Alain Boisvert makes documentaries and art films, but his primary focus is animation, both 2D and stop-motion. His journey as a filmmaker began at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in the 1980s, where he participated in a training apprenticeship program and shared studio space with Oscar-winning stop-motion animator Co Hoedeman (The Sandcastle).
Boisvert recalls the limitations of pre-digital filmmaking, working with 16-millimetre film that had to be sent out for processing. “When you shot the film, you only found out what you had done afterward,” he explains. Editing required access to specialized equipment found only in places like the NFB. Today, digital tools have democratized animated filmmaking. Now, Boisvert works with a DSLR camera tethered to a laptop computer, reviewing footage as he goes. While still painstaking, he believes there is little excuse not to pursue a good idea if you have one. “You basically have the same tools as Hollywood,” he remarks, only half-jokingly.
Boisvert’s current stop-motion project – produced by his company, Le Matou Noir – is called Aya. Inspiration for the film came while Boisvert was working on The Massacre of the Innocents, a film about visual artist Detlef Gotzens, and he found himself immersed in images of war-torn Syria. He was struck by how, amid the devastation, children were still able to lose themselves in play. “For whatever time they played,” he says, “war vanished at that moment.”
Set in an unnamed war zone, Aya follows a young girl separated from her family as they attempt to flee their home. Trapped in the rubble of their collapsed apartment building, she discovers objects that connect her to memories of her past and forms an unlikely bond with a tiny mouse, her only companion.
Stop-motion animation is slow and labour-intensive, and Boisvert’s process is a blend of high and low tech. He starts with a script and a detailed storyboard of drawings, then builds his own sets and rigs his own lighting, crafting spotlights from LED bulbs and cardboard tubes. Green screen technology allows for greater flexibility in post-production, enabling him to integrate backdrops and composite animated sequences.
Boisvert’s background in puppet theatre informs how his stop-motion characters look and move. Aya’s characters and sets are made entirely of cardboard, a choice that serves both practical and thematic purposes. “It looks like war,” Boisvert explains. Cardboard is also sturdy enough to allow for articulated cut-out figures, with small screws enabling movement of arms and legs. He discovered that mixing metal dust into modeling paste created a coating that allowed magnets to facilitate the subtle movements needed for the characters’ eyes and mouths. Boisvert is meticulous, sometimes adjusting a character’s position by a fraction of a millimeter per shot. With 24 shots or frames per second of film, Aya will run approximately 12 minutes when complete.
Unlike many past projects that he balanced alongside other commitments, Aya is one of the rare occasions where Boisvert has been able to work full-time on a single film – though on a fraction of an industry-standard budget. The filming phase, expected to take 14 months and now near completion, is funded through a territorial partnership grant from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec (CALQ). He has also set aside an additional as-of-yet unfunded eight months for post-production, where he will add music and sound, colour-balance the film, and handle the editing. “The rhythm of the film is determined in editing,” he says.
Boisvert aims to complete Aya by the autumn of 2026, after which it will enter the competitive film festival circuit. He hopes to screen it at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Festival in France but recognizes the financial and logistical challenges – festival entries have fees, and there is no guarantee of acceptance.
Aya explores childhood resilience, the power of companionship, and the ability to find hope in the direst circumstances. However, Boisvert has not yet decided on the film’s ending. He has two or three options in mind but will ultimately shoot only one. “The ending – it’s not simple,” he says, acknowledging how different conclusions can shape an audience’s emotional response. How does he want viewers to feel at the end of Aya? “That part isn’t decided yet,” he says.