Acclaimed Romanian animator Anca Damian has lined up her next live-action feature.
The filmmaker behind Annecy top prizewinner “Crulic: The Path to Beyond” and “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” will write and direct “First People on Earth,” a tragicomic family saga about a biracial woman re-experiencing her native Namibia after decades in Europe.
Returning to her birth country for a family funeral, and bringing her non-verbal, pre-adolescent son in tow, the heroine falls in with a troupe of theatrical Bushmen – an Indigenous tribe, divorced from their historic lands, forced to re-enact ancestral myths for tourist dollars.
Michaël Goldberg, from Belgium’s Daylight Films, will produce, with the filmmakers now scouting for an additional European production partner. Though written and conceived to shoot fast with a principally non-professional cast, Damian has nevertheless eyed an internationally-renowned performer for the lead. Once locked, the filmmaker plans to shoot the project quick order. The film will deal in dreams,...
The filmmaker behind Annecy top prizewinner “Crulic: The Path to Beyond” and “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” will write and direct “First People on Earth,” a tragicomic family saga about a biracial woman re-experiencing her native Namibia after decades in Europe.
Returning to her birth country for a family funeral, and bringing her non-verbal, pre-adolescent son in tow, the heroine falls in with a troupe of theatrical Bushmen – an Indigenous tribe, divorced from their historic lands, forced to re-enact ancestral myths for tourist dollars.
Michaël Goldberg, from Belgium’s Daylight Films, will produce, with the filmmakers now scouting for an additional European production partner. Though written and conceived to shoot fast with a principally non-professional cast, Damian has nevertheless eyed an internationally-renowned performer for the lead. Once locked, the filmmaker plans to shoot the project quick order. The film will deal in dreams,...
- 10/13/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
The 2D animation depicting a feminist utopia is premiered at San Sebastian before moving to Filmfest Hamburg.
Films That Matter, the nascent social impact label of Hamburg-based distributor Luftkind Filmverleih, has picked up German rights to Spanish director Isabel Herguera’s feminist animation Sultana’s Dream which made its world premiere last week in San Sebastian and is now screening at Filmfest Hamburg.
Sultana’s Dream is about a young Spanish woman´s globe-spanning journey to intellectual and spiritual awakening. It is based on a 1905 feminist parable by Bengali writer Begum Rokeya, or Rokeya Sahkawat Hossain
“We loved the world of Sultana’s Dream,...
Films That Matter, the nascent social impact label of Hamburg-based distributor Luftkind Filmverleih, has picked up German rights to Spanish director Isabel Herguera’s feminist animation Sultana’s Dream which made its world premiere last week in San Sebastian and is now screening at Filmfest Hamburg.
Sultana’s Dream is about a young Spanish woman´s globe-spanning journey to intellectual and spiritual awakening. It is based on a 1905 feminist parable by Bengali writer Begum Rokeya, or Rokeya Sahkawat Hossain
“We loved the world of Sultana’s Dream,...
- 10/3/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
One of the most significant strands at Rome’s Mia market is its Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum, which has fast become one of the leading co-production forums in the industry calendar.
This year more than 500 projects were submitted for the industry section for animation, documentary, drama and film from 80 countries. This was a 30% uptick of countries compared to 2022 and of these, 62 were selected from 36 countries.
“We build everything around content,” says Mia director Gaia Tridente. “We have built a program that really fits the needs of the industry and the co-production market is the perfect place for people to come and discover good partners for international co-productions.”
While the forum has a global reach, European projects remain at the heart of this year’s event with projects such as Leitzia Battaglia: Her Name is Battle, a documentary about the late photographer that...
This year more than 500 projects were submitted for the industry section for animation, documentary, drama and film from 80 countries. This was a 30% uptick of countries compared to 2022 and of these, 62 were selected from 36 countries.
“We build everything around content,” says Mia director Gaia Tridente. “We have built a program that really fits the needs of the industry and the co-production market is the perfect place for people to come and discover good partners for international co-productions.”
While the forum has a global reach, European projects remain at the heart of this year’s event with projects such as Leitzia Battaglia: Her Name is Battle, a documentary about the late photographer that...
- 10/2/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Rome’s Mia market dedicated to international TV series, animation, feature films, and documentaries is set to feature a panoply of 62 projects from 36 countries for its upcoming 9th edition.
Though European content remains the core of the curated pre-Mipcom event that will run Oct. 9-13 in the central Rome’s Palazzo Barberini – which besides being Italy’s National Ancient Art gallery, is also the market’s main hub – organisers on Thursday announced that this year more than 500 entries were submitted from 80 countries which they said marks a 30% increase in terms of national provenance.
