Sheldon Cohen is a beloved Montreal illustrator and filmmaker, best known for his collaboration with Roch Carrier on the classic short story, The Sweater.
Cohen was born to an immigrant Jewish family in 1949. He received a Bachelor of Science from McGill University in 1972 and went on to study art and animation at Sheridan College. In 1972, he became a trainee at the National Film Board of Canada. There, he began producing short animated films in a whimsical style. The stories reflected Quebecois culture as well as his experiences growing up in a Yiddish-speaking neighbourhood of Montreal.
Cohen’s adaptation of The Sweater became an instant classic and was shown at primary schools throughout Canada; the film received 15 international awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Animation. Another of his most successful works is the short animation, The Three Wishes – the story of a poor junk peddler and his wife in Montreal. Cohen came out of retirement in 2015, after a near-death experience, to make his acclaimed animated film, My Heart Attack.
Cohen was awarded the Governor General’s Award for French-language children’s illustration and is considered one of Canada’s most prominent children’s animators.
