An Oscar for Concordia’s own Maciek Szczerbowski
Oscar winners and creative partners Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, BFA 94 (right). | Photo credit: Alamy Stock Photo
Against long odds, Montreal filmmaker Maciek Szczerbowski, BFA 94, and creative partner Chris Lavis took home the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for The Girl Who Cried Pearls at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15.
Moments before their category was announced, the pair were quietly moved to closer seats — just in case they won. "We thought we had very little chance,” says Szczerbowski. "There were betting pools, and our odds were something like 20 to one!”
Then their names were announced. “It was an out-of-body experience,” he recalls.
About his memorable and heartfelt acceptance speech in which he thanked Canada and the “fantastic city of Montreal”, Szczerbowski says, “There was nothing falsely humble about it. The fact is that I’m a product of the society I live in. All our nourishment, all our inspiration, comes from a very small, insanely talented pool of colleagues who walk the same streets.
“Credit has to be shared primarily with the National Film Board (NFB) who believed in us against all odds for five years. It takes a village to do anything meaningful.”
The Girl Who Cried Pearls is about a girl whose sorrow turns into pearls, and the poor Montreal boy who falls in love with her but must choose between love and fortune. The film features Colm Feore as the narrator, and an instrumental score by Montrealer Patrick Watson.
This was the second trip down the Oscar red carpet for Szczerbowski and Lavis, whose 2007 Madame Tutli-Putli earned them their first nomination for Best Animated Short. That kicked off their 20-year collaboration with the NFB which includes the live-action/animated short film Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life, their 2010 adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s children’s book, which features the voices of Meryl Streep, Forest Whitaker and Spike Jonze.
“The beauty of the NFB is that individual producers trust their instincts and take tremendous risks in a rather visionary forum to foster, develop and encourage local talent until they manifest themselves, fulfill whatever potential they initially saw in us,” says Szczerbowski.
“Gratitude is the operational word here. I hope we carry on working with them for many more years, if they’ll have us.”
Concordia to Hollywood
Szczerbowski says he is “delighted” that many fellow Concordians worked on The Girl Who Cried Pearls. His team includes stop-motion animators Laura Stewart, BFA 14 (film animation), Laura Venditti, BFA 15 (film animation), and former student Peggy Arel. Mould-making and casting were led by Erik Goulet, BFA 90 (film animation), a long-time instructor at Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. Mélissa Rousseau, BFA 21 (film animation), and Kamil Chajder, BFA 12 (film animation), worked on compositing and visual effects.
Szczerbowski says his years studying scenography at Concordia expanded his world.
“I got a great education and had fantastic adventures. It was the first time I lived away from home. Concordia provided an environment in which I could invent myself into adulthood. They taught me ways to think, ways to navigate through uncertainty and endless possibilities.
“My great hope is that students currently at Concordia also think that anything is possible — and that Concordia is just the beginning of their adventure.”
Fresh off his Oscar win, Szczerbowski is not one to sit on his laurels. “Once the dust settles, you have to get back to the hustle. You can never have one thing going in this business. You’ve got to have a few pokers in the fire. We’ll see which one fires off.”