Update: Congrats to Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski on winning Best Animated Short at the 2026 Oscars ceremony!!!
Plot of "The Girl Who Cried Pearls":
In turn-of-the-century Montreal, a poor boy falls for a mysterious girl whose tears transform into pearls. Desperate to escape poverty, he secretly sells the precious gems to a ruthless pawnbroker who soon grows hungry for more. As greed tightens its grip, the boy is forced to confront a devastating choice: protect the girl he loves, or chase the fortune her sorrow can bring. The decision may cost him far more than he ever imagined.
From the Oscar-nominated filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, this meticulously crafted stop-motion film is a haunting work of artistry. Featuring exquisitely handmade puppets, spellbinding narration by Colm Feore, and an evocative score by Patrick Watson, The Girl Who Cried Pearls unfolds as a dark, timeless fable about desire, deception, and the terrible price of innocence.
In turn-of-the-century Montreal, a poor boy falls for a mysterious girl whose tears transform into pearls. Desperate to escape poverty, he secretly sells the precious gems to a ruthless pawnbroker who soon grows hungry for more. As greed tightens its grip, the boy is forced to confront a devastating choice: protect the girl he loves, or chase the fortune her sorrow can bring. The decision may cost him far more than he ever imagined.
From the Oscar-nominated filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, this meticulously crafted stop-motion film is a haunting work of artistry. Featuring exquisitely handmade puppets, spellbinding narration by Colm Feore, and an evocative score by Patrick Watson, The Girl Who Cried Pearls unfolds as a dark, timeless fable about desire, deception, and the terrible price of innocence.
1. If you had to describe “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” using three words, it would be…?
Love, Faith, Greed.
2. How did you come up with the animated short “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”?
We started our studio creating collages. Collage is a great medium for artistic collaboration. You sit at a desk together with a big piece of paper, moving things around, trying combinations before you glue them down. The element of chance—the picture is made up elements you’ve cut out, not your own drawings—takes a lot of the ego out of it. Collage is about selection, collision,and placement to create something fresh out of something found. With The Girl Who Cried Pearls, we started with two images in our head—a weeping girl and a floor littered with pearls. When you “glue” those images together, a story suggests itself.
3. Were there other titles you came up with before “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”? If so, what were they?
Never. The title suggested itself from that first image. We had a title years before we had a script.
4. What research did you do when making “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”?
On the story side, we researched the confluence of tears and pearls in myths and fables. Turns out there are many examples, though we only used one in the movie, the story about Eve weeping pearls after her fall from paradise. On the visual side, we did quite a lot of digging with help from the art director, Brigitte Henry. Every set was built from extensive research into archives, books, websites, we even went to the Montreal train museum where they have a few
streetcars preserved. But when we had to choose between historical accuracy and poetic accuracy, poetry won out every time.
5. In one word, how would you sum up your overall experience with “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”?
Challenging.
6. Congratulations on getting an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film, who are you excited to meet or see at the ceremony?
We already had the enormous pleasure of meeting one of our cinematic heroes, Stephen Spielberg, at the Oscar luncheon. That floored us. Not only had he watched our film, but he praised it! We also got to speak about Jaws and The Fablemans, two of his greatest movies. If this whole awards circus comes down to that one encounter, that’s enough for us.
7. How did you first found out that “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” got nominated for Oscar’s Best Animated Short?
At 7:30am on nomination morning we were in Maciek’s kitchen with the publicist of the National Film Board of Canada, Nadine Viau. If we were were nominated, a day of interviews would be triggered. If we weren’t nominated, we’d get to go back to bed. We watched the Academy live feed, our category came up, and our name was called. It was a tremendous feeling, also a relief, after weeks of wondering. It’s a bit like Christmas morning, only you don’t know if it’s a piece of
coal or a Millennium Falcon under the tree.
8. If you win the award, are you going to have a speech prepared or are you going to wing it?
At the Oscar luncheon they give you instructions for how to make your speech. “Don’t pretend you had no idea you were going to win” they say. “The chances are one in five!”
9. Last question, which of your animated shorts would you like to see made into an animation TV series or animated feature?
Our pigeon shorts would make a pretty fun tv series. As for a feature, we’d love to see someone adapt the Girl Who Cried Pearls but with a fresh take on it. What would the anime version be, for example? It would be interesting if someone took the bones, the basic fable, and created their own story. But adaptation is not a great ambition of ours. When we’ve finished something we’ve usually squeezed every drop out of it, and we’re ready to move on. Oh, that’s not quite true! We
are working on a radio drama version of The Girl Who Cried Pearls. That’s a whole new challenge and medium for us.
Love, Faith, Greed.
2. How did you come up with the animated short “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”?
We started our studio creating collages. Collage is a great medium for artistic collaboration. You sit at a desk together with a big piece of paper, moving things around, trying combinations before you glue them down. The element of chance—the picture is made up elements you’ve cut out, not your own drawings—takes a lot of the ego out of it. Collage is about selection, collision,and placement to create something fresh out of something found. With The Girl Who Cried Pearls, we started with two images in our head—a weeping girl and a floor littered with pearls. When you “glue” those images together, a story suggests itself.
3. Were there other titles you came up with before “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”? If so, what were they?
Never. The title suggested itself from that first image. We had a title years before we had a script.
4. What research did you do when making “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”?
On the story side, we researched the confluence of tears and pearls in myths and fables. Turns out there are many examples, though we only used one in the movie, the story about Eve weeping pearls after her fall from paradise. On the visual side, we did quite a lot of digging with help from the art director, Brigitte Henry. Every set was built from extensive research into archives, books, websites, we even went to the Montreal train museum where they have a few
streetcars preserved. But when we had to choose between historical accuracy and poetic accuracy, poetry won out every time.
5. In one word, how would you sum up your overall experience with “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”?
Challenging.
6. Congratulations on getting an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film, who are you excited to meet or see at the ceremony?
We already had the enormous pleasure of meeting one of our cinematic heroes, Stephen Spielberg, at the Oscar luncheon. That floored us. Not only had he watched our film, but he praised it! We also got to speak about Jaws and The Fablemans, two of his greatest movies. If this whole awards circus comes down to that one encounter, that’s enough for us.
7. How did you first found out that “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” got nominated for Oscar’s Best Animated Short?
At 7:30am on nomination morning we were in Maciek’s kitchen with the publicist of the National Film Board of Canada, Nadine Viau. If we were were nominated, a day of interviews would be triggered. If we weren’t nominated, we’d get to go back to bed. We watched the Academy live feed, our category came up, and our name was called. It was a tremendous feeling, also a relief, after weeks of wondering. It’s a bit like Christmas morning, only you don’t know if it’s a piece of
coal or a Millennium Falcon under the tree.
8. If you win the award, are you going to have a speech prepared or are you going to wing it?
At the Oscar luncheon they give you instructions for how to make your speech. “Don’t pretend you had no idea you were going to win” they say. “The chances are one in five!”
9. Last question, which of your animated shorts would you like to see made into an animation TV series or animated feature?
Our pigeon shorts would make a pretty fun tv series. As for a feature, we’d love to see someone adapt the Girl Who Cried Pearls but with a fresh take on it. What would the anime version be, for example? It would be interesting if someone took the bones, the basic fable, and created their own story. But adaptation is not a great ambition of ours. When we’ve finished something we’ve usually squeezed every drop out of it, and we’re ready to move on. Oh, that’s not quite true! We
are working on a radio drama version of The Girl Who Cried Pearls. That’s a whole new challenge and medium for us.
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