Hundreds of Beavers

It might have started as foolish bar talk, but Hundreds of Beavers is proof that you can make a totally wacky adventure movie even when you don't have the money for it. Some savings, a couple of friends in beaver costumes when it's freezing -20 °C, and boundless creativity will get you a long way. Although the title suggests a nature documentary, Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews' passion project is at once a quirky spoof on the au sérieux survival genre, a critique of American colonialism and a zany ode to slapstick cartoons like Looney Toones and Popeye. Radiant with DIY energy and packed with hilarious gags, this black-and-white curio follows a 19th-century applejack salesman who must start over from scratch in a snow-covered landscape. To go from zero to hero, he must, with the help of a mentor Santa and a local merchant, battle a vengeful beaver community gearing up for world domination.