Eight years after My Life as a Zucchini premiered in Directors’ Fortnight en route to winning two Césars (and nabbing one Oscar nomination), Swiss director Claude Barras returns to Cannes with Savages, an emotionally resonant stop-motion fable that looks at rampant deforestation on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia.
A tight 87 minutes, Savages wastes no time tossing us directly into the action as pre-treen Kéria and her palm-oil-extractor father witness his employer’s murder of an orangutan. Despite this killing occurring off-screen, it is very distressing. The father-daughter duo act quickly to hide the lone survivor, a baby orangutan, in their bag. With this harrowing opening, Savages relays that the death and destruction at the center of its narrative will not be sugar-coated for children.
This very cute orangutan is named Oshi, due to the sneeze sound he makes, and is primarily an accessory for the 11-year-old Kéria––a...
A tight 87 minutes, Savages wastes no time tossing us directly into the action as pre-treen Kéria and her palm-oil-extractor father witness his employer’s murder of an orangutan. Despite this killing occurring off-screen, it is very distressing. The father-daughter duo act quickly to hide the lone survivor, a baby orangutan, in their bag. With this harrowing opening, Savages relays that the death and destruction at the center of its narrative will not be sugar-coated for children.
This very cute orangutan is named Oshi, due to the sneeze sound he makes, and is primarily an accessory for the 11-year-old Kéria––a...
- 5/31/2024
- by Caleb Hammond
- The Film Stage
Swiss animator Claude Barras is to be honoured with the Locarno Kids Award at the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, which runs from August 7-17.
The Locarno Kids Award is given to personalities credited with bringing younger generations to cinema. Barras is behind 2016 hit animation My Life As A Courgette, and will present his latest feature film Sauvages on the Piazza Grande on August 13.
Sauvages recently premiered as a special screening in Cannes and is about an Orangutan fighting to save the forests of Borneo with his friends.
Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro said: “Claude Barras is...
The Locarno Kids Award is given to personalities credited with bringing younger generations to cinema. Barras is behind 2016 hit animation My Life As A Courgette, and will present his latest feature film Sauvages on the Piazza Grande on August 13.
Sauvages recently premiered as a special screening in Cannes and is about an Orangutan fighting to save the forests of Borneo with his friends.
Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro said: “Claude Barras is...
- 5/28/2024
- ScreenDaily
Der Schweizer Animationsfilmer erhält im Rahmen des Locarno Film Festival den Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare, der seit 2021 an Persönlichkeiten vergeben wird, die jüngere Generationen fürs Kino begeistern.
Claude Barras wird auf dem Locarno Film Festival mit dem Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare ausgezeichnet (Credit: Adrienne Bovet)
Der Schweizer Animationsfilmer Claude Barras wird im Rahmen des Locarno Film Festival (7. bis 17. August) mit dem Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare ausgezeichnet, den das Festival seit 2021 an Persönlichkeiten vergibt, die jüngere Generationen fürs Kino begeistern.
Giona A. Nazzaro, den künstlerischen Leiter des Locarno Film Festival, sagt über den Preisträger, dessen „Mein Leben als Zucchini“ im Jahr 2017 für den Oscar als bester Animationsfilm nominiert war: „Die Méliès’sche Brillanz seiner Animationen führt direkt zu den Ursprüngen des Kinos zurück, ist aber eng verbunden mit den technologischen Transformationen des zeitgenössischen Films. Barras ist seit Beginn ein Künstler mit einer unverwechselbaren Note und Befürworter eines zivilen und engagierten Kinos,...
Claude Barras wird auf dem Locarno Film Festival mit dem Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare ausgezeichnet (Credit: Adrienne Bovet)
Der Schweizer Animationsfilmer Claude Barras wird im Rahmen des Locarno Film Festival (7. bis 17. August) mit dem Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare ausgezeichnet, den das Festival seit 2021 an Persönlichkeiten vergibt, die jüngere Generationen fürs Kino begeistern.
Giona A. Nazzaro, den künstlerischen Leiter des Locarno Film Festival, sagt über den Preisträger, dessen „Mein Leben als Zucchini“ im Jahr 2017 für den Oscar als bester Animationsfilm nominiert war: „Die Méliès’sche Brillanz seiner Animationen führt direkt zu den Ursprüngen des Kinos zurück, ist aber eng verbunden mit den technologischen Transformationen des zeitgenössischen Films. Barras ist seit Beginn ein Künstler mit einer unverwechselbaren Note und Befürworter eines zivilen und engagierten Kinos,...
- 5/28/2024
- by Jochen Müller
- Spot - Media & Film
Oscar-nominated Swiss animator Claude Barras (“My Life as a Zucchini”) will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Locarno Kids Award given to personalities credited with infusing younger generations with a love for cinema.
Barras’ beloved stop-motion film “Life as a Zucchini,” about an orphaned boy who lives in a foster home, played at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2016, and went on to be nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars and secured distribution in over 50 territories.
Barras’ more recent work “Sauvages,” about an orangutan fighting to save the forests of Borneo with his friends, will travel to Locarno after premiering positively at Cannes earlier this month.
“Sauvages” will play on the prominent Swiss fest’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande on Aug. 13 with the director in tow.
“Claude Barras is one of the great shapers of the contemporary collective imagination,” said Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro in a statement.
Barras’ beloved stop-motion film “Life as a Zucchini,” about an orphaned boy who lives in a foster home, played at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2016, and went on to be nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars and secured distribution in over 50 territories.
Barras’ more recent work “Sauvages,” about an orangutan fighting to save the forests of Borneo with his friends, will travel to Locarno after premiering positively at Cannes earlier this month.
“Sauvages” will play on the prominent Swiss fest’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande on Aug. 13 with the director in tow.
“Claude Barras is one of the great shapers of the contemporary collective imagination,” said Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro in a statement.
- 5/28/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Eight years after his stop-motion breakout debut My Life as a Zucchini, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight, Swiss director Claude Barras is back at the Cannes Film Festival this year with Sauvages (Savages).
My Life as a Zucchini was an Academy Award nominee in 2017, and Barras’ new feature is, if anything, even more ambitious. It tells the story of Kéria, an 11-year-old girl who lives with her father, a Swiss ethnologist who now works for a logging company, in the rural suburbs of the province of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. She’s a typical urban girl, who loves her cell phone, hip-hop music and all things modern. She has largely turned her back on the traditions of her late mother, who was a member of the Penan, a nomadic group of hunter-gatherers whose way of life is threatened by industrial deforestation. But when her father rescues a baby orangutan,...
My Life as a Zucchini was an Academy Award nominee in 2017, and Barras’ new feature is, if anything, even more ambitious. It tells the story of Kéria, an 11-year-old girl who lives with her father, a Swiss ethnologist who now works for a logging company, in the rural suburbs of the province of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. She’s a typical urban girl, who loves her cell phone, hip-hop music and all things modern. She has largely turned her back on the traditions of her late mother, who was a member of the Penan, a nomadic group of hunter-gatherers whose way of life is threatened by industrial deforestation. But when her father rescues a baby orangutan,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Films about the ecological stakes of contemporary life often center the results of unfettered human consumption. By showing the abuses suffered by the environment, they function as both an urgent warning and a desperate plea. Claude Barras takes a different route in Savages (Sauvages), his incisive and edifying animated feature about an 11-year-old girl trying to protect her land and people from encroaching deforestation.
Premiering at Cannes, Savages focuses on elemental beauty and the dignity of community-driven preservation. It is the latest film from the Swiss director whose last film My Life as a Zucchini premiered at Cannes in 2016 and went on to critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination. As in that movie, Barras does not condescend to or patronize his youngest audience members. Savages, written by Barras and Catherine Paillé in collaboration with Morgan Navarro and Nancy Huston, is uncompromising in its messaging, deceptively spare in its instruction and absolutely gorgeous to look at.
