Experimental Animation, 2001 *

21st Genie Awards The 21st Genie Awards were held in 2001 to honour films released in 2000. The ceremony was hosted by Brian Linehan. Nominees and winners The Genie Award winner in each category is shown in bold along with nominees. References {{Canadian Scree ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

– Genie Award for Best Animated Short, 2001 * New York International Children's Film Festival, New York: Grand Prize Audience Award, 2002

References

External links

* * 1999 animated films 1999 films 1999 short films 1990s animated short films Animated films about Jews and Judaism Animated films based on folklore Canadian animated short films Best Animated Short Film Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Jewish comedy and humor National Film Board of Canada animated short films Quebec films 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-short-animation-film-stub

Summary

Awards

See also

References

External links