National Network for Equitable Library Service

Living through the Nazi occupation of Holland and arriving in Montreal with little more than a film reel under his arm, Co Hoedeman had a dream to work for the National Film Board of Canada’s renowned animation unit. It was there where he became part of the vanguard in Quebec animation, launching a distinguished career combining animated film, writing and directing. Shortly after joining the National Film Board, he began to make film history with his innovative techniques and his films based on Inuit legends. Working in collaboration with Inuit artists from Nunavut and Nunavik, his respect for the Inuit iconography, language and music manifested in a rare anthropological poetry and began his continuing involvement in the culture and concerns of the peoples of the North. The director of more than 27 acclaimed NFB films, including an Academy Award for Le Château de sable / The Sand Castle, he is recognized worldwide as a master of stop-motion animated films. In his lifetime, Co Hoedeman has accomplished his dreams, despite the agonies of a World War, the trials of immigration, and the barriers of starting a new life as a stranger in a strange land. Frame by Frame presents that life and journey.