Blackfly
1991 · 5m · Canada
Directed by Christopher Hinton
Genres: animation, comedy, musical
Wade Hemsworth’s classic Canadian folk song about being tormented by blackflies while surveying in Northern Ontario comes to life in frantic, funny animation.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
It's a folk song animated—the most obvious premise possible—and Hinton somehow makes it *work*, which is almost disappointing; I wanted to hate this, but the frenzy is genuinely earned, not just cutesy Canadian nostalgia.
Hinton's frantic linework situates itself squarely in the National Film Board's experimental animation tradition, and the way the visual chaos mirrors the song's escalating obsession shows formal discipline masquerading as controlled chaos.
The genius move is letting the animation *become* the blackflies themselves—not illustrating the song but embodying its panic through pure kinetic energy—and that choice alone transforms a novelty premise into something that actually *sings*.
Festivals
- Academy Awards 1992, Nominee – Best Animated Short Film
- Genie Awards 1992, Nominee – Best Animated Short