From Montreal studio to Oscar stage, local filmmakers win for 'The Girl Who Cried

Montreal animators Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, both Concordia University graduates, won an Oscar just over a week ago for their stop-motion short The Girl Who Cried Pearls.

The 17-minute Canadian film tells the story of a boy in early 20th-century Montreal who falls for a mysterious girl who cries pearls at night.

Lavis says the win highlights the importance of public support for Canadian arts and admits the moment still hasn’t quite sunk in.

“It feels already like a dream I had where I went to Los Angeles and we won an Oscar,” he said.

Maciek Szczerbowski, left, and Chris Lavis accept the award for animated short film for “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

He recalled taking the Oscar back to his local cafe and pub in Montreal to celebrate with friends.

“We went to our local cafe and our local pub to visit friends with the Oscar in hand. It’s just this wonderful communal experience of bringing that home,” Lavis said.

The win marks the pair’s first Oscar, following a previous nomination in 2007 for Madame Tutli-Putli.

“I remember we had this idea of a girl who is crying pearls of sorrow. And then this boy staring at her… this kind of collision of ideas just started to fill out a story,” Lavis said.

The short took five years to make, built frame by frame in a small Montreal studio Lavis describes as a cave, with natural light blocked to create precise conditions for stop-motion animation.

“It’s notoriously painstaking. It takes as long as you think it takes to make these films, one frame at a time, maybe two seconds a day. And that’s if the puppet doesn’t break… and they break a lot,” he said.

A character opens a gift in an undated still frame handout image from the film “La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles,” or “The Girl Who Cried Pearls.” THE CANADIAN PRESS – National Film Board of Canada

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the project has screened at more than 40 festivals and won multiple awards.

“You can’t put a price on that. That’s like a sports team winning,” Lavis said. “Not all culture is measured by box office. Sometimes it’s just having these moments where we can all celebrate.”

Back home, Lavis recalled visiting his local cafe where some staff were Concordia animation students, a moment he hopes inspires the next generation.

“It was amazing, they all took pictures with the Oscar. Maybe that motivates them to be up there on the stage themselves one day,” he said.

Lavis says their next project is already underway.

“We’re all too ready to start building puppets again, turn the lights on, get back in the cave and spend another few years making this kind of sorcery,” he said.