An animated short by artist and animator Cameron Kletke (BMA 2023) is an official selection at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Festival in France. Meanwhile, her new animated short, Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us, recently made its debut via the NFB’s Hothouse 14.

“It’s crazy,” she says of her Annecy appearance. “It’s really nice to be recognized. And I’ve said before that awards are a surreal experience, but this is a surreal experience. Every time I think about the response to this film, I’m like, who is that? Is that me?”

Billed as the largest animation festival in the world, Annecy is often referred to as the Oscars of the animation industry. Cameron’s Between You and Me, which was created during her final year of study at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU), is the only film by a Canadian artist to screen in Annecy’s 2024 Graduation Films category.

Closer to home, her new film Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us makes its debut following months of intensive workshopping through the NFB’s Hothouse animation mentorship program. Cameron was accepted to the program partly on the strength of Between You and Me.

Cameron, who has a twin sister, recalls grieving her sibling when they left home to attend separate colleges. She says she wanted to create a lighthearted, experimental short depicting an “in utero skirmish” between twins.

“I’ve been itching to make a film about my sister and the twin bond,” she says. “It was really fun to incorporate our fights into the film, things that we would actually do to each other as kids.”

The Hothouse program proved to be both challenging and enormously enriching, Cameron continues. Working collaboratively to hard deadlines was initially a jarring experience for the artist, who’d handled nearly every aspect of her previous films on her own.

For the first time, Cameron got to work with a team including professional editors, sound designers and folly artists. Along with her fellow Hothouse 14 peers, she had weekly meetings with mentors and NFB staff. Learning from celebrated filmmakers, including Andrea Dorfman and Anne Koizumi, was a particular highlight, she adds.

While she expanded her toolkit and developed new connections in the animation community, Cam says she also learned how to trust her gut.

“There were definitely instances where I knew my vision wasn’t coming through loud and clear, but that it would make more sense once I executed it,” she says. “That was a lesson in advocating for myself, even just trusting myself.”

She adds that the project was “one of the most difficult films I’ve ever made,” though working on it with the Hothouse team was “such a rewarding experience and totally invaluable.”

After taking a break to attend the Annecy Festival and travel, Cameron will return to Vancouver. Alongside friend and fellow artist Mia Milardo (BMA 2023), who contributed as an animator on Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us, Cam will work as a Teen Programs assistant at ECU over the summer. Cameron and Mia are also planning to begin work on a collaborative animated short in the coming months.

Watch Not Enough Womb for the Two of Us now via the NFB’s website. Watch the trailer for Between You and Me via Vimeo.

Visit Cameron’s website and follow her on Instagram to learn more about her work.

Visit ECU online to learn more about studying in the 2D + Experimental Animation program at Emily Carr University.