Premiering at Cannes, Savages focuses on elemental beauty and the dignity of community-driven preservation. It is the latest film from the Swiss director whose last film My Life as a Zucchini premiered at Cannes in 2016 and went on to critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination. As in that movie, Barras does not condescend to or patronize his youngest audience members. Savages, written by Barras and Catherine Paillé in collaboration with Morgan Navarro and Nancy Huston, is uncompromising in its messaging, deceptively spare in its instruction and absolutely gorgeous to look at.
- 5/19/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In this instalment of Screen’s Cannes Close-Up interview series, Louis Balsan – EVP for distribution and acquisitions at production, financing, and sales outfit Anton – shares his insider tips for festival novices, and reveals his most memorable Cannes deal that was closed in the tiny cabin of a yacht.
Balsan is in Cannes with stop-motion animation Savages, from My Life As A Zucchini director Claude Barras, which has its world premiere at the festival.
Attendees should “prioritise films and build the rest of your schedule around that and not the other way around,” says Balsan. “The drinks and all – that’s nice.
Balsan is in Cannes with stop-motion animation Savages, from My Life As A Zucchini director Claude Barras, which has its world premiere at the festival.
Attendees should “prioritise films and build the rest of your schedule around that and not the other way around,” says Balsan. “The drinks and all – that’s nice.
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
The best part of “Savages” is its opening scene, which says less about the overall quality of Claude Barras’ sophomore feature and more about the strength of the vignette that establishes the stop-motion movie’s world. Against atmospheric music, the quote “The world does not belong to us. We borrow it from our children” flashes on screen, followed by images of a lushly rendered clay forest, brimming with life and energy. An adorable baby orangutan is briefly threatened by a small but deadly snake, before being rescued and cared for by his protective mother. Atop a tree, the mother gently breastfeeds her young son, in an idyllic image that is quickly disrupted by the sound of chainsaws, and abruptly, the tree falls to the ground, revealing a construction site filled with lumber and a factory spewing pollution into the air. The title “Savages” comes on screen against this image, and...
- 5/18/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Oh, Canada debuting this week on the Croisette is high time to see lesser-seen Schrader on the Criterion Channel, who’ll debut an 11-title series including the likes of Touch, The Canyons, and Patty Hearst, while Old Boyfriends (written with his brother Leonard) and his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” are also programmed. Five films by Jean Grémillon, a rather underappreciated figure of French cinema, will be showing
Series-wise, there’s an appreciation of the synth soundtrack stretching all the way back to 1956’s Forbidden Planet while, naturally, finding its glut of titles in the ’70s and ’80s––Argento and Carpenter, obviously, but also Tarkovsky and Peter Weir. A Prince and restorations of films by Bob Odenkirk, Obayashi, John Greyson, and Jacques Rivette (whose Duelle is a masterpiece of the highest order) make streaming debuts. I Am Cuba, Girlfight, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Dazed and Confused are June’s Criterion Editions.
Series-wise, there’s an appreciation of the synth soundtrack stretching all the way back to 1956’s Forbidden Planet while, naturally, finding its glut of titles in the ’70s and ’80s––Argento and Carpenter, obviously, but also Tarkovsky and Peter Weir. A Prince and restorations of films by Bob Odenkirk, Obayashi, John Greyson, and Jacques Rivette (whose Duelle is a masterpiece of the highest order) make streaming debuts. I Am Cuba, Girlfight, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Dazed and Confused are June’s Criterion Editions.
- 5/14/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Cannes isn’t Sundance. The movies on offer aren’t generally genre horror box office surprises or heartwarming indie dramedies, and sometimes they’re not even sure-fire Oscar hopefuls.
But as several sales agents and distributors told us, Cannes is slowly shifting back to being a home for discovery. With the audience now unbothered by subtitles, distributors aren’t just looking for the next “May December” but the next “Anatomy of a Fall.” And when it comes to the package titles on the Marché du Film, buyers are demanding more than the latest Nicolas Cage shark movie.
The sources IndieWire spoke to believe there’s more quality than quantity among this year’s official competition sales titles and the packages being shopped to distributors. And that’s a good thing, even though there are still plenty of hot packages trickling in by the day and buyers already scooping up competition...
But as several sales agents and distributors told us, Cannes is slowly shifting back to being a home for discovery. With the audience now unbothered by subtitles, distributors aren’t just looking for the next “May December” but the next “Anatomy of a Fall.” And when it comes to the package titles on the Marché du Film, buyers are demanding more than the latest Nicolas Cage shark movie.
The sources IndieWire spoke to believe there’s more quality than quantity among this year’s official competition sales titles and the packages being shopped to distributors. And that’s a good thing, even though there are still plenty of hot packages trickling in by the day and buyers already scooping up competition...
- 5/13/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Natalie Portman has joined the voice cast for French director Ugo Bienvenu’s upcoming animated feature Arco about a boy who uses rainbows to travel through time and his adventures as he gets stuck in the wrong era.
Portman is also producing with Sophie Mas under their joint Paris and New York banner MountainA with Félix de Givry at Paris-based Remembers.
Taking its cue from the fantasy premise that rainbows are time machines, the movie revolves around 10 year old rainbow-child Arco, who lives in the distant future, 2932.
His maiden journey in his multi-colored suit does not go to plan. He loses control and veers off course to land in a near future, 2075, where Iris, a girl the same age as Arco, witnesses his fall and then makes it her mission to get him home.
Arco
Arco is the first feature for Bienvenu after short films Maman and L’entretien and comic books.
Portman is also producing with Sophie Mas under their joint Paris and New York banner MountainA with Félix de Givry at Paris-based Remembers.
Taking its cue from the fantasy premise that rainbows are time machines, the movie revolves around 10 year old rainbow-child Arco, who lives in the distant future, 2932.
His maiden journey in his multi-colored suit does not go to plan. He loses control and veers off course to land in a near future, 2075, where Iris, a girl the same age as Arco, witnesses his fall and then makes it her mission to get him home.
Arco
Arco is the first feature for Bienvenu after short films Maman and L’entretien and comic books.
- 5/13/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Animation-focused sales company Gebeka International has acquired world sales rights to an upcoming 4K remastered version of Japanese animation director Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 animated feature Angel’s Egg.
Oshii is best known internationally for 1995 breakout Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which world premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2004, and the Patlabor sci-fi franchise.
Angel’s Egg was first released on video by Japanese publishing and media company Tokuma Shoten in 1985, and, with time, it has come to be regarded by anime fans as a masterpiece that holds keys to Oshii’s later works.
The surreal, allegorical work is set against the backdrop of an underwater city and revolves around a young girl who takes scrupulous care of a large egg in the belief it is an angel’s egg. When a boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in a dream,...
Oshii is best known internationally for 1995 breakout Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which world premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2004, and the Patlabor sci-fi franchise.
Angel’s Egg was first released on video by Japanese publishing and media company Tokuma Shoten in 1985, and, with time, it has come to be regarded by anime fans as a masterpiece that holds keys to Oshii’s later works.
The surreal, allegorical work is set against the backdrop of an underwater city and revolves around a young girl who takes scrupulous care of a large egg in the belief it is an angel’s egg. When a boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in a dream,...
- 5/10/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Indie Sales has acquired Japanese director Momoko Seto’s “Dandelion’s Odyssey,” an ecological fable animated by Guionne Leroy (“Toy Story”) and scored by Nicolas Becker (“Sound of Metal”) and Quentin Sirjacq.
Shot from Japan to Iceland, “Dandelion’s Odyssey” is an adventure set in a dystopian world and is reminiscent of “Microcosmos,” with plants and animals as the main characters. The feature boasts a mix of timelapse photography, as well as live-action shooting and 3D animation. Most of the production is being done in France, where Seto is based. Seto is best known for her shorts “Planet A,” “Planet Z” and “Planet ∑,” which played at Locarno and the Berlin Film Festival, respectively.
