Skip to main content
The Painting film image; painting of an arm with ribbon around wrist

The Painting

Le Tableau

VIFF Short Forum

Using pinscreen animation, an instance of institutionalized incest in art history is examined through the portrait of Queen Mariana of Austria, who was 14 when she married her uncle.

 

Supported by

    

Community Partner

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2024

Language

In English and French with English subtitles

Film Contact
Content Warning

Incest

18+
11 min
Animation Art, Music & Photography Family Relations Shorts Women Directors
The National Film Board of Canada

Credits & Director

Producer

Christine Noël, Julie Roy

Screenwriter

Michèle Lemieux

ANIM

Michèle Lemieux

Editor

Annie Jean

Original Music

Robert Marcel Lepage

Michèle Lemieux headshot; The Painting director

Michèle Lemieux

Michèle Lemieux is an illustrator and animation filmmaker who has taught at UQAM’s School of Design for over 30 years. Since the late 1970s, she has worked on 15 illustrated books for young people, including Stormy Night (1997) which was adapted to the screen in 2003 at the NFB. In 2006, during a workshop given by Jacques Drouin, Lemieux was introduced to Alexeïeff-Parker’s pinscreen, subsequently becoming the artistic heir to this unique animation technique. She has made two short films using the pinscreen: Here and the Great Elsewhere (2012), which won several awards, and most recently, The Painting (2024).

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Sirât

Dir. Óliver Laxe
115 min

A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Renoir

Dir. Chie Hayakawa
118 min

Acclaimed director Chie Hayakawa depicts an entrancing poetic journey about resilience, the healing power of the imagination and a traumatized family struggling for connection.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

KPop Demon Hunters

Dir. Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans
95 min

The surprise hit of 2025, KPop Demon Hunters is a blast of good vibes and catchy tunes — this generation's Ghostbusters, Gorillaz, or Spice Girls — or some delightfully unholy combination of all three. Rated PG, all ages welcome!

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

A Good Child

Dir. Ong Kuo Sin
105 min

A drag queen estranged from his family returns home to care for his ailing mother, only to confront buried family wounds and an unexpected chance at healing.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Family Matters

Dir. Pan Ke-Yin
99 min

Spanning 24 years, challenges of identity, fertility struggles, debt and duty are faced by a Taiwanese family as they discover what truly holds them together.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Cold War

Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
89

This month's Talking Pictures screening (coffee and cookies on the house!) is a Polish love story about a musical director who falls under the spell of a singer while on a Communist-sponsored mission to package native folk songs for the social good.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema