The Sweater
1980 · 10m · Canada
Directed by Sheldon Cohen
Tones: humorous, melancholic, whimsical
A Quebec boy's Canadiens sweater wears out and Mr. Eaton sends a Maple Leafs sweater by mistake — a small cultural catastrophe.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Roch Carrier's hockey jersey mix-up as national tragedy, narrated by him — the most Canadian short film ever and I would not have it any other way. Earned every one of its 974K views.
Sheldon Cohen animating Roch Carrier's narration of the wrong-jersey-from-Mr.-Eaton story is canonical Quebecois cultural mythology — the closest Canadian animation comes to a national folk text. A small classic with no formal pretension and no need for one.
10-minute NFB ink-and-paint classic narrated by Roch Carrier from his own short story — Sheldon Cohen letting the source author do the voiceover is the craft decision that makes this national-mythology rather than nostalgia. 974K views and Cordell Barker territory.
Festivals
- Academy Awards 1981, Nominee