“Dandelion’s Odyssey” is produced by Miyu Productions and Ecce Films, and co-produced by Arte Cinéma and U Media in Belgium. It received the support of the French Gan Cinema Foundation.
“Dandelion’s Odyssey” follows the journey of four friends,...
Shot from Japan to Iceland, “Dandelion’s Odyssey” is an adventure set in a dystopian world and is reminiscent of “Microcosmos,” with plants and animals as the main characters. The feature boasts a mix of timelapse photography, as well as live-action shooting and 3D animation. Most of the production is being done in France, where Seto is based. Seto is best known for her shorts “Planet A,” “Planet Z” and “Planet ∑,” which played at Locarno and the Berlin Film Festival, respectively.
“Dandelion’s Odyssey” is produced by Miyu Productions and Ecce Films, and co-produced by Arte Cinéma and U Media in Belgium. It received the support of the French Gan Cinema Foundation.
“Dandelion’s Odyssey” follows the journey of four friends,...
- 5/3/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The filmmakers of My Life as a Courgette and Persepolis are set to return to the big stage with their latest films as the Cannes Film Festival have pumped in the very last titles for the 2024 edition pumping a pair of animated films in the Screening for Young Audiences section and a quartet of premieres for Cinéma de la Plage section.
Not unlike the spotlight inclusion of Robot Dreams last year, Claude Barras‘ Sauvages! is the tale of 11-year-old Kéria who lives with her father in the rural suburbs of the province of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.…...
Not unlike the spotlight inclusion of Robot Dreams last year, Claude Barras‘ Sauvages! is the tale of 11-year-old Kéria who lives with her father in the rural suburbs of the province of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.…...
- 4/26/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the programme for its 2024 edition, including the Competition line-up and a programme of previews from the major studios.
The 12-strong Official Competition includes Adam Elliot’s Australian feature Memoir Of A Snail, in which Succession star Sarah Snook voices a lonely hoarder of ornamental snails; and stop-motion Savages!, director Claude Barras’ first feature since his Bafta- and Oscar-nominated My Life As A Courgette.
Scroll down for the full Competition line-up
The festival will open with Michel Hazanavicius’ Competition title The Most Precious Of Cargoes, heading to Annecy from its debut in Cannes Competition.
The 12-strong Official Competition includes Adam Elliot’s Australian feature Memoir Of A Snail, in which Succession star Sarah Snook voices a lonely hoarder of ornamental snails; and stop-motion Savages!, director Claude Barras’ first feature since his Bafta- and Oscar-nominated My Life As A Courgette.
Scroll down for the full Competition line-up
The festival will open with Michel Hazanavicius’ Competition title The Most Precious Of Cargoes, heading to Annecy from its debut in Cannes Competition.
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 2024 edition, running from June 9 to 15. (scroll down for full list of titles and events)
Highlights announced on Thursday include Terry Gilliam as guest of honor to receive an Honorary Cristal and give a masterclass. He joins previously announced honorary guest Wes Anderson.
The main Competition and the Contrechamps sections will showcase 23 new animated features.
Features in the main competition include Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’ first ever animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes, which will also open the festival.
The drama follows the fate of baby boy who is thrown from an Auschwitz-bound train by his French-Jewish father. The picture will world premiere first in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Other Cannes films in Annecy’s main competition include Un Certain Regard selection Flow by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis and Ghost Cat Anzu by Japan’s Yoko Kuno,...
Highlights announced on Thursday include Terry Gilliam as guest of honor to receive an Honorary Cristal and give a masterclass. He joins previously announced honorary guest Wes Anderson.
The main Competition and the Contrechamps sections will showcase 23 new animated features.
Features in the main competition include Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’ first ever animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes, which will also open the festival.
The drama follows the fate of baby boy who is thrown from an Auschwitz-bound train by his French-Jewish father. The picture will world premiere first in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Other Cannes films in Annecy’s main competition include Un Certain Regard selection Flow by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis and Ghost Cat Anzu by Japan’s Yoko Kuno,...
- 4/25/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
From gritty banlieue drama Girlhood to period piece Portrait of a Lady on Fire and animation My Life As a Courgette, the French director’s films never fail to connect eloquently with us
“Does French film-maker Céline Sciamma ever put a foot wrong?” That’s a question I posed in my 2021 Observer review of Petite Maman, a sublime modern fable in which a young girl meets her soulmate – a mirror-image child who appears to be a young incarnation of her mother. The film is an astonishing work, a U-certificate masterpiece for children of all ages, conjuring a magical reality in which characters converse across generational divides in disarmingly matter-of-fact fashion. The time-travelling setup may be fantastical, but there’s nothing fanciful or far-fetched about the emotions the film provokes. On the contrary, Sciamma adopts the magical elements of ghost stories and fairytales to create a down-to-earth coming-of-age parable notable for just how real it feels.
“Does French film-maker Céline Sciamma ever put a foot wrong?” That’s a question I posed in my 2021 Observer review of Petite Maman, a sublime modern fable in which a young girl meets her soulmate – a mirror-image child who appears to be a young incarnation of her mother. The film is an astonishing work, a U-certificate masterpiece for children of all ages, conjuring a magical reality in which characters converse across generational divides in disarmingly matter-of-fact fashion. The time-travelling setup may be fantastical, but there’s nothing fanciful or far-fetched about the emotions the film provokes. On the contrary, Sciamma adopts the magical elements of ghost stories and fairytales to create a down-to-earth coming-of-age parable notable for just how real it feels.
- 4/6/2024
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Studio Ghibli, like Western counterparts Disney, Pixar and the UK’s Aardman, is one of the most important animation studios in movie history. Since its first feature film, “Castle in the Sky” in 1986, Studio Ghibli has delivered two dozen thought-provoking tales beautifully rendered in a unique brand of animation. To date, its output has racked up have a lucky seven Oscar bids for Best Animated Feature.
“Spirited Away” was the first Studio Ghibli movie to break into the Academy Awards conversation and did so with aplomb in 2003. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature (Miyazaki the recipient) over “Ice Age,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” and “Treasure Planet.”
In 2006, Miyazaki was again nominated — this time for “Howl’s Moving Castle” alongside “Corpse Bride” and “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” with the latter movie, an Aardman creation, reigning victorious.
Miyazaki and Suzuki were the nominees...
“Spirited Away” was the first Studio Ghibli movie to break into the Academy Awards conversation and did so with aplomb in 2003. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature (Miyazaki the recipient) over “Ice Age,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” and “Treasure Planet.”
In 2006, Miyazaki was again nominated — this time for “Howl’s Moving Castle” alongside “Corpse Bride” and “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” with the latter movie, an Aardman creation, reigning victorious.
Miyazaki and Suzuki were the nominees...
- 2/16/2024
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Cannes’ Marché du Film will take place May 14-22, 2024.
Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film has selected Switzerland as country of honour at its 2024 global film market that runs May 14-22 during the annual festival.
Marché du Film will highlight Swiss content and talent across all sections of the market alongside promotion agency Swiss Films, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation Srg Ssr.
A Swiss delegation will include filmmakers, producers, and industry experts with the aim of nurturing international partnerships, seeking co-production opportunities and boosting projects in development. The country will...
Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film has selected Switzerland as country of honour at its 2024 global film market that runs May 14-22 during the annual festival.
Marché du Film will highlight Swiss content and talent across all sections of the market alongside promotion agency Swiss Films, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation Srg Ssr.
A Swiss delegation will include filmmakers, producers, and industry experts with the aim of nurturing international partnerships, seeking co-production opportunities and boosting projects in development. The country will...
- 12/5/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
The Cannes Film Market, which runs alongside the festival, has named Switzerland as Country of Honor for the 2024 edition that’s set to run May 14-22.
