Director Alex Boya Shares the Special Ingredients of His Cannes and Annecy Short, ‘Bread Will Walk’

Five years in the making, Bread Will Walk is the latest in indie director Alex Boya’s long list of creative shorts. The project, which is part of the Directors’ Fortnight selection at the Cannes Festival and is one of the shorts in competition at Annecy next month, was born from the filmmaker’s fascination with how nourishment can be reshaped into a mechanism of influence.

“It challenges narrative conventions, turning bread into metaphor and appetite into a societal force,” says the Bulgarian-born, Montreal-based filmmaker whose 2017 short Turbine was also a festival favorite. “I wanted to reimagine affection and perseverance through a surreal perspective that resonates with both the present and the timeless.”

According to Boya, Bread Will Walk began production in 2020, though its conceptual origins go back much earlier. “The pandemic provided a rare atmosphere for concentrated development and story evolution,” he says. “That period allowed years of sketching and thematic discovery to crystallize into a refined, high-concept short. The idea developed gradually, much like the film’s unfolding structure.”

Produced by Jelena Popović (I’m OK, Boat People, Manivald, Hedgehog’s Home) and the National Film Board of Canada, the short also features the work of sound designer Olivier Calvert, composer Martin Floyd Cesar and actor Jay Baruchel as the sole voice performer. “The workflow remained tightly knit, hands-on and steadily refined across all stages,” notes Boya. “A special mention goes to technical directors Eloi Champagne and Mathieu Tremblay, whose creative collaboration was key to integrating my experimental processes into the pipeline. Their openness and precision reflect the NFB’s unique spirit as a living laboratory for innovation, where ideas are nurtured, tested and given space to evolve.”

The visual process for the short began with traditional 2D drawings, inked manually on paper. Then, they were digitized and refined in Photoshop, where the team layered photographic textures such as skin, flour and charred crust to create its tactile atmosphere. “Throughout the production, references were drawn from a wide array of unconventional sources to enrich the visual language, always filtered through a meticulous, hands-on approach,” explains the director. “Final compositing and stylistic unification were carried out in After Effects, where we implemented a custom pastry-glaze finish developed in collaboration with our technical lead. Every creative choice remained anchored in human intention, with each image shaped frame by frame to serve the film’s unique texture and tone.”

Boya points out that the short’s aesthetic blends anatomical renderings with textures that feel unstable and alive. “The environment appears in constant transformation, giving a sense of decay and rebirth,” he notes. “The entire piece flows without cuts, preserving the illusion of a continuous shot. Influences include propaganda visuals, scientific diagrams and educational illustrations, all contributing to an atmosphere that feels absurd, yet oddly convincing.”

Finding a balance between visual grotesque and emotional sincerity was one of the biggest challenges say Boya. “The protagonist, a fusion of bread and child, needed to evoke tenderness without slipping into parody. That balance required extensive redrawing and restraint. Additionally, creating the illusion of a seamless single shot across a constantly shifting environment demanded obsessive continuity and spatial precision.”

When asked about his influences, Boya responds, “I take inspiration from animators who explore internal landscapes and psychological texture. Yamamura, Švankmajer and Pärn have deeply shaped my thinking. Martine Chartrand’s painted rhythms and Fritz Kahn’s surreal anatomy also inform my approach. My references stretch across disciplines, including scientific imaging, early documentary forms and the surrealist traditions of Eastern Europe.”

The prolific director believes that his new offering speaks in a visual language unfamiliar to most viewers. “Some respond to its humor, others to its commentary on desire and control,” Boya says. “I take pride in how we preserved the integrity of handcrafted animation while expanding its range with cautiously applied technological enhancements. I hope audiences will recognize that hunger exists in many forms. Beyond physical needs, the film reflects on emotional, existential and societal appetites. If the viewing experience prompts reflection on personal and collective systems, or leaves a sense of thoughtful unease, then its purpose has been met!”

Boya says he hopes audiences will realize that hunger exists in many forms after seeing his short.

“Beyond physical needs, the film reflects on emotional, existential and societal appetites,” he explains. “If the viewing experience prompts reflection on personal and collective systems, or leaves a sense of thoughtful unease, then its purpose has been met.”

He leaves us with some valuable advice for up and coming short directors. “Let your instincts shape your creative direction,” Boya suggests. “Master the software, but remain emotionally tethered to your materials. Traditional techniques help build not only skill but also intimacy with your work. Let uncertainty fuel your ideas. And always give short films the care and gravity you would bring to a feature. The format deserves that level of attention and ambition.”

Learn more about Bread Will Walk on the NFB Blog. Following its Cannes engagement, the short will screen in the official competition of the Annecy Festival in June.