A quirky, 15-minute animated film about a poet with writer's block just might offer Canada its best chances for Oscar glory this Sunday. But its director is not allowing herself to get too excited.
Montreal's Torill Kove is up for an Academy Award for her animated short, "The Danish Poet." The film has already won a Genie award and according to the results of CTV's First Annual Film Media Oscar Poll, is Canada's best hope for an Oscar.
Forty per cent of media journalists surveyed believe it will beat out its rather stiff competition: Walt Disney's "The Little Matchgirl," Pixar's "Lifted" and Geza Toth's "Maestro."
This is the second Oscar nomination for Kove, and the 69th nomination for the National Film Board, which co-produced the film with Norway's MikroFilm AS.
While the film, narrated by legendary Norwegian-born actress Liv Ullmann, has been earning accolades on the film festival circuit, Kove says the warmest reception the little film has received has been at a recent screening of shorts in tinseltown L.A.
Even attendee Helen Mirren loved it.
"Yeah, she applauded," Kove told Canada AM. "It was really a great crowd. I think it's the best screening I have ever been to for my film."
"It's the kind of moment where you feel proud, not just for your own film but all the other films too. It was really wonderful."
Kove has said the genesis for the idea for "The Danish Poet" came from stories her father used to tell her about how he met the woman who would become his wife and Kove's mother.
That led to a film that explores how small decisions can change the course of life.
"I was interested in writing something that had to do with the coincidences that end up shaping our lives," Kove explained. "And then once I was in that kind of writing mode, the story just kind of came together.
"I just thought of this kind of pathetic character, the poet. And I just wanted to make his life better for him and tried to help him along."
The film has been praised for its charm, subtlety and its minimalist animation. Kove's style relies on her drawing the original figures and backgrounds by hand in pencil, then scanning in the images and adding colour using digital technology.
It's the second nomination for Kove, who was nominated in the same category in 2000 for "My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts."
Not bad for a woman who found herself in animation -- and in Canada -- almost by accident.
Born in Norway, Kove spent her formative years in Africa with her international aid workers parents. As a high school student in Kenya, Kove made friends with several Canadians. In her early 20s, she travelled to Montreal to visit some of those friends -- and never left.
In Montreal, she finished a graduate degree in urban planning but worked as a freelance illustrator between planning jobs. She decided to sign up for film courses at Concordia and, after landing a small job at the NFB, began to flog a project she had done for a script-writing class.
That project turned into "My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts," her first major outing as a director and one that got noticed by that revered Academy that hands out Oscars.
Seven years later, and Kove is once again in Los Angeles preparing to walk down the red carpet.
She promises to talk to Canada AM again the Monday morning after the awards show. And if she's not feeling well after a night of drinking champagne?
"I'll fake it," she honestly replies.