As part of the tribute, Cannes will highlight Switzerland’s contributions to the audiovisual industry and provide a platform for emerging Swiss talents and projects in development.
The showcase will be organized by the promotion org Swiss Films, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation Srg Ssr. A delegation of Swiss filmmakers, producers, and industry experts are expected to take part in several key events throughout the market, including those dedicated to fiction and non-fiction feature films, as well as immersive projects and innovation.
Switzerland has consistently ranked in the top ten countries attending the Cannes market. In recent years, the Swiss film industry has expanded and has earned critical acclaim with top European co-productions which...
As part of the tribute, Cannes will highlight Switzerland’s contributions to the audiovisual industry and provide a platform for emerging Swiss talents and projects in development.
The showcase will be organized by the promotion org Swiss Films, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation Srg Ssr. A delegation of Swiss filmmakers, producers, and industry experts are expected to take part in several key events throughout the market, including those dedicated to fiction and non-fiction feature films, as well as immersive projects and innovation.
Switzerland has consistently ranked in the top ten countries attending the Cannes market. In recent years, the Swiss film industry has expanded and has earned critical acclaim with top European co-productions which...
- 12/5/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Switzerland has been named the new country of honor for the upcoming Marché du Film, the 2024 Cannes Film Market, which will run May 14 to 22, 2024.
The small Alpine nation punches above its weight on the international film scene, in large part due to its positioning as an ideal co-production partner, with a skilled, multi-lingual workforce, top-end post-production facilities and competitive state support and tax incentives.
Cross-over successes, including Alice Rohrwacher’s La chimera, an Italian/Swiss/French co-production featuring The Crown star Josh O’Connor as a white-suited tomb raider; Anna Novion’s drama Marguerite’s Theorem, about a brilliant mathematics student (Raw actor Ella Rumpf) who decides to quit university; or Claude Barras’ Swiss-French stop-motion film hit My Life as a Zucchini (2016) point to the breadth and variety of the Swiss industry.
Switzerland is also strongly supportive of its new talent, including first-time director Carmen Jaquier, whose debut feature, Thunder, a period...
The small Alpine nation punches above its weight on the international film scene, in large part due to its positioning as an ideal co-production partner, with a skilled, multi-lingual workforce, top-end post-production facilities and competitive state support and tax incentives.
Cross-over successes, including Alice Rohrwacher’s La chimera, an Italian/Swiss/French co-production featuring The Crown star Josh O’Connor as a white-suited tomb raider; Anna Novion’s drama Marguerite’s Theorem, about a brilliant mathematics student (Raw actor Ella Rumpf) who decides to quit university; or Claude Barras’ Swiss-French stop-motion film hit My Life as a Zucchini (2016) point to the breadth and variety of the Swiss industry.
Switzerland is also strongly supportive of its new talent, including first-time director Carmen Jaquier, whose debut feature, Thunder, a period...
- 12/5/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Switzerland has been named as the Country of Honor at the 2024 edition of the Cannes Marché du Film, running alongside parent event the Cannes Film Festival from May 14 to 22.
The spotlight is being organized by promotional agency Swiss Films, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation Srg Ssr.
The Swiss delegation, featuring filmmakers, producers, and industry experts, will participate in the market’s programs dedicated to fiction and non-fiction feature films, as well as immersive projects and innovation.
The Marché du Film noted that Switzerland consistently ranks in the top ten attending countries of the event, partly thanks to the fact that the territory is a major player on the co-production scene.
Productions either led by Switzerland or involving Swiss partners that have made their mark in Cannes include Claude Barras’ stop-motion film My Life as a Zucchini, which world premiered in Directors...
The spotlight is being organized by promotional agency Swiss Films, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation Srg Ssr.
The Swiss delegation, featuring filmmakers, producers, and industry experts, will participate in the market’s programs dedicated to fiction and non-fiction feature films, as well as immersive projects and innovation.
The Marché du Film noted that Switzerland consistently ranks in the top ten attending countries of the event, partly thanks to the fact that the territory is a major player on the co-production scene.
Productions either led by Switzerland or involving Swiss partners that have made their mark in Cannes include Claude Barras’ stop-motion film My Life as a Zucchini, which world premiered in Directors...
- 12/5/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Many Lives And Deaths Of Christopher Lee
Abacus Media Rights has pre-sold the feature documentary “The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee,” to Sky Arts, Sbs Television Australia; to NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Iceland and the Baltics and to Movistar for Spain.
Lee is known as the Dracula character and for transitioning from 1960s Hammer horror films to a distinguished acting career that encompassed James Bond films, the “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” franchises.
Less well-known are his aristocratic Italian roots, a close family connection to James Bond novelist Ian Fleming, Lee’s wartime experiences in the British and Finnish military, post-war Nazi-hunting adventures and a side career as a heavy metal rock singer. As an actor, Lee achieved a Guinness world record for the highest number of screen appearances.
Produced in association with the British Film Institute and Trigger Films by Canal Cat Films, “Life and Deaths...
Abacus Media Rights has pre-sold the feature documentary “The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee,” to Sky Arts, Sbs Television Australia; to NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Iceland and the Baltics and to Movistar for Spain.
Lee is known as the Dracula character and for transitioning from 1960s Hammer horror films to a distinguished acting career that encompassed James Bond films, the “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” franchises.
Less well-known are his aristocratic Italian roots, a close family connection to James Bond novelist Ian Fleming, Lee’s wartime experiences in the British and Finnish military, post-war Nazi-hunting adventures and a side career as a heavy metal rock singer. As an actor, Lee achieved a Guinness world record for the highest number of screen appearances.
Produced in association with the British Film Institute and Trigger Films by Canal Cat Films, “Life and Deaths...
- 9/6/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed further sales on “Richard the Stork 2,” and expects to sell the last remaining territories during the Cannes Film Market.
The film, also known as “Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel,” is a follow up to “Richard the Stork” (released in North America as “A Stork’s Journey”), which was widely distributed in 155 countries and grossed more than $20 million worldwide.
Indie Sales, which sold Oscar nominee “My Life as a Zucchini” to more than 80 territories, is increasingly focusing on acquiring big budget animation.
The sequel’s recent release in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is reaching 350,000 admissions at the box office to date, exceeding the first film by more than 120,000 admissions. The film is now on release also in Norway and France.
Indie Sales screened the film at the EFM and confirmed deals for Bulgaria (Pro Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Forum Films...
The film, also known as “Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel,” is a follow up to “Richard the Stork” (released in North America as “A Stork’s Journey”), which was widely distributed in 155 countries and grossed more than $20 million worldwide.
Indie Sales, which sold Oscar nominee “My Life as a Zucchini” to more than 80 territories, is increasingly focusing on acquiring big budget animation.
The sequel’s recent release in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is reaching 350,000 admissions at the box office to date, exceeding the first film by more than 120,000 admissions. The film is now on release also in Norway and France.
Indie Sales screened the film at the EFM and confirmed deals for Bulgaria (Pro Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Forum Films...
- 5/19/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Belgium’s Panique!, and Chile’s Pájaro have joined Oscar-nominated Vivemant Lundi! and Spanish collective Terremoto Aie to round out the co-production force behind the animated feature, “Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake.”
Filmax will handle distribution in Spain. Kmbo will handle its domestic release in France. The Gallic distributor is on a roll with strong animation box office performances in France for “Amazing Maurice” and current Ukrainian hit “Mavka: The Forest Song,”
Spearheading the production is Terremoto Aie, which includes Citoplasmas Stop Motion studio, Cornelius Films, and Bígaro Films, all contributing to the feature.
Directed by Irene Iborra, who founded Citoplasmas with Eduard Puertas and Adrian Iborra, the film brings to life the children’s book, “La Pelicula de la vida,” by Maite Carranza. The title sold over 24,000 copies in Spain and has been translated into seven languages. Adding a dash of French talent, artist Morgan Navarro has crafted the character designs.
Filmax will handle distribution in Spain. Kmbo will handle its domestic release in France. The Gallic distributor is on a roll with strong animation box office performances in France for “Amazing Maurice” and current Ukrainian hit “Mavka: The Forest Song,”
Spearheading the production is Terremoto Aie, which includes Citoplasmas Stop Motion studio, Cornelius Films, and Bígaro Films, all contributing to the feature.
Directed by Irene Iborra, who founded Citoplasmas with Eduard Puertas and Adrian Iborra, the film brings to life the children’s book, “La Pelicula de la vida,” by Maite Carranza. The title sold over 24,000 copies in Spain and has been translated into seven languages. Adding a dash of French talent, artist Morgan Navarro has crafted the character designs.
- 5/15/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
“My Life As a Zucchini” director Claude Barras has set up his latest stop-motion animated feature, “Savages!”
Production company Gebeka International — a Hildegarde-Goodfellas company formed in 2021 — and production, financing and sales studio Anton are behind the project, which will be written by Barras and Catherine Paille (“Magnetic Beasts”). The project will be shopped to buyers in Cannes next week.
“Savages!” follows the emotional journey of a girl, her father and a rescued baby orangutan. The film has a strong environmental and conservationist message, exploring the crisis of the destruction of rainforests.
An official synopsis for the film reads as follows: “In Borneo, at the edge of the tropical forest, Kéria is given a baby orangutan that has been rescued from the palm oil plantation where her father works. At the same time, Kéria’s younger cousin Selaï comes to live with her and her father as he seeks refuge from...
Production company Gebeka International — a Hildegarde-Goodfellas company formed in 2021 — and production, financing and sales studio Anton are behind the project, which will be written by Barras and Catherine Paille (“Magnetic Beasts”). The project will be shopped to buyers in Cannes next week.
“Savages!” follows the emotional journey of a girl, her father and a rescued baby orangutan. The film has a strong environmental and conservationist message, exploring the crisis of the destruction of rainforests.
An official synopsis for the film reads as follows: “In Borneo, at the edge of the tropical forest, Kéria is given a baby orangutan that has been rescued from the palm oil plantation where her father works. At the same time, Kéria’s younger cousin Selaï comes to live with her and her father as he seeks refuge from...
- 5/9/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Gkids has snapped up North American rights to Toei Animation’s film The First Slam Dunk, an adaptation of the hugely popular Takehiko Inoue manga, which Inoue wrote and directed for the screen. The film which has already proven a smash hit in other territories, grossing over $212M globally, will hit theaters in the U.S. and Canada in both its original Japanese language and an all-new English-language dub later this summer.
Marking Inoue’s directorial debut, The First Slam Dunk follows Shohoku High School’s “speedster” point guard, Ryota Miyagi, who always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryota had a brother who was three years older. And following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryota also became addicted to basketball.
In his second year of high school,...
Marking Inoue’s directorial debut, The First Slam Dunk follows Shohoku High School’s “speedster” point guard, Ryota Miyagi, who always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryota had a brother who was three years older. And following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryota also became addicted to basketball.
In his second year of high school,...
- 5/1/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Gkids has snapped up North American rights to Keiichi Hara’s Lonely Castle in the Mirror, after serving as the distributor in the territory for his past animated features Summer Days with Coo and Miss Hokusai. The film based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Mizuki Tsujimura, featuring animation from A-1 Pictures, is slated for a theatrical release in both its original Japanese language and an all-new English dub this summer.
Reuniting Hara with collaborators including screenwriter Miho Maruo, composer Harumi Fuuki and artist Ilya Kuvshinov, Lonely Castle in the Mirror follows shy outcast Kokoro, who has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanting castle where she is joined by six other students. And when a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game,...
Reuniting Hara with collaborators including screenwriter Miho Maruo, composer Harumi Fuuki and artist Ilya Kuvshinov, Lonely Castle in the Mirror follows shy outcast Kokoro, who has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanting castle where she is joined by six other students. And when a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game,...
- 4/13/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
If there's one thing we can take away from modern blockbusters it's that, with rare exceptions, special effects just don't feel "special" anymore.
That's not to say that there aren't beautiful and convincing visual effects being produced in the world of cinema. "Top Gun: Maverick" seamlessly blends real aerial footage with CG recreations, to the extent that it's nearly impossible to tell what was really in front of the camera. "Avatar: The Way of Water," whatever its other flaws may be, is a sumptuous spectacle for the eyes, at once vibrant and colorful and creative.
But what so very many modern visual effects films have in common is that they take imagery that should be astounding for granted, treating the most incredible and impossible things the human mind could devise, and acting like it's just something everyone deals with every day. And the new superhero film "Shazam! Fury of the Gods...
That's not to say that there aren't beautiful and convincing visual effects being produced in the world of cinema. "Top Gun: Maverick" seamlessly blends real aerial footage with CG recreations, to the extent that it's nearly impossible to tell what was really in front of the camera. "Avatar: The Way of Water," whatever its other flaws may be, is a sumptuous spectacle for the eyes, at once vibrant and colorful and creative.
But what so very many modern visual effects films have in common is that they take imagery that should be astounding for granted, treating the most incredible and impossible things the human mind could devise, and acting like it's just something everyone deals with every day. And the new superhero film "Shazam! Fury of the Gods...
- 3/17/2023
- by William Bibbiani
- Slash Film
Gkids has snapped up U.S. rights to Ernest & Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia — the sequel to the acclaimed Ernest & Celestine, which landed a Best Animated Feature Oscar nom in 2014. The decorated producer and distributor of animation, celebrating its 15th anniversary, will put both the original French-language version of Gibberitia and a new English dub in theaters this year.
Related Story Laura Linney Comedy ‘The Miracle Club’ Acquired By Sony Pictures Classics Related Story 'Inu-Oh' Director Masaaki Yuasa On Exploring Undocumented Possibilities For A "Modern Interpretation Of Old Tales" Related Story As The Best Animated Feature Competition Heats Up, Can Netflix Or Another Newcomer Bring Home The Oscar?
Both Ernest & Celestine films are based on the children’s book series by Belgian author-illustrator Gabrielle Vincent. The original helmed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner examines the unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest (Lambert Wilson...
Related Story Laura Linney Comedy ‘The Miracle Club’ Acquired By Sony Pictures Classics Related Story 'Inu-Oh' Director Masaaki Yuasa On Exploring Undocumented Possibilities For A "Modern Interpretation Of Old Tales" Related Story As The Best Animated Feature Competition Heats Up, Can Netflix Or Another Newcomer Bring Home The Oscar?
Both Ernest & Celestine films are based on the children’s book series by Belgian author-illustrator Gabrielle Vincent. The original helmed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner examines the unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest (Lambert Wilson...
- 3/2/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Gkids has acquired North American rights to Unicorn Wars — the latest genre-bending animated feature from Goya and Annecy Cristal-winning director Alberto Vázquez (Birdboy: The Forgotten Children) — ahead of its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest. The horror-comedy will be released in theaters by Gkids in early 2023, following its domestic release in Spain this fall.
Billed as Bambi meets Apocalypse Now, Unicorn Wars‘ logline is as follows:
For ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.
Billed as Bambi meets Apocalypse Now, Unicorn Wars‘ logline is as follows:
For ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.
- 9/15/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Gkids has acquired North American rights to New Gods: Yang Jian, the latest feature from renowned Chinese animation studio Light Chaser Animation. The producer and distributor of award-winning animated features has slated Yang Jian for theatrical release in both its original Mandarin-language form and an all-new English language dub early next year. The deal marks the latest collaboration between Gkids and Light Chaser Animation, following the former’s local distribution of the 2019 feature White Snake.
