Join us for the premiere of Life of a Pellet, a stop motion short film exploring pre-production plastic pellet pollution. Made entirely of plastic trash and real plastic pellets, Life of a Pellet tells the tale of Peter the Pellet who is excited to become a useful plastic item in the world but gets lost outside a production factory. Peter is washed into a storm drain, floats down the Humber River and ends up in Lake Ontario.
Learn from community leaders and speakers as they share more about local research and provide a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creating stop-motion animation for the film.
This event is hosted with support from Ocean Wise and the U of T Trash Team.
Life of a Pellet was conceptualized by Zoë Ungku Fa’iz. Building upon her own research on microplastics in landfill leachate, she was inspired to extend the lives of a portion of the millions of the pre-production plastic pellets that were lost to the environment and collected from “Operation Sweep the Creek 3.0”’s project.
The film is supported by Ocean Wise’s Eco-Action Accelerator Grant. Pellets were sourced from U of T Trash Team’s Operation Sweep the Creek 3.0 pollution prevention project. Storyboard and story development by Dani Doodles. Animation by Stop Motion Department.
Registration is requested for each attendee. Please click the RSVP button at the top of this page to sign up.
If sign ups are full, click the 'Add To Waitlist' button and you will be notified of any openings.
Event Timeline:
7:00 pm – Doors Open
7:30 pm – Talks, Q&A
8:00 pm – Film Premiere
8:30 pm – Mix and Mingle
Tea n Bannock will be providing food and refreshments will be available. Reusable cups and compostable plates will be available but we encourage you to bring your own reusable containers.
Proceeds from our "Enter to Win" go directly to Free Grassy Narrows. Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation (Grassy Narrows) in northern Ontario was a vibrant and largely self-sufficient community with 95% employment in occupations directly tied to the river and the land in which they're situated. That was, however, until a paper company heartlessly dumped 9,000kg of untreated mercury into their river system between 1962 and 1970—resulting in one of Canada’s worst environmental disasters. Over 50 years later, justice has yet to be served.
Patagonia Toronto is located at 500 King St West, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1L9. The store has an accessible ramp located at the side of the building.
Zoë is an environmental science master's student studying microplastics with an undergraduate background in materials science from the University of Toronto. She is an Ocean Wise grantee for the Eco-Action Accelerator program. Her community action project is creating art and telling the tale of plastic pollution in Toronto through a stop-motion animation film made entirely out of pre-production plastic pellets and trash collected in Toronto.
Eden Hataley is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental science at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Eden’s Ph.D. research uses a transdisciplinary approach to advance our understanding of plastic pollution management in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Eden is also a member of the pELAstic Project—a large, collaborative project taking place at the International Institute for Sustainable Development Experimental Lakes Area, with the overarching objective of gaining a better understanding of the fate, transport, and effects of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems. Beyond her research, Eden helps to lead a binational work group on microplastic monitoring and ecological risk assessment in the Great Lakes convened and coordinated by the International Joint Commission Great Lakes Science Advisory Board. Before pursuing a Ph.D., Eden obtained a master’s degree in environmental studies and a bachelor’s degree in environmental chemistry, both from Queen’s University. Eden is passionate about and aims to remain engaged in transboundary water governance and work with diverse stakeholders to address complex environmental issues.
Dani is a Mexican storyteller with a deep passion for Stop Motion, which began well before she started her Animation studies at Sheridan College. After graduating and during the early pandemic, she continued to work on stop motion projects (even from her bedroom), showcasing her dedication to the craft. Today, she continues to refine her skills at Gazelle Automations and Stop Motion Department. In her free time, Dani enjoys running with her dog, Louie (aka Menace)✌🏽.
Bachelor of Animation Student at Sheridan College, Stop Motion Animator, Fabricator and Story Artist
Daniela is a fourth year student in the animation course at Sheridan. Specializing in stop motion she has worked on the short film "Keepsake" and currently is working on her thesis film. Summer 2024 she apprenticed at Stop Motion Department Inc. in Toronto where she worked on "Life of a Pellet" and continued to develop her skills as an animation student. On the film she worked on storyboards, design, animation, and compositing. She is excited to start her career in the animation industry after graduation.
Avery is currently a student in the Honours Bachelor of Animation Program at Sheridan College. Last year she worked on a student stop motion short film called “Keepsake”, and is currently in the process of developing her thesis film. She recently apprenticed at Stop Motion Department Inc. where she worked on “Life of a Pellet”! She is passionate about the art of Stop Motion in all facets: Animation, Fabrication and Design.
