After a decade in the works and a year of international festival acclaim, E.D. Films’ animated short film Return to Hairy Hill (Retour à Hairy Hill), from director/writer Daniel Gies, makes its worldwide debut as a coveted Vimeo Staff Pick today (November 12).
Inspired by his family history, E.D. Films co-founder Gies spent more than a decade developing innovative animation tools and techniques to achieve the visual and emotional impact he envisioned for Return to Hairy Hill. The film celebrated its world premiere in May 2023 at Montreal’s Les Sommets du Cinéma d’Animation where it received the Grand Prix Guy-L.-Coté award for best Canadian animated film. It has gone on to screen at 67 international festivals to date, including in competition at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2024.
Return to Hairy Hill is loosely based on a tragic true story passed down by Gies’ grandmother. Growing up in an isolated region in Canada known as “Hairy Hill,” she and her siblings were abandoned by their parents at a young age.
In a poignant tale about fate, humanity and forging one’s own destiny, a mother mysteriously transforms into a bird leaving a young girl to shoulder the burden of caring for her three siblings. As each of her siblings undergoes their own metamorphosis forsaking her for the enchanting forest, the girl is left alone to choose and embrace a path of her own.
“Sharing the film with audiences around the world showed us how truly universal this story is — for families everywhere,” said Gies. “We feared themes like grief, generational trauma, and mental illness would be too heavy for children, but it was kids that resonated the most with the emotional meaning of the film. As a member of the Vimeo community for many years, having my first film launch on the platform as a Staff Pick is truly special and I am grateful that the film will be available globally.”
Return to Hairy Hill has garnered international acclaim and received multiple awards, including:
- Québec Cinéma Gala Nominee, Best Short or Medium-length Film, Animation: Winners announced December 4, 2024
- Canadian Screen Awards, Best Animated Short Nominee, Toronto, Canada, May 2024
- Vancouver International Film Festival, Short Fuse, Vancouver, Canada, September 2023
- Festival international du film pour enfants de Montréal, Best Animated Short Award, Montreal, Canada, March 2024
- Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, Competition Best Animated Short Nominee, Montreal, Canada, February 2024
- Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival, Daniel Koops Award for Outstanding Film Score, U.S., February 2024
- Durban International Film Festival, Best Short Film Nominee, Durban, South Africa, July 2024
- VIEW Conference, VIEW Award Contest Grand Prize, Torino, Italy, February, 2024
- Tokyo Anime Award Festival, Short Animation Competition, Tokyo, Japan, March 2024
- Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival, Starlight Cinema Award, Busan, Korea, July 2024
- Hsin-Yi Children’s Animation Awards, Semi-Finalist, Taipei, Taiwan, December 2023
- Animation Dingle, Best International Professional Short Award, Dublin, Ireland, March 2024
Montreal-based E.D. Films is currently producing an exclusive tutorial showcasing how artists can leverage the company’s PSD to 3D plugins used to create Return to Hairy Hill. This comprehensive behind-the-scenes guide will be available for free and found here, along with other tools designed by the company.
Return to Hairy Hill is produced by Emily Paige, E.D. Films with financial support provided by SODEC Québec. The studio’s unique and experimental toolsets are made available to the industry through partnership with the Canada Media Fund.
Following on from the completion or Return to Hairy Hill, E.D. Films has embarked a number of a projects and collaborations. Most recently, the studio played a role in bringing to life “the Black Box” — the heart of Johnny Depp’s immersive art exhibition, A Bunch of Stuff. Marking the first public showcase of Depp’s artwork, the New York City exhibition features a transformation of his works from canvas to animated film, for which E.D. Films employed a blend of stop-motion, 2D and 3D animation. The studio worked on this project to support TAIT on behalf of BAUART and Pantheon Art.
Return to Hairy Hill is now available to watch worldwide on Vimeo.