Helmed by Ji Zhao, New Gods: Yang Jian is the second installment of the studio’s New Gods series of animated action-fantasy epics inspired by Chinese mythological figures, following the 2021 feature New Gods: Nezha Reborn, also directed by Zhao. It picks up 13 years after Yang Jian (known to some as Erlang Shen) imprisoned his sister beneath a mountain, with the once powerful god now scraping by as a penniless bounty hunter.
Helmed by Ji Zhao, New Gods: Yang Jian is the second installment of the studio’s New Gods series of animated action-fantasy epics inspired by Chinese mythological figures, following the 2021 feature New Gods: Nezha Reborn, also directed by Zhao. It picks up 13 years after Yang Jian (known to some as Erlang Shen) imprisoned his sister beneath a mountain, with the once powerful god now scraping by as a penniless bounty hunter.
- 8/25/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
A group of student from French animation school Pole 3D used CG to tell a powerful story about the Paris Massacre of 1961, which has now qualified for Academy Awards consideration.
Computer-animated short The Seine’s Tears (Le lames de la Seine) has already collected several awards, most recently the BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation. Next week the short will be honored as Best of Show at annual computer graphics confab Siggraph, which returns as an in-person event Aug. 3-8 in Vancouver.
The Seine’s Tears and all of the selections for the Siggraph Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater — a qualifying festival for the Academy Awards — will be available for viewing both in Vancouver and remotely.
Yanis Belaid and seven of his fellow Pôle 3D students (Eliott Benard, Alice Letailleur, Nicolas Mayeur, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Philippine Singer and Lisa Vicente) helmed The Seine’s Tears,...
A group of student from French animation school Pole 3D used CG to tell a powerful story about the Paris Massacre of 1961, which has now qualified for Academy Awards consideration.
Computer-animated short The Seine’s Tears (Le lames de la Seine) has already collected several awards, most recently the BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation. Next week the short will be honored as Best of Show at annual computer graphics confab Siggraph, which returns as an in-person event Aug. 3-8 in Vancouver.
The Seine’s Tears and all of the selections for the Siggraph Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater — a qualifying festival for the Academy Awards — will be available for viewing both in Vancouver and remotely.
Yanis Belaid and seven of his fellow Pôle 3D students (Eliott Benard, Alice Letailleur, Nicolas Mayeur, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Philippine Singer and Lisa Vicente) helmed The Seine’s Tears,...
- 8/5/2022
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gkids today announced that its upcoming animated feature The Deer King, from directors Masashi Ando and Masayuki Miyaji, will hit theaters nationwide in July. Fan preview events of the Japanese-language version will be put on in cinemas nationwide on July 13th, in partnership with Fathom Events, with previews of the English-language version to take place the following day.
In addition to the full feature, preview audiences will view a special introduction from Ando, exclusive to the Fathom Events screenings. These events will be followed by a limited theatrical release in select markets nationwide starting July 15th.
The Deer King is a fantasy epic marking the directorial debut of veteran animator Ando, whose work on such landmark films as Spirited Away, Paprika and Your Name helped shape the world of modern animation. It’s set in the aftermath of a brutal war and follows former soldier Van, who toils in a...
In addition to the full feature, preview audiences will view a special introduction from Ando, exclusive to the Fathom Events screenings. These events will be followed by a limited theatrical release in select markets nationwide starting July 15th.
The Deer King is a fantasy epic marking the directorial debut of veteran animator Ando, whose work on such landmark films as Spirited Away, Paprika and Your Name helped shape the world of modern animation. It’s set in the aftermath of a brutal war and follows former soldier Van, who toils in a...
- 5/10/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
French director Alain Ughetto’s explores grandparents’s journey as Italian immigrants settling in France at the turn of the 20th-Century.
Paris-based company Indie Sales has signed world sales rights for French filmmaker Alain Ughetto’s animated feature No Dogs Or Italians Allowed ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 13-18).
The stop-motion animation explores the real-life story of Ughetto’s grandparents who left their homeland in the Piedmont region of Italy to settle in France at the turn of 20th century, changing the destiny of his family forever.
French actress Ariane Ascaride...
Paris-based company Indie Sales has signed world sales rights for French filmmaker Alain Ughetto’s animated feature No Dogs Or Italians Allowed ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 13-18).
The stop-motion animation explores the real-life story of Ughetto’s grandparents who left their homeland in the Piedmont region of Italy to settle in France at the turn of 20th century, changing the destiny of his family forever.
French actress Ariane Ascaride...
- 5/5/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
There are few things in contemporary cinema as pleasurable as witnessing Céline Sciamma’s fascination with childhood. Although she doesn’t technically make films for children (although she did co-write the screenplay for My Life as a Courgette) her stories often are told from their point of view. Whether it’s young Parisian women trying to find their place in the world in Girlhood, or the child in Tomboy discovering there is more to gender than they’ve been asked to believe, Sciamma’s way of seeing the world negotiates who we were and what we can become with utter wonder. Even at the end of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, it’s the silent gaze of a child in a painting that ultimately highlights the film’s unrelenting power.
In Petite Maman, Sciamma explores the meaning of grief and how loss can strangely lead to wondrous beginnings. Not that her films,...
In Petite Maman, Sciamma explores the meaning of grief and how loss can strangely lead to wondrous beginnings. Not that her films,...
- 4/26/2022
- by Jose Solís
- The Film Stage
Upcoming animated features on the company’s slate include The Character Of Rain and Sheba.
France-based animation sales company Gebeka International, which was launched as a joint venture between Wild Bunch International (Wbi) and Gebeka Films last June, has hired Jason Bressand to pilot sales.
He reports to Wbi head of sales Eva Diederix and joins Wbi and Gebeka Films staffers Livia Van der Staay and Marion Delord who oversee acquisitions.
Bressand arrives from Paulo Branco’s Paris-based company Alfama Films, where he was head of international sales and festivals from 2018.
During his time there, he handled titles including German...
France-based animation sales company Gebeka International, which was launched as a joint venture between Wild Bunch International (Wbi) and Gebeka Films last June, has hired Jason Bressand to pilot sales.
He reports to Wbi head of sales Eva Diederix and joins Wbi and Gebeka Films staffers Livia Van der Staay and Marion Delord who oversee acquisitions.
Bressand arrives from Paulo Branco’s Paris-based company Alfama Films, where he was head of international sales and festivals from 2018.
During his time there, he handled titles including German...
- 4/6/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has boarded “Perlimps,” an animated feature directed by Alê Abreu, the Brazilian filmmaker behind the Oscar-nominated animated feature “The Boy and the World.”
Best Friend Forever will launch international sales on the project at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux. Now in post, the fantasy adventure film follows the journey of Claé and Bruô, a pair of secret agents from rival kingdoms who must join forces in spite of their differences to search for the Perlimps, mysterious creatures who can ultimately find a way to peace in times of war. The animation for the film was hand-drawn by Abreu and a reduced team who spent four years in a mountain village in Brazil. Abreu collaborated with senior Brazilian animator Sandro Cleuzo.
The voice cast boasts Stênio Garcia, Giulia Benite (“Turma de Mônica: Laços”) and Lorenzo Tarantelli.
“With this film I was guided mainly by color, a very...
Best Friend Forever will launch international sales on the project at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux. Now in post, the fantasy adventure film follows the journey of Claé and Bruô, a pair of secret agents from rival kingdoms who must join forces in spite of their differences to search for the Perlimps, mysterious creatures who can ultimately find a way to peace in times of war. The animation for the film was hand-drawn by Abreu and a reduced team who spent four years in a mountain village in Brazil. Abreu collaborated with senior Brazilian animator Sandro Cleuzo.
The voice cast boasts Stênio Garcia, Giulia Benite (“Turma de Mônica: Laços”) and Lorenzo Tarantelli.
