12th Oscar for an NFB film—and 1st for the Montreal animation duo

MONTREAL, March 15, 2026 /CNW/ - Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski's haunting stop-motion fable The Girl Who Cried Pearls is an Oscar winner—the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) production has been named Best Animated Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards, presented March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

This was the second trip down the red carpet for the acclaimed Montreal animation duo, who captured global attention with their 2007 short film, Madame Tutli-Putli, which earned them their first Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short and kicked off a stellar 20-year collaboration with the NFB.

Quotes

"This award is a tribute to all the artists who shared this labour with us. They are not just names in the credits, they are our community, and their extraordinary talent and hard work made this possible. We'd especially like to thank the National Film Board of Canada for their enduring support, and the Academy for continuing to champion short animated film. Statue or no statue, the support we've gotten from friends and family these past weeks has been overwhelming. We can't express how meaningful it's been. Now we may finally get a free beer from our local pub." — Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

"At a time when our country's spirit is winning accolades around the world, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski have given Canadians another reason to be proud. Congratulations to the filmmakers, our producers and our talented creative team on The Girl Who Cried Pearls, a stop-motion marvel produced and set in Montreal. We're honoured to be the home of visionary storytellers like Chris and Maciek, and to continue to champion great Canadian stories and talents to audiences here and across the globe." — Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson

Where to watch

In Canada, The Girl Who Cried Pearls is now streaming for free on NFB.ca, YouTube and all NFB apps, and is also available to Crave subscribers (English only). The film is available in French on Arte across Europe, North Africa and other territories.

Quick facts

The Girl Who Cried Pearls by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (17 min 37 s)
Produced by Julie Roy, Marc Bertrand and Christine Noël
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-girl-who-cried-pearls

• A celebration of the magic of stop-motion animation, The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a meticulously crafted fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds.
• The film features a star-studded creative team, including Colm Feore (voice), Patrick Watson (music) and Brigitte Henry as artistic director. Sound design is by Olivier Calvert, who was on Sylvain Bellemare's team for the Denis Villeneuve film Arrival, winner of the 2017 Oscar for Sound Editing.
• Since its debut in June 2025 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it was featured as an opening film and in official competition, The Girl Who Cried Pearls has screened at more than 45 festivals and received 14 awards and mentions.
• It is Lavis and Szczerbowski's sixth collaboration with the NFB—a remarkable creative partnership spanning two decades that's explored in an NFB Blog post.

About the filmmakers

• Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Clyde Henry Productions) are award-winning writers, directors and animators. Rich in surreal detail, dark humour and evocative artistry, their work explores the mystery and strange beauty of life.
• Along with The Girl Who Cried Pearls and Madame Tutli-Putli, their acclaimed NFB credits include Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life (NFB/Warner Brothers, 2010), a Maurice Sendak adaptation featuring Meryl Streep; art direction for Guy Maddin's The Forbidden Room (Buffalo Gal Pictures/Phi/NFB, 2015), recognized with a Canadian Screen Award nomination; and the VR work Gymnasia (Felix & Paul/NFB, 2019), winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Immersive Experience.

NFB and the Oscars

Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/oscars

• NFB productions and co-productions have received 12 Oscars and 79 nominations.
• The NFB received an Honorary Academy Award for "overall excellence in cinema" in recognition of its 50th anniversary in 1989.
• This marks only the second time a stop‑motion NFB film has captured the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film—the first being Co Hoedeman's 1977 sand‑animated gem, The Sand Castle. Norman McLaren's 1952 "pixillation" landmark, Neighbours, also won an Oscar, though its use of live performers and its powerful anti‑war message led the Academy to nominate it for both Best Documentary (Short Subject) and Best Live Action (Short Subject), and the film won in the non-fiction category.

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SOURCE National Film Board of Canada