Mia (whose whose acronym stands for the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo or International Audiovisual Market) is headed by Gaia Tridente.
Standout projects that made the cut for Mia comprise groundbreaking Romanian animator Anca Damian’s “Motherhood,” described as a poetic journey into female body and desire, illustrated by Italian artist Virginia Mori and co-produced by French studio Miyu Productions...
Though European content remains the core of the curated pre-Mipcom event that will run Oct. 9-13 in the central Rome’s Palazzo Barberini – which besides being Italy’s National Ancient Art gallery, is also the market’s main hub – organisers on Thursday announced that this year more than 500 entries were submitted from 80 countries which they said marks a 30% increase in terms of national provenance.
Mia (whose whose acronym stands for the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo or International Audiovisual Market) is headed by Gaia Tridente.
Standout projects that made the cut for Mia comprise groundbreaking Romanian animator Anca Damian’s “Motherhood,” described as a poetic journey into female body and desire, illustrated by Italian artist Virginia Mori and co-produced by French studio Miyu Productions...
- 9/21/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Gap-Financing Market (September 1-3), part of the Venice Production Bridge, will present 34 fiction and documentary projects.
The Venice Gap-Financing Market (September 1-3), part of the Venice Production Bridge, will present 34 fiction and documentary projects at the 80th Venice International Film Festival (August 30-Septmber 9), including a new project from Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, All Before You.
All Before You offers a retelling of the 1963 farner-led revolt against British colonial rule in Palestine. Jacir’s previous director credits include The Oblivion Theory, which won the top prize at the Berlinale co-production market in 2021, Salt Of This Sea, Wajib and When I Saw You,...
The Venice Gap-Financing Market (September 1-3), part of the Venice Production Bridge, will present 34 fiction and documentary projects at the 80th Venice International Film Festival (August 30-Septmber 9), including a new project from Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, All Before You.
All Before You offers a retelling of the 1963 farner-led revolt against British colonial rule in Palestine. Jacir’s previous director credits include The Oblivion Theory, which won the top prize at the Berlinale co-production market in 2021, Salt Of This Sea, Wajib and When I Saw You,...
- 7/3/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The 10th edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market, organized as part of the Venice Film Festival’s industry program Venice Production Bridge, has selected 62 projects in the final stages of development and funding.
Filmmakers taking projects to Venice include Jim Sheridan, an Oscar nominee with “In America,” “In the Name of the Father” and “My Left Foot”; Annemarie Jacir, whose credits include Cannes’ “Salt of This Sea,” Berlin’s “When I Saw You” and Locarno’s “Wajib”; Aisling Walsh, who directed “Maudie” with Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, and “Elizabeth Is Missing” with Glenda Jackson; and Kim Mordaunt, who won best debut at Berlin with “The Rocket.”
Also selected are Roberto Minervini, who directed Cannes’ “The Other Side” and Venice’s “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?”; Laurynas Bareisa, who won the Venice Horizons Award for “Pilgrims”; Måns Månsson, who was in Berlin competition with “The Real Estate”; György Pálfi,...
Filmmakers taking projects to Venice include Jim Sheridan, an Oscar nominee with “In America,” “In the Name of the Father” and “My Left Foot”; Annemarie Jacir, whose credits include Cannes’ “Salt of This Sea,” Berlin’s “When I Saw You” and Locarno’s “Wajib”; Aisling Walsh, who directed “Maudie” with Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, and “Elizabeth Is Missing” with Glenda Jackson; and Kim Mordaunt, who won best debut at Berlin with “The Rocket.”
Also selected are Roberto Minervini, who directed Cannes’ “The Other Side” and Venice’s “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?”; Laurynas Bareisa, who won the Venice Horizons Award for “Pilgrims”; Måns Månsson, who was in Berlin competition with “The Real Estate”; György Pálfi,...
- 7/3/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
New Feature projects by Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, Ireland’s Aisling Walsh and Jim Sheridan as well as Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian have been selected for the upcoming edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market.
The 10th edition of the co-financing meeting will run from Sept. 1 to 3 as part as of the Venice Production Bridge, which is the industry component of the Venice Film Festival (Aug 30 to Sept. 9)
The market will present 62 projects in the final stages of development and funding, selected from 280 submissions.
The selection spans 34 feature-length fiction Film and documentary projects, 14 Immersive projects, 11 Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality projects and three Biennale College Cinema projects.
To be eligible for inclusion, the fiction films must have at least 70% of funding in place and be looking for minority partners only.
Full List of Feature Film Projects:
After The Evil (doc) by Tamara Erde, Gloria Films Production All Before You (fiction), by Annemarie Jacir,...
The 10th edition of the co-financing meeting will run from Sept. 1 to 3 as part as of the Venice Production Bridge, which is the industry component of the Venice Film Festival (Aug 30 to Sept. 9)
The market will present 62 projects in the final stages of development and funding, selected from 280 submissions.
The selection spans 34 feature-length fiction Film and documentary projects, 14 Immersive projects, 11 Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality projects and three Biennale College Cinema projects.
To be eligible for inclusion, the fiction films must have at least 70% of funding in place and be looking for minority partners only.
Full List of Feature Film Projects:
After The Evil (doc) by Tamara Erde, Gloria Films Production All Before You (fiction), by Annemarie Jacir,...
- 7/3/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Best Friend Forever has unveiled the trailer for “To The North,” Romanian Mihai Mincan’s feature debut which is world premiering in the Horizons section at Venice.
Inspired by true events, the edgy thriller follows Joel, a religious Filipino sailor who finds a Romanian stowaway, Dumitru, hidden between some containers during his shift on a transatlantic ship. Joel decides to hide him and subsequently starts feeling tormented by his crew, friends and even God.
“To The North” stars Soliman Cruz, Niko Becker, Bart Guingona and Olivier Ho Hio Hen (“Stillwater”). The topnotch crew includes cinematographer George Chiper-Lillemark (“Immaculate”), sound designer Nicolas Becker (“Sound Of Metal”) and sound mixer Cyril Holtz (“The Sister Brothers”).
“To The North” is produced by Radu Stancu at De Film Production, and co-produced by Remora Films, Studio Bauhaus, Screening Emotions and Background Films.
Best Friend Forever 2022 line-up also includes Oscar-nominated director Alê Abreu’s a”Perlimps...
Inspired by true events, the edgy thriller follows Joel, a religious Filipino sailor who finds a Romanian stowaway, Dumitru, hidden between some containers during his shift on a transatlantic ship. Joel decides to hide him and subsequently starts feeling tormented by his crew, friends and even God.
“To The North” stars Soliman Cruz, Niko Becker, Bart Guingona and Olivier Ho Hio Hen (“Stillwater”). The topnotch crew includes cinematographer George Chiper-Lillemark (“Immaculate”), sound designer Nicolas Becker (“Sound Of Metal”) and sound mixer Cyril Holtz (“The Sister Brothers”).
“To The North” is produced by Radu Stancu at De Film Production, and co-produced by Remora Films, Studio Bauhaus, Screening Emotions and Background Films.
Best Friend Forever 2022 line-up also includes Oscar-nominated director Alê Abreu’s a”Perlimps...
- 9/4/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired Laura Baumeister’s feature debut “Daughter of Rage” ahead of its world premiere at Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals.
Baumeister previously directed the shorts “Isabel im Winter” which played at Cannes Critics’ Week in 2014 and “Ombligo De Agua” which screened in Rotterdam and Clermont-Ferrand in 2018.
The Spanish-language film follows Maria, an 11-year-old girl who lives with her mother Lilibeth at the edge of a massive waste-disposal site in Nicaragua. Their future depends on selling a litter of purebred puppies to a local thug. After the deal falls through, Maria is dropped off by her mother at a recycling center in the city and realizes her mother won’t be coming back for her. Feeling lost, bewildered and angry, Maria meets Tadeo, an imaginative new friend who is determined to help her to reunite with her mother.
“We are thrilled to be working...
Baumeister previously directed the shorts “Isabel im Winter” which played at Cannes Critics’ Week in 2014 and “Ombligo De Agua” which screened in Rotterdam and Clermont-Ferrand in 2018.
The Spanish-language film follows Maria, an 11-year-old girl who lives with her mother Lilibeth at the edge of a massive waste-disposal site in Nicaragua. Their future depends on selling a litter of purebred puppies to a local thug. After the deal falls through, Maria is dropped off by her mother at a recycling center in the city and realizes her mother won’t be coming back for her. Feeling lost, bewildered and angry, Maria meets Tadeo, an imaginative new friend who is determined to help her to reunite with her mother.
“We are thrilled to be working...
- 8/22/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Brussels-based sales company Best Friend Forever has acquired Andrea Bagney’s feature debut “Ramona,” a Spanish romantic comedy which will premiere at Karlovy Vary.
