Year: 1984
Format: 35mm Colour
Runtime: 15 min
Director: Ishu Patel
Producer: Ishu Patel
Executive Producer: Douglas MacDonald
Cinematographer: Pierre Landry
Animation: Ishu Patel, George Ungar
Music: Gheorghe Zamfir
Production Company: National Film Board of Canada

This stunningly beautiful animated film from Ishu Patel uses innovative mixed-media techniques – cut-outs, colour pencil renderings on cels and paper, multiple exposures and backlit perforated backgrounds – to tell a visually entrancing fable with a simple but strong moral message. Within an emperor’s crystal palace lives a beautiful bird of spectacular plumage. Outside, a blackbird watches enviously and strives to obtain what it covets, only to discover a golden cage is no substitute for the freedom of the open skies.

Paradise was widely acclaimed at festivals around the world and won the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. It also received Genie Award and Academy Award® nominations for Animated Short Film.