Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski: 20+ Years of Animated Magic at the NFB
Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski: 20+ Years of Animated Magic at the NFB
The NFB released 50+ standout Canadian films this year, but Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s stop-motion short The Girl Who Cried Pearls (2025) is one you absolutely shouldn’t miss!
Streaming free on NFB.ca, the film zips us back to early-1900s Montreal, shaking up how we watch cinema with bold formal and narrative moves, such as its partial use of lip-synced dialogue. In the film, characters talk—meaning, they move their mouths in perfect synch with their dialogue—but only during scenes in the film’s frame tale, set in the present; in the flashbacks and ellipses, their lips fall silent, leaving us guessing as the narrator guides the story and speaks their lines for them. This on-and-off lip movement mirrors the story’s theme of trust and mistrust. Lies, schemes and betrayals constantly mess with what we think we know, making viewers switch between buying into the characters’ world and spotting the clever tricks behind it. By the end, the film drives home the idea that belief is never simple: it’s always conditional, performative and subjective.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
Lavis and Szczerbowski met as students in Montreal, founded Clyde Henry Productions in Toronto and later moved the studio back to Montreal. Their storytelling breaks away from the usual “hero’s journey” and instead plays with how we see and experience film—as seen in The Girl Who Cried Pearls above (whose art director, it’s worth highlighting, was photographer and multidisciplinary artist Brigitte Henry). Of course, Lavis and Szczerbowski were also the team behind the Oscar-nominated modern classic Madame Tutli-Putli (2007)… and we dug up its behind-the-scenes video recently—check out my previous blog post where I break it all down. If you somehow haven’t seen the film yet (unlikely, but hey!), you can watch it below:
Madame Tutli-Putli , Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
After Madame Tutli-Putli’s immense success, Lavis and Szczerbowski created the ambitious short Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life (2010), made with the NFB and Warner Home Video. Beyond featuring the world-renowned Meryl Streep as the lead voice, alongside Forest Whitaker and Spike Jonze, one of the film’s most striking elements is its clever, theatre-like self-awareness. It follows a dog chasing new experiences and hoping to join the World Mother Goose Theatre. But as the story unfolds, audiences realize the dog’s journey isn’t just toward the theatre—it’s happening inside it, making the whole film playfully self-reflexive.
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life, Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
In 2017, the duo dove into another two projects, for Naked Island, the NFB-produced animated 13-episode series that mixes animation and a snappy ad aesthetic to deliver sharp, witty and satirical takes on everything from global warming to politics to our tech addiction—the whole messy underbelly of modern life.
We Eat Shit, Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
The series brought together some of Canada’s brightest animation stars to create films under one minute in length. Lavis and Szczerbowski’s entries are black-and-white, silent-film-style treats loaded with realistic puppet faces (and yes, featuring uncomfortable gazes again!), eerie handmade props and their signature spooky-cute charm. Two filmmakers, twice the wonderfully weird brilliance.
Naked Island – We Drink Too Much, Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
The Girl Who Cried Pearls, our duo’s latest film, made a huge splash on the festival circuit, earning selections and awards at 31 festivals around the world—including major wins at Annecy, Bucheon, Ottawa, Rome and TIFF, among many others… who knows what other animation magic these filmmakers have up their sleeve for the near future!
The NFB and the Oscars have been in a full-on love story since 1941. In 2024, the NFB/Mikrofilm co-pro Maybe Elephants by Torill Kove made the Oscars short list; and the year before that, it was NFB co-production To Kill a Tiger by Nisha Pahuja, and before that, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby’s The Flying Sailor—both of which went on to be nominated. And the list goes on. This year, the NFB continued its remarkable streak: Lavis and Szczerbowski’s latest is one of the 15 films that have been shortlisted for Best Animated Short!
If you liked this peek inside Lavis and Szczerbowski’s creative toybox, pick one of the above films and tell us what you loved the most or simply share your thoughts with us about their films (on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn). Boom—you’re supporting local art without leaving your couch.
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