Produced by Sergio Uguet de Resayre at Tortilla Films, “Ramona” previously won awards in work-in-progress sessions at Rec Tarragona and Malaga festival in Spain. The movie is also set to open the Atlántida Mallorca Film Festival later this month.
Streaming service Filmin has picked up Spanish rights. A theatrical distribution partner will be announced by Best Friend Forever at a later stage.
“Ramona” follows a young woman who has just moved to Madrid with her boyfriend, hoping to get a fresh start. she wants to be an actress, a mother, and live in the city’s best neighborhood. The day before her first audition, she meets an older man, Bruno, with whom she feels an instant connection. Ramona runs off, scared of her own feelings but the next day,...
Produced by Sergio Uguet de Resayre at Tortilla Films, “Ramona” previously won awards in work-in-progress sessions at Rec Tarragona and Malaga festival in Spain. The movie is also set to open the Atlántida Mallorca Film Festival later this month.
Streaming service Filmin has picked up Spanish rights. A theatrical distribution partner will be announced by Best Friend Forever at a later stage.
“Ramona” follows a young woman who has just moved to Madrid with her boyfriend, hoping to get a fresh start. she wants to be an actress, a mother, and live in the city’s best neighborhood. The day before her first audition, she meets an older man, Bruno, with whom she feels an instant connection. Ramona runs off, scared of her own feelings but the next day,...
- 6/27/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Bogdan George Apetri’s “Miracle” took home the top prize in the Romanian Days competition at the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival, which saw nine first-time directors among the 12 filmmakers competing in the annual showcase of domestic cinema.
It’s the first time such a formidable number of debuts have featured in the competition, offering a snapshot of what the fest’s artistic director Mihai Chirilov describes as a “balanced landscape” of new and established voices in Romania’s celebrated film industry.
It’s been nearly two decades since Cristi Puiu’s “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” (2005) won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival, kickstarting what would come to be known as the Romanian New Wave. Two years later, Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d’Or for his abortion drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days,” cementing the movement’s status and effectively punching the tickets of Mungiu, Puiu...
It’s the first time such a formidable number of debuts have featured in the competition, offering a snapshot of what the fest’s artistic director Mihai Chirilov describes as a “balanced landscape” of new and established voices in Romania’s celebrated film industry.
It’s been nearly two decades since Cristi Puiu’s “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” (2005) won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival, kickstarting what would come to be known as the Romanian New Wave. Two years later, Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d’Or for his abortion drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days,” cementing the movement’s status and effectively punching the tickets of Mungiu, Puiu...
- 6/26/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Six teams of budding animation professionals have pitched their projects at the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival as part of a new mentoring program for women from France and Africa launched by Les Femmes s’Animent (Lfa), an organization that supports women in animation.
The aim of the initiative, entitled “A Woman’s Journey,” is to help women who want to create short animated films but are not part of, nor have access to, the animation industry. Each team consists of one author and one director who have developed a film project from scratch.
Over the past six months, they have received both remote coaching sessions with a dedicated mentor, as well as three masterclasses on directing, writing and producing, and copyright legislation.
The courses were dispensed by the likes of Anca Damian, whose latest film “The Island” is competing for this year’s Cristal Award in Annecy, and Corinne Destombes,...
The aim of the initiative, entitled “A Woman’s Journey,” is to help women who want to create short animated films but are not part of, nor have access to, the animation industry. Each team consists of one author and one director who have developed a film project from scratch.
Over the past six months, they have received both remote coaching sessions with a dedicated mentor, as well as three masterclasses on directing, writing and producing, and copyright legislation.
The courses were dispensed by the likes of Anca Damian, whose latest film “The Island” is competing for this year’s Cristal Award in Annecy, and Corinne Destombes,...
- 6/16/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
France’s “The Tern,” “Phil & Sophia” and “Nino Dino,” along with Spain’s “Zoey Oceans,” Poland’s “Happy not Lucky,” Ireland’s “Natu Natu,” and Romania’s “Karma” lead a packed 84-title line-up of animated TV projects to pitch at the 2022 Cartoon Forum.
It will take place in Toulouse, Southern France, over Sept. 19-22.
“The Tern” is a 10-episode half-hour from Paris-based family entertainment company Cyber Group Studios. Directed by Slimane Aniss, it tells the adventures of a fleet of massive dirigibles traveling endlessly above a devastated Earth, following the flight paths around the planet of a particular bird, the tern.
Targeting preschoolers, “Phil & Sophia” is written by Martine Gasparov. Produced by France’s Xilam (“Oggy and the Cockroaches”), the story follows two siblings with strong opinions, whose daily issues often fuel passionate debate.