“With this film I was guided mainly by color, a very...
- 3/9/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
’My Life As A Courgette’ director’s third stop-motion work is touching tale of struggle when daughter is born with Down Syndrome.
France tv distribution has boarded sales on Claude Barras’s upcoming animated feature You’re Not The One I Expected ahead of the project’s presentation at the Cartoon Movie co-production meeting in Bordeaux from March 8-10.
It will be Swiss director Barras’s third feature after My Life As A Courgette which was nominated in the best animated film category of the Academy Awards in 2017, having won a slew of awards on the festival circuit including at Annecy,...
France tv distribution has boarded sales on Claude Barras’s upcoming animated feature You’re Not The One I Expected ahead of the project’s presentation at the Cartoon Movie co-production meeting in Bordeaux from March 8-10.
It will be Swiss director Barras’s third feature after My Life As A Courgette which was nominated in the best animated film category of the Academy Awards in 2017, having won a slew of awards on the festival circuit including at Annecy,...
- 3/4/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
’My Life As A Courgette’ director’s second stop-motion work is touching tale of struggle when daughter is born with Down Syndrome.
France tv distribution has boarded Claude Barras’s upcoming animated feature You’re Not The One I Expected ahead of the project’s presentation at the Cartoon Movie co-production meeting in Bordeaux from March 8-10.
It will be Swiss director Barras’s second feature after My Life As A Courgette which was nominated in the best animated film category of the Academy Awards in 2017, having won a slew of awards on the festival circuit the previous year including...
France tv distribution has boarded Claude Barras’s upcoming animated feature You’re Not The One I Expected ahead of the project’s presentation at the Cartoon Movie co-production meeting in Bordeaux from March 8-10.
It will be Swiss director Barras’s second feature after My Life As A Courgette which was nominated in the best animated film category of the Academy Awards in 2017, having won a slew of awards on the festival circuit the previous year including...
- 3/4/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
’My Life As A Courgette’ director’s second stop-motion work is touching tale of struggle when daughter is born with Down Syndrome.
France tv distribution has boarded Claude Barras’s upcoming animated feature You’re Not The One I Expected ahead of the project’s presentation at the Cartoon Movie co-production meeting in Bordeaux from March 8-10.
It will be Swiss director Barras’s second feature after My Life As A Courgette which was nominated in the best animated film category of the Academy Awards in 2017, having won a slew of awards on the festival circuit the previous year including...
France tv distribution has boarded Claude Barras’s upcoming animated feature You’re Not The One I Expected ahead of the project’s presentation at the Cartoon Movie co-production meeting in Bordeaux from March 8-10.
It will be Swiss director Barras’s second feature after My Life As A Courgette which was nominated in the best animated film category of the Academy Awards in 2017, having won a slew of awards on the festival circuit the previous year including...
- 3/4/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Undeterred by the pandemic, the wheels of Switzerland’s film production machine kept on spinning in 2021, churning out the meticulously made multicultural co-productions the country is known for that scored slots at top festivals.
Works by young directors such as Elie Grappe, whose coming-of-age drama “Olga” launched at Cannes; Niccolò Castelli’s terrorism-themed “Atlas,” which bowed at Locarno; and also the VR project “Caves” by Carlos Isabel Garcìa, which premiered at Venice; provided a preamble to the exceptionally strong Swiss presence at this year’s Berlinale.
Berlin sees a record-breaking two competition slots filled by new works from established Swiss directors, Ursula Meier’s “The Line” and Michael Koch’s “A Piece of Sky,” plus several more Swiss titles in other sections.
“In the worst year ever we shot three productions back-to-back during the pandemic; somehow we got used to it,” says Oscar-nominated Max Karli (“My Life as a Zucchini...
Works by young directors such as Elie Grappe, whose coming-of-age drama “Olga” launched at Cannes; Niccolò Castelli’s terrorism-themed “Atlas,” which bowed at Locarno; and also the VR project “Caves” by Carlos Isabel Garcìa, which premiered at Venice; provided a preamble to the exceptionally strong Swiss presence at this year’s Berlinale.
Berlin sees a record-breaking two competition slots filled by new works from established Swiss directors, Ursula Meier’s “The Line” and Michael Koch’s “A Piece of Sky,” plus several more Swiss titles in other sections.
“In the worst year ever we shot three productions back-to-back during the pandemic; somehow we got used to it,” says Oscar-nominated Max Karli (“My Life as a Zucchini...
- 2/11/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to predicting Oscars, there’s so much historical data we can use to predict nominees and winners, but one category that’s always been more difficult is Best Animated Feature. It doesn’t offer a shortlist, and many lesser-seen animated features from across the globe are in consideration against better-known animated features from major American animation studios. Each year, Disney tends to have one or two nominees in the running, but Universal Pictures really didn’t find a place in the category until it began distributing the movies made by Illumination Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation. Can Universal make the cut this year for “Sing 2”?
See‘Sing 2’ director Garth Jennings on giving voice to a part he wrote
The original “Sing” was released in December 2016, and it grossed $270.4 million domestically and another $363.8 million overseas. It was another tick in the win column for Universal and Illumination after...
See‘Sing 2’ director Garth Jennings on giving voice to a part he wrote
The original “Sing” was released in December 2016, and it grossed $270.4 million domestically and another $363.8 million overseas. It was another tick in the win column for Universal and Illumination after...
- 2/4/2022
- by Edward Douglas
- Gold Derby
Rémi Chayé’s “Fleur,” Claude Barras’ “You’re Not the One I Expected” and Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars” are some of the multiple potential standouts at the 24th edition of Cartoon Movie, Europe’s leading animated movie co-production event.
Scheduled to take place in Bordeaux, France, over March 8-10, the 2022 Cartoon Movie lineup features 57 projects, 15 hail from France, which is seven fewer than last year as animation grows in the rest of Europe but still marks its predominance in Europe as a producer of arthouse and crossover animated movies.
For the third year running, Spain has the second largest presence at Cartoon Movie with eight titles, a sign of its build as a significant animation producer and host of animation events such as Cartoon Springboard, confirmed last week, Cartoon Business and the Quirino Awards.
“You’re Not the One I Expected” marks the new project from Switzerland’s Claude Barras,...
Scheduled to take place in Bordeaux, France, over March 8-10, the 2022 Cartoon Movie lineup features 57 projects, 15 hail from France, which is seven fewer than last year as animation grows in the rest of Europe but still marks its predominance in Europe as a producer of arthouse and crossover animated movies.
For the third year running, Spain has the second largest presence at Cartoon Movie with eight titles, a sign of its build as a significant animation producer and host of animation events such as Cartoon Springboard, confirmed last week, Cartoon Business and the Quirino Awards.
“You’re Not the One I Expected” marks the new project from Switzerland’s Claude Barras,...
- 12/21/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Chace Crawford (The Boys), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) and newcomer Kylie McNeill will lead the English-language voice cast for Mamoru Hosoda’s Gkids awards contender Belle, which is scheduled for release alongside the original Japanese-language version in U.S. theaters (including select Imax screens) on January 14, with exclusive Imax previews in select markets beginning January 12.
Others lending their voices to the new dub include Paul Castro Jr., David Chen, Jessica Dicicco, Brandon Engman, Martha Harms, Jessica Gee George, Barbara Goodson, Bentley Griffin, Andrew Kishino, Wendee Lee, Ben Lepley, Noelle McGrath, Julie Nathanson, Aaron Phillips, Ellyn Stern, Frank Todaro, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Cristina Vee Valenzuela, Tom Bromhead, John Bentley, Tiana Camacho, SungWon Cho, Courtney Chu, Larissa Gallagher, Heather Gonzalez, Xanthe Huynh, Anjali Kunapaneni, LilyPichu, Kyle McCarley, Julie Nathanson, Zeno Robinson, Stephanie Sheh, Michael Sinterniklaas, Rachel Slotky and Laura Stahl.
