Evelyn Lambart (July 23, 1914 – April 3, 1999) was a Canadian animator and film director with the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

, known for her independent work, and for her collaborations with

Norman McLaren William Norman McLaren, LL. D. (11 April 1914 – 27 January 1987) was a Scottish-Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).Rosenthal, Alan. ''The new documentary in action: a caseb ...

Early years

Born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, she was

hearing impaired Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to Hearing, hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to Lang ...

from an early age, which she later credited with focusing her attention on the visual world as a means of communication. After attending

Lisgar Collegiate Institute Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal. History In 1843, a grammar school with 40 paying students was ...

in Ottawa, Lambart studied at the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...

for five years, graduating in 1937. Her plan had been to continue her art studies in the U.K., however, the outbreak of

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

made that impossible. Instead, Lambart spent a year and a half working with Grace Melvin on illuminations and

lettering Lettering or Lettering design is an act or result of artfully drawing letters, instead of writing them simply. Lettering is considered an art form, where each letter in a phrase or quote acts as an illustration. Each letter is created with attent ...

for the first Books of Remembrance, commemorating Canadian war dead in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(now on display at

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

NFB career

In 1942, due to an ever-growing demand for animation, NFB commissioner

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Flaherty's '' ...

asked McLaren to form an animation unit and, in January 1943, 'Studio A' formally came into existence. Lambart was one of McLaren's first recruits and the first female animator hired by the board. She would also train other animators; both Colin Low and

Robert Verrall Robert Verrall (13 January 1928 – 17 January 2025) was a Canadian animator, director and film producer who worked for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) from 1945 to 1987. Over the course of his career, his films garnered a BAFTA Award, p ...

credited her with teaching them their animation skills. Lambart and McLaren were an immediate and permanent fit; she was methodical and pragmatic, he was a creative 'dreamer'. In 1949, they co-directed ''

Begone Dull Care ''Begone Dull Care'' (''Caprice en couleurs'') is a 1949 visual music animated film directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Summary Using drawn-on-film animation, McLaren and Lambart painted ...

'', which was designated as a "masterwork" by the

Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada The Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada (or the AV Trust). originally the Alliance for the Preservation of Canada's Audio-Visual Heritage,Claude Jutra Claude Jutra (; March 11, 1930 – November 5, 1986) was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.

pixilation Pixilation is a stop motion technique in which live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. This technique ...

film ''

A Chairy Tale ''A Chairy Tale'' () is a 1957 Canadian stop-motion pixilation short film co-directed by Norman McLaren and Claude Jutra for the National Film Board of Canada. Set to the music of Ravi Shankar and Chatur Lal, it comedically portrays Jutra's attemp ...

'', and for several other ground-breaking films, many of which she co-directed or directed, including ''Rythmetic'' (1956), ''Lines: Vertical'' (1960), ''Lines: Horizontal'' (1962), and ''Mosaic'' (1965). In its 1999 obituary for Lambart,

Animation World Network Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Content Specifically ...

stated that: These animated morality tales for children included several adaptations of

Aesop's fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

, and were all rendered with the same style of paper cut-outs transferred to lithograph plates, painted and animated. In 1978, she was the subject of the biographical documentary ''Eve Lambart'' directed by Margaret Wescott. Her last known film, ''The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'' (1980), was completed at her home studio in Quebec's

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

after her retirement in 1977. She died in Ottawa in 1999.

Honours

Lambart was awarded a posthumous

Winsor McCay Award The Winsor McCay Award is given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, professio ...

in 2022.

Filmography

*''Story of a Violin'' - documentary short, Jacques Bobet 1947 - co-animator with

*''The Impossible Map'' - documentary short, 1947 - animator, director *''

'' - experimental short, 1949 - editor, co-animator and co-director with

*''Family Tree'' - animated short, 1950 - co-director and co-animator with

George Dunning George Garnett Dunning (November 17th. 1920 - February 15th. 1979) was a Canadian filmmaker and animator. He is best known for producing and directing the 1968 film '' Yellow Submarine''. Biography Dunning was born in Toronto and studied at the ...

*''Challenge: Science Against Cancer'' - documentary short, Morten Parker 1950 - co-animator with Colin Low *''The Fight: Science Against Cancer'' - documentary short, Morten Parker 1950 - co-animator with Colin Low *''The Outlaw Within'' - documentary short, Morten Parker 1951 - co-animator with Colin Low *''Now is the Time'' - experimental,

1951 - co-producer *''Around Is Around'' - experimental short,

1951 - co-animator with Norman McLaren *''Sing a Little'' - animated short, Tom Daly 1951 - co-animator with Jean-Paul Ladouceur *''O Canada'' - experimental short, 1952 - animator, director *''The Maple Leaf'' - documentary short, J.V. Durden 1955 - co-animator with

*''The Colour of Life'' - documentary short, J.V. Durden 1955 - co-animator with

*''

Rythmetic ''Rythmetic'' is a 1956 Canadian short animated film directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart for the National Film Board of Canada. It is a non-verbal lecture on the subject of mathematics and one of McLaren's longest animated works. M ...

'' - animated short, 1956 - photography, co-director and co-animator with

*''Putting It Straight'' - documentary short,

William Greaves William Garfield Greaves (October 8, 1926 – August 25, 2014) was an American documentary filmmaker and a pioneer of film-making. After trying his hand at acting, he became a filmmaker who produced more than two hundred documentary films, and w ...

1957 - co-animator with Sidney Goldsmith *''

'' - experimental short,

and

Claude Jutra Claude Jutra (; March 11, 1930 – November 5, 1986) was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.

1957 - animator *''Le Merle'' - animated short,

1958 - co-animator with

*''Short and Suite'' - experimental short, 1959 - co-animator with

*''Lines: Vertical'' - experimental short, 1960 - co-animator and co-director with

*''Les femmes parmi nous - La dignité'' - documentary short, Jacques Bobet 1961 - co-animator with

Arthur Lipsett Arthur Lipsett (May 13, 1936 – May 1, 1986) was a Canadian filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada. His short, avant-garde collage films, which he described as "neither underground nor conventional”, contain elements of narrative, d ...

*''Les femmes parmi nous - Le bonheur'' - documentary short, Jacques Bobet 1961 - co-animator with

*''Lines: Horizontal'' - experimental short, 1962 - co-animator and co-director with

*''Mosaic'' - experimental short, 1965 - co-animator and co-director with

*''The Hoarder'' - animated short, 1969 - animator, director *''The Embryonic Development of Fish'' - documentary short, J.V. Durden 1961 - animator *''Fine Feathers'' - animated short, 1968 - animator, director *''Paradise Lost'' - animated short, 1970 - animator, director *''The Story of Christmas'' - animated short, 1974 - animator, director *''Mr. Frog Went A-Courting'' - animated short, 1974 - animator, director *''The Lion and the Mouse'' - animated short, 1976 - animator, director *''The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'' - animated short, 1980 - animator, director

Awards

'' (1949) *

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

: First Prize, Art Films, 1950 *

2nd Canadian Film Awards The 2nd Canadian Film Awards were presented on April 19, 1950 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 9-11. The cere ...

: Special Award, Experimentation, 1950 *

Salerno Film Festival Salerno Film Festival (in Italian language, Festival del cinema di Salerno) has operated since 1946 in the Italian city of Salerno. History "Cine Club Salerno", a non-profit association of cinematographic culture, was born in 1945 from a group ...

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

, Italy: Honourable Mention, Miscellaneous Film, 1950 *

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

: Silver Medal, Documentary Short Film, 1951 *

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 ...

and Film Advisory Center Film Festival,

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

: Best Experimental Film, 1952 * Durban International Film Festival,

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

: First Place, Silver Medal, Experimental, 1954 ''Family Tree'' (1950) *

: First Prize – Grand Award, Best of All Entries, 1951 * 3rd Canadian Film Awards,

: Special Award for Outstanding Animation and Musical Score, 1951 * Rapallo International Film Festival,

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in the Italy, Italian region of Liguria. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and ...

: Second Prize, Art Films, 1957 ''Now is the Time'' (1951) *

4th Canadian Film Awards The 4th Canadian Film Awards were presented on April 27, 1952 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 17-19. This ...

, Special Award for Experimental Filmmaking, 1952 (with ''Around Is Around'') ''Around Is Around'' (1951) *

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

, London: Nominee: Best Animation, 1957 *

, Special Award for Experimental Filmmaking, 1952 (with ''Now is the Time'') ''

'' (1956) *

6th Berlin International Film Festival The 6th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 22 June to 3 July 1956. The FIAPF granted the festival the "A status" during this year, which was previously only reserved for Cannes and Venice. The awards for the first time, w ...

: Silver Bear, Short Films, 1956 *

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

: Diploma of Merit, 1956 * Rapallo International Film Festival,

, Italy: First Prize, Abstract Films, 1957 * International Review of Specialized Cinematography,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

: Diploma of Honour, 1957 * Chicago Festival of Contemporary Arts,

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

: First Prize 1957 * Golden Reel International Film Festival, Film Council of America, New York: Silver Reel Award, Avant-Garde and Experimental, 1957 * Durban International Film Festival,

: Certificate of Merit, 1957 * Johannesburg International Film Festival,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

: Certificate of Merit, 1957 ''Lines: Vertical'' (1960) *

: First Prize, Experimental, 1960 *

, London: Outstanding Film of the Year for Presentation, 1960 *

: Diploma of Merit, 1960 * CIDALC Festival of Music and Dance in Film,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

: First Prize, 1961 * 13th Canadian Film Awards,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

: Best Film, Arts and Experimental, 1961 ''Mosaic'' (1965) *

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

: Certificate of Merit, 1965 * FIBA International Festival of Buenos Aires,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

: First Prize, 1966 * Melbourne Film Festival,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

: First Prize, 1966 * American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon, 1966 * Calvin Workshop Awards,

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

: Notable Film Award, 1966 ''The Hoarder'' (1969) * International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults,

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

: Plaque and Diploma, 1970 * FIBA International Festival of Buenos Aires,

: Honorable Mention, Animation, 1970 * Tisquesusa Dorado International Festival of Short Films,

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

: Best Animated Film, 1971 * American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon, 1971 ''Paradise Lost'' (1970) * National Educational Media Network Competition,

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

: Don Fabun Award for Film as Art, 1972

References

External links

Watch films by Evelyn Lambart at NFB.ca
(Requires

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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambart, Evelyn 1914 births 1999 deaths Artists from Ottawa Canadian animators Canadian women animators National Film Board of Canada people OCAD University alumni Canadian women film directors Film directors from Ottawa Deaf film directors Manuscript illuminators Stop motion animators Drawn-on-film animators Deaf artists Canadian deaf people Lisgar Collegiate Institute alumni Canadian artists with disabilities