Directed by Aurélie Raphaël and Jeanne-Sylvette Giraud, “Nino Dino” is produced by France’s Folivari (“Ernest...
It will take place in Toulouse, Southern France, over Sept. 19-22.
“The Tern” is a 10-episode half-hour from Paris-based family entertainment company Cyber Group Studios. Directed by Slimane Aniss, it tells the adventures of a fleet of massive dirigibles traveling endlessly above a devastated Earth, following the flight paths around the planet of a particular bird, the tern.
Targeting preschoolers, “Phil & Sophia” is written by Martine Gasparov. Produced by France’s Xilam (“Oggy and the Cockroaches”), the story follows two siblings with strong opinions, whose daily issues often fuel passionate debate.
Directed by Aurélie Raphaël and Jeanne-Sylvette Giraud, “Nino Dino” is produced by France’s Folivari (“Ernest...
- 6/13/2022
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Damian won Annecy’s top Crystal prize in 2012 for Crulic – The Path Beyond.
French distributor Eurozoom has acquired French rights to Romanian director Anca Damian’s The Island ahead of its screening in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June13-18).
International sales of the film are handled by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever (Bff).
The Paris-based distributor has a long track record in theatrically releasing animated features in France. Past releases include award-winning Japanese titles Your Name by Makoto Shinkai and The Wolf Children by Mamoru Hosoda as well as Spanish director Salvador Simo’s Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles.
French distributor Eurozoom has acquired French rights to Romanian director Anca Damian’s The Island ahead of its screening in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June13-18).
International sales of the film are handled by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever (Bff).
The Paris-based distributor has a long track record in theatrically releasing animated features in France. Past releases include award-winning Japanese titles Your Name by Makoto Shinkai and The Wolf Children by Mamoru Hosoda as well as Spanish director Salvador Simo’s Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles.
- 5/9/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Twenty titles have been selected for its main feature competitions.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled its main feature competition line-up for the upcoming 2022 edition (June 13-18).
Ten titles have been selected for official competition, including Eric Warin and Tahir Rana’s Charlotte which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021. Based on the true story of the young Judeo-German artist Charlotte Salomon, the voice cast includes Kiera Knightley, Marion Cotillard, Sam Claflin and Helen McCrory.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
Other titles include Japanese filmmaker Shinya Kawastura’s The House Of The Lost...
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled its main feature competition line-up for the upcoming 2022 edition (June 13-18).
Ten titles have been selected for official competition, including Eric Warin and Tahir Rana’s Charlotte which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021. Based on the true story of the young Judeo-German artist Charlotte Salomon, the voice cast includes Kiera Knightley, Marion Cotillard, Sam Claflin and Helen McCrory.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
Other titles include Japanese filmmaker Shinya Kawastura’s The House Of The Lost...
- 5/3/2022
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
Two of the most awaited European animation films of the year – Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars” and Pierre Foldes’ “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” – look set to world premiere in competition at France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the biggest animation festival in the world.
Sneak peeks at Annecy’s Work in Progress strand, its industry cornerstone, include Apple Original and Skydance title “Luck,” from Peggy Holmes, Cartoon Network’s “Unicorn: Warriors Eternal,” from legendary U.S. director Genndy Tartakovsky (“Samurai Jack”) and the latest works from directors whose prior animated features have scored Oscar nominations: Spain’s Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal and France’s Alain Gagnol.
Announced Monday evening in Paris’ Cnc state film agency by Annecy director Mickaël Marin and artistic director Michel Jean, this year’s festival is deigned as fully-fledged return to the on-site encounters and in-person discovery which is the soul of Annecy, Marin emphasized,...
Sneak peeks at Annecy’s Work in Progress strand, its industry cornerstone, include Apple Original and Skydance title “Luck,” from Peggy Holmes, Cartoon Network’s “Unicorn: Warriors Eternal,” from legendary U.S. director Genndy Tartakovsky (“Samurai Jack”) and the latest works from directors whose prior animated features have scored Oscar nominations: Spain’s Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal and France’s Alain Gagnol.
Announced Monday evening in Paris’ Cnc state film agency by Annecy director Mickaël Marin and artistic director Michel Jean, this year’s festival is deigned as fully-fledged return to the on-site encounters and in-person discovery which is the soul of Annecy, Marin emphasized,...
- 5/2/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
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
Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired “Coma,” the latest film by celebrated French director Bertrand Bonello (“Saint Laurent”). “Coma” will have its world premiere premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in the Encounters section.
Weaