Marc Chiasson

A lonely boy befriends a stray dog who has a natural talent for basketball and together they experience the highs and lows of life as their friendship remains solid through a series of escapades.

The ghost of "patient zero", who allegedly first brought AIDS to North America - materialises and tries to contact old friends. Meanwhile, the Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton, who drank from the Fountain of Youth and now works as Chief Taxidermist at the Toronto Natural history Museum, is trying to organise an exhibition about the disease for the museum's "Hall of Contagion".

A boy takes in a stray dog, later finding out that it's an ultra-intelligent runaway from a genetic research lab. Unbeknownst to him, the dog is being stalked by another escaped creature that's not quite so friendly.