You’re inside the head of D., a young girl who’s livestreaming her brain activity during a new kind of treatment session. Online, along with other participants, you massage her brain, experiencing the free flow of her thoughts, emotions and obsessions. Now, she’s telling you about her weekend. Earlier, her anxiety played some catchy beats that still lurk in one corner of her mind—like an earworm that won’t let go. Keep massaging. It’s doing her some good. In exchange, she’s giving you a guided tour of what’s going on inside her head, empowered by your gestures and stimulating presence. D. opens up as her mind wanders—perhaps a little bit like your own mind. Brainstream is an interactive animated film that explores, with sensitivity and humour, the mysteries of brain activity and the unpredictable trajectory of our thoughts.
Link to the press kit
Legal notices
Brainstream uses “cookies” to allow you to enjoy the experience over several sessions without losing your progress. We do not collect any personal data at any time during the experience. If you do not want the NFB to install a cookie on your device, you can disable cookies in your browser. If you do so, your progress in Brainstream will not be saved when you close your browser window.
Created by the studio
AATOAA
Produced by
the National Film Board of Canada
Directed and Animated by
Caroline Robert (AATOAA)
Coded by
Édouard Lanctôt-Benoit (AATOAA)
Music, Sound Design and Audio Supervision
Mathieu Charbonneau
Production Manager and Consultant to the Director
Vincent Morisset (AATOAA)
Voice of D. and Little Sister
Sophie Shields-Rivard
Voice of the Obsessions
Caroline Robert
Written by
Caroline Robert
Monologue Writers/Consultants
Carl Bessette
Julianne Côté
Research
Alix Gagnon
English Translation
J.C. Sutcliffe
Sound Mix Consultant
Bernard Gariépy Strobl
Assistant Sound Designer - English Monologue
Nataq Huault (Bande à part)
Editor - Trailer
Jules Saulnier
National Film Board of Canada
Producers
Marie-Pier Gauthier
Isabelle Repelin
Executive Producer
Louis-Richard Tremblay
Head of Production
Marie-Ève Babineau
Senior Production Coordinators
Stéphanie Quevillon
Véronique Tessier
Administrator
Marie-Andrée Bonneau
Senior Production Coordinator - Administration
Isabelle Limoges
Production Coordinators - Administration
Isabelle Gatti
Evelyne Cortes Oquendo
Technology Director
Martin Viau
Information Technology
Sergiu Suciu
Interactive Media Coordinator
Caroline Fournier
Voice Recording
Geoff Mitchell
Technical Coordinator (post-production)
Mira Mailhot
Project Manager, Digital Production
Catherine Perreault
Editorial Manager
Valérie Darveau
Legal Services
Christian Pitchen
Marketing Manager
Laurianne Désormiers
Marketing Coordinator, Audiovisual & Digital
Angel Carpio
Marketing Coordinator
Éric Bondo
Social Media Strategists
Emilie Nguyen Ngoc
Hannah Martin
Community Managers
Alyssia Duval-Nguon
Melissa Sauvé
Press Relations
MingoTwo
Additional Music
"Les gens qui m'aiment", Jimmy Hunt (2020)
with the kind collaboration of Bravo Musique
Special thanks
Thank you for your outside eye and precious advice,
Laura Nadeau
J-F Nadeau
my nephew, Ravenne Portail
Simone Stämpfli
Thank you for inspiring me,
all the young girls who agreed to answer my questions,
all the teenagers in my life and their parents.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,
Gabi
Vincent
Ed
my sisters, Fanny Morel and Sophie Robert
my nephew and niece, Louis and Sybille Morel
my parents, Chantal and Gérard Robert
my grandparents, Fernande and Aimé Robert
In memory of my grandmother Maïck (Yvonne Zulemanian), who loved classic French songs.
And in memory of my uncle Patou (Patrick Thomas), who loved the Rolling Stones.
Thank you to my drawing club, La Mine:
Joël Vaudreuil, Isabelle Brouillette, Stéphane Lafleur, François Turcotte, Caroline Lavergne, Maxime Veilleux, Catherine Leduc and Matthieu Beaumont
And thank you to my talented and inspiring friends of all ages and to the generous people around me, who, whether consciously or not, helped make this film a reality.
Laurence Simard-Émond, Jules, Guillaume, Renaud, Paul and Antoine Avril
Stéphanie Béliveau
Henry Bernadet
Stéphane Buellet
Gabriel Luciani and Pascal Brouard
Anne, Alice and Marc-André Chaput
Yann Dechatrette
Carole De Haro
Sophie Bisson, Olive and Thibaut Duverneix
Miryam Bouchard, Alice and PM Fortin
Daniel Sanche and Sarah Fortin
Chloé B. Fortin
Ludivine Jacquemier
Annie Jaimes
Philippe Lambert
Christina Maurey
Thea Metcalfe, Miro and Sean Michaels
Aymeric Morel
Claudette Raymond, Marie-Ève, Olivier, Jérémie, Antoine and Paul Morisset
Daniel and Martine Moussy
Julien Paget
Nathalie Loignon, Jeanne, Henri, Laure and Mathieu Pellerin
Raphaëlle Nadeau and Madeleine Péloquin
Jean-Michel Portail
Isabelle de Bie, Laurent, Pierre and Yves Renaud
Gustave, Laurier, Catherine D'Amour and Nicolas S. Roy
Annie Saint-Pierre
Mélanie Chabot, Victor and Nicolas Stämpfli
Monique Simard
Sophie Cadieux, Oscar and Mani Soleymanlou
Hugues Sweeney
Iris, Jessica and Brice Thomas
Josiane La Pouette Thomas
Sophie Galipeau, Eli, Sam and Dominic Turmel