Set in London, England, during the Industrial Revolution, The Chimney Swift is an animated short that offers a haunting yet handsomely illustrated view into the imagined world of apprentice chimney sweepers, or “climbing boys,” who between the ages of 4 and 14 cleared soot and ash from fireplace flues. Titled after the small, sooty-gray swifts that often build their nests inside unused chimneys, the film draws a strong contrast between an existence defined by hardship, loneliness, and loss of freedom and that of the freewheeling avian community flying high above the city’s many-chimneyed rooftops.  ER

Filmmaker Q&A available

Closed Captioning available

This film is only available to viewers in the United States