Bead Game is a 1977 animated short film by Ishu Patel

Ishu Patel

Ishu Patel is an animation film director/producer and educator. Over a period of twenty-five years at the National Film Board of Canada he developed animation techniques and styles to support his themes and vision.-Background:...

, creating by arranging beads into the shapes of real and mythical creatures, who absorb and devour another, evolving into scenes of modern human warfare. Jnan Prakash Ghosh provides music for the 5 min 35 second film, which was produced at the National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...

 (NFB).

The film's technique was inspired by the beadwork

Beadwork

Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another or to cloth, usually by the use of a needle and thread or soft, flexible wire. Most beadwork takes the form of jewelry or other personal adornment, but beads are also used in wall hangings and sculpture.Beadwork techniques are broadly...

 of Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 women. The increasing aggression shown by the creatures in Bead Game was intended as a cautionary tale about human hostility and nuclear weapons.

Awards

Awards for Bead Game include a BAFTA Award for best short fictional film, a Bronze Plaque in the art and culture category at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Columbus International Film & Video Festival

The Columbus International Film + Video Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, USA annual film festival which is designed to encourage and promote the use of film and video in all forms of education and communication...

, a Golden Gate Award for outstanding achievement at the San Francisco International Film Festival

San Francisco International Film Festival

San Francisco International Film Festival is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting an average of 150 films from over 50 countries...

, and a Special Prize for Animation at the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

The International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film , also known as the Leipzig DOK Festival, is a film festival that takes place annually in Leipzig, Germany. It was founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Documentary Films" and was the...

. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 50th Academy Awards

50th Academy Awards

The 50th Academy Awards were held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California on April 3, 1978. The ceremonies were presided over by Bob Hope, who hosted the awards for the eighteenth and last time....

, losing to another NFB animated short, The Sand Castle

The Sand Castle

The Sand Castle is a 1977 stop motion animated short by Co Hoedeman. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 50th Academy Awards, the film was produced by Gaston Sarault for the National Film Board of Canada.-External links:*...

.

External links

• Watch Bead Game at NFB.ca (Requires Adobe Flash
  Adobe Flash
  Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
  
  )