Hosoda’s’s...
Others lending their voices to the new dub include Paul Castro Jr., David Chen, Jessica Dicicco, Brandon Engman, Martha Harms, Jessica Gee George, Barbara Goodson, Bentley Griffin, Andrew Kishino, Wendee Lee, Ben Lepley, Noelle McGrath, Julie Nathanson, Aaron Phillips, Ellyn Stern, Frank Todaro, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Cristina Vee Valenzuela, Tom Bromhead, John Bentley, Tiana Camacho, SungWon Cho, Courtney Chu, Larissa Gallagher, Heather Gonzalez, Xanthe Huynh, Anjali Kunapaneni, LilyPichu, Kyle McCarley, Julie Nathanson, Zeno Robinson, Stephanie Sheh, Michael Sinterniklaas, Rachel Slotky and Laura Stahl.
Hosoda’s’s...
- 12/9/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
French director Celine Sciamma has always had a keen eye for the viewpoint of children, in work including her own film Tomboy and her contributory writing for the likes of animation My Life As A Courgette. She has a sensibility for the fluidity of childhood emotions and an awareness of the flexibility of belief at an age where what adults would describe as “magical” and the lesser magic moments of the everyday are accepted equally willingly.
All of this is back in evidence here in this modern fairy story that will take its protagonist and us on an unexpected journey through time, even though we might not realise it at first. The writer/director gently explores the anxieties experienced by young Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) after the death of her grandmother along with the connections between parent and child. At her gran's house to clear out the furniture, her mum Marion...
All of this is back in evidence here in this modern fairy story that will take its protagonist and us on an unexpected journey through time, even though we might not realise it at first. The writer/director gently explores the anxieties experienced by young Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) after the death of her grandmother along with the connections between parent and child. At her gran's house to clear out the furniture, her mum Marion...
- 11/19/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Paris-based company Indie Sales (“My Life as a Zucchini”) has acquired “Richard the Stork 2,” the sequel to the family animated film which traveled to 155 countries and grossed over $20 million worldwide.
Directed by Mette Rank Tange and Benjamin Quabek, “Richard the Stork 2” follows a daring sparrow, Richard, who was adopted by a stork family and is enjoying wintering at the Great Lake in Northern Africa when he realizes he won’t be the one to lead the flock back north. He runs away to travel on his own and meets Samia and her sparrow flock, who are being held captive by a greedy peacock, Zamano. The sparrows’s only choice to set themselves free is to solve a riddle and find the Great Jewel, which will require teamwork, trust and most of all, spork skills.
“Richard the Stork 2” was written by Reza Memari and Philip Lazebnik. The film is being produced...
Directed by Mette Rank Tange and Benjamin Quabek, “Richard the Stork 2” follows a daring sparrow, Richard, who was adopted by a stork family and is enjoying wintering at the Great Lake in Northern Africa when he realizes he won’t be the one to lead the flock back north. He runs away to travel on his own and meets Samia and her sparrow flock, who are being held captive by a greedy peacock, Zamano. The sparrows’s only choice to set themselves free is to solve a riddle and find the Great Jewel, which will require teamwork, trust and most of all, spork skills.
“Richard the Stork 2” was written by Reza Memari and Philip Lazebnik. The film is being produced...
- 10/27/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Gkids has nabbed North American rights to Takayuki Hirao’s indie anime pic Pompo the Cinephile, and will release both the original Japanese-language film (titled Eiga Daisuki Pompo-san) and a new English-language version in U.S. theaters early next year.
Hirao’s ode to filmmaking centers on Pompo, a talented and gutsy producer in the world’s movie-making capital, “Nyallywood.” Although she’s known for B-movies, Pompo one day tells her assistant Gene that he will direct her next script: a delicate drama about an aging and tormented creative genius. But when the production heads towards chaos, can Gene rise to Pompo’s challenge, and succeed as a first-time director?
Pompo the Cinephile hails from the new animation studio, Clap. Its Japanese voice cast includes Hiroya Shimizu, Konomi Kohara, Ai Kakuma, Aiko Otsuka, and Rinka Ōtani. The film was an official selection of the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival and was released in Japan in June.
Hirao’s ode to filmmaking centers on Pompo, a talented and gutsy producer in the world’s movie-making capital, “Nyallywood.” Although she’s known for B-movies, Pompo one day tells her assistant Gene that he will direct her next script: a delicate drama about an aging and tormented creative genius. But when the production heads towards chaos, can Gene rise to Pompo’s challenge, and succeed as a first-time director?
Pompo the Cinephile hails from the new animation studio, Clap. Its Japanese voice cast includes Hiroya Shimizu, Konomi Kohara, Ai Kakuma, Aiko Otsuka, and Rinka Ōtani. The film was an official selection of the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival and was released in Japan in June.
- 9/16/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Playtime has nearly sold out Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District,” one of the critical highlights of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The black-and-white relationship drama has been applauded for breakthrough performances by newcomer Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba and Noemie Merland (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”), as well as a sharp and modern script penned by Audiard, Léa Mysius (“Ava”) and Celine Sciamma.
Lighthearted, bold and profound, the movie tackles the issues of sexuality, love and dating through the story of Emilie, Camille, Nora and Amber, four young adults who are friends and sometimes lovers in Paris’s 13th arrondissement. The film is loosely based on New Yorker cartoonist Adrian Tomine’s collection of graphic short stories “Killing and Dying.”
Playtime has closed a raft of deals on “Paris, 13th District” for Latin America (California Filmes), Spain (Avalon), Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen), Italy (Cineone/Europictures), Israel (Lev Cinema...
The black-and-white relationship drama has been applauded for breakthrough performances by newcomer Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba and Noemie Merland (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”), as well as a sharp and modern script penned by Audiard, Léa Mysius (“Ava”) and Celine Sciamma.
Lighthearted, bold and profound, the movie tackles the issues of sexuality, love and dating through the story of Emilie, Camille, Nora and Amber, four young adults who are friends and sometimes lovers in Paris’s 13th arrondissement. The film is loosely based on New Yorker cartoonist Adrian Tomine’s collection of graphic short stories “Killing and Dying.”
Playtime has closed a raft of deals on “Paris, 13th District” for Latin America (California Filmes), Spain (Avalon), Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen), Italy (Cineone/Europictures), Israel (Lev Cinema...
- 7/20/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
A panel of top animation professionals gathered in Cannes has underlined how festivals can help to promote a new generation of socially engaged animation films.
“It is one of the main launching pads for this very specific kind of film, which needs that kind of exposure. We have such strong industries in Europe, especially in France, and we need that exposure from the A-list festivals,” said panel member Eleanor Coleman, head of animation and new media acquisitions at Indie Sales, the Paris-based outfit that sold the Oscar-nominated “My Life as a Zucchini” around the world after it premiered in the Cannes sidebar Directors’ Fortnight in 2016.
According to Mexican producer-director Miguel Uriegas, the co-founder of Fotosintesis Media, which produces what he calls “cause driven” entertainment in Latin America, the major challenge is to make these films “sexy” at the distribution stage.
“It’s the same as any film – you need to...
“It is one of the main launching pads for this very specific kind of film, which needs that kind of exposure. We have such strong industries in Europe, especially in France, and we need that exposure from the A-list festivals,” said panel member Eleanor Coleman, head of animation and new media acquisitions at Indie Sales, the Paris-based outfit that sold the Oscar-nominated “My Life as a Zucchini” around the world after it premiered in the Cannes sidebar Directors’ Fortnight in 2016.
According to Mexican producer-director Miguel Uriegas, the co-founder of Fotosintesis Media, which produces what he calls “cause driven” entertainment in Latin America, the major challenge is to make these films “sexy” at the distribution stage.
“It’s the same as any film – you need to...
- 7/12/2021
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
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