Is There Paradaïz with TheNFB in Part Two, When Bread Will Walk Steals The Show?

In part two of my look at the National Film Board of Canada shorts playing at the Victoria Film Festival,  I turn my attention to one art piece and one very creative riff on the zombie genre. I highly recommend checking out Bread Will Walk, and hope it hits streaming soon. And with the former, there’s more than an existential crisis going on as an individual tries to make sense of chaos theory. After fleeing one world to live in another, this is a work people need to see to be understood.

Paradaïz by Matea Radic

Screens in: Short Bursts: This, That, There and Where (Feb 12 + 14)

Say Paradaïz out loud, and Matea Radic’s latest animated short might sound like a search for a tropical getaway. But this NFB production isn’t about sipping drinks in “all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world,” even if that Casablanca sense of displacement lingers in the subtext. Instead, it’s a poignant exploration of trying to belong in a crazy, mixed-up world, and making sense of the “residue” left by a life of radical change.

Having fled the war-torn streets of Sarajevo for “better pastures,” Radic can’t help but wonder what was lost in the transition. This internal conflict is cleverly disguised in a surrealist tribute to M.C. Escher’s “Relativity.” Whether the sequence was inspired by archival footage or pulled from a deep subconscious of surrealist film, the effect is iconic. The labyrinth of staircases, where gravity exists on three different planes at once, perfectly illustrates the “in-between” stage of Radic’s journey. What she finds is a world where furniture clings to walls and ceilings, suggesting uncertainty about everyday direction.

In this world, there is no right side up. The idea that we are all climbing toward something, often in circles or through the warped architecture of memory, becomes the film’s strongest theme. From a broader perspective, Paradaïz isn’t just about looking back. It’s about the work required to reconnect with one’s past so the future can become a truly safe space. For anyone who has ever felt “unstuck” in time or culture, this short is a journey worth taking.

Bread Will Walk by Alex Boya

Screens in: Short Bursts: Try Not to Freak Out (Feb 11 + 13)

This zombie short is the best of the bunch from this year’s National Film Board of Canada festival offerings. At Victoria Film Festival, audiences can see exactly why on the big screen. The “pandemic” here is delightfully bizarre: anyone who takes a bite of miracle bread made from The Mill turns into a warm, sentient loaf. And for the humans who find one, resisting the fresh scent of baked wheat is basically impossible.

But when a young boy transforms into a walking loaf, he’s not safe. Thankfully his older sister is there to help, and together they tear through city streets hunting for a safe haven. It’s a hilarious piece you’ll want more than a slice of, pardon the pun. With
Jay Baruchel
providing narration and voices, he’s genuinely impressive. We’re not hearing Hiccup, we’re hearing a performer with range. You can catch the soft cracks of his natural voice in places, but he bends it in smart ways.

According to the press package, to create Bread Will Walk, Boya spent four years meticulously finding the right ingredients to tell the tale. It started with more than 4,000 hand-drawn ink-on-paper frames, then moved into testing how they could fluidly come alive. The hazy, dream-like quality comes from refining the parameters of Photoshop’s Smear tool, plus a matching filter found inside After Effects’ menu. The result really does craft that dreamy look, and yes, apparently that’s Baruchel singing at the end.