The Film

 
A young girl and her father leave everything familiar behind when they move to Canada from China. The only piece of home they bring with them is a Chinese violin. As they face the huge challenges of starting new lives in a new place, the music of the violin connects them to the life they left behind – and guides the girl to a musical future.

The Chinese Violin is part of the NFB’s Talespinners collection. Created for children aged five to nine, Talespinners uses vibrant animation to bring popular stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.

8 minutes 21 seconds

The Director

 
Joe Chang received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lu-Xun Art University in China. He worked as an art teacher at Lu-Xun Art University before beginning a career in animation at Natterjack Animation in Vancouver in 1993. He had a key role as animator for the 1997 YTV series Rounihold the Reindeer and completed the computer ink-painting for the 26 episodes of Kleo, the Misfit Unicorn that aired on the Family Channel in 1998. Joe has produced and designed the animated short Ink and lent his animation skills to the creation of a one-minute short that appeared in the documentary Made in China. Since 1998, he has been a director and animator at the National Film Board.

Credits

 
Director
Joe Chang

Producer
George Johnson

Technical Director and Special Effects
Shelley McIntosh

Animation
Celest Brown, Gintaras Zubrickas, Joe Chang

Composer
Rui-Shi Zhuo

Written by
Madeleine Thien

Sound Supervisor
Jamie Mahaffey

Voice
Lulu Li

Pre-Production Design
Joe Chang

Colour Stylists
Shelley McIntosh, Celest Brown, Joe Chang

Research
Gintaras Zubrickas

Editors
Shirley Anne Claydon, Ileana Pietrobruno

Software Support
Nathaniel Akin

Consultant
Ruben Moller

Musicians
Ji Rong Huang, Heidi Krutzen, Yong Sun

Music Studio
Mark II Music Centre – Raymond Mak

Audio Facility
Desolation Sound

Re-Recording Mixer
Mark Hensley

The Chinese Violin is published as a book by Whitecap Books, Vancouver.

Production Clerk
Christine Sears

Producer’s Assistant
Christopher Adkins

Production Supervisor
Kathryn Lynch

Program Administrator
Bruce Hagerman

Executive Producer
Svend-Erik Eriksen

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