89 minutes – Animation
Language: English
Festival release date: June 13, 2016 (Annecy)
Release date: March 10, 2017 (Select Cities)
Canadian distributor: Mongrel Media
Based on her own book, Window Horses: the Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming, Ann Marie Fleming’s story tells of a young Canadian poet who is invited to perform at a Poetry Festival in Shiraz, Iran, but she’d rather be in Paris. She lives at home with her over-protective Chinese grandparents and has never been anywhere by herself. Once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians, all who tell her stories that force her to confront her past; the Iranian father she assumed abandoned her and the nature of Poetry itself. The foundation of the story and the film is about building bridges between cultural and generational divides, about being curious, staying open, and finding your own voice through the magic of poetry. Being an animation, the list of performers credits their voice acting in this film.
Funding for the film was raised through an IndieGoGo campaign, which attracted 730 contributors in 28 countries. Window Horses had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Festival in June 2016. Its North American premiere was at TIFF on September 9, 2016.
Ann Marie Fleming (Stick Girl Productions)
Shirley Vercruysse (NFB)
Michael Fukushima
Ruth Vincent
Ileana Pietrobruno
Taymaz Saba
Sandra Oh
Nancy Kwan
Shohreh Aghdashloo
Camyar Chaichian
Omid Abtahi
Navid Negahban
Elliot Page
Kristen Thomson
Eddy Ko
Payman Maadi
Don McKellar
Panta Mosleh
Mehdi Darvish
Esme Finley
Nima Gholamipour
Azadeh Khatibi
Ramin Mahjouri
Taylor Mali
Azita Sahebjam
Houshang Touzie
Jun Zhu
Rosie
Gloria
Mehrnaz
Cyrus Kazimi
Ramin/Rumi
Amir/Mehran
Kelly
Caroline
Stephen
Payman
Dietmar Langweillig
Shahrzard Abbibi
Sassan
Little Rosie
Tour Guide
Doctor
Taxi Driver
Himself
Aunt Farah
Hassan
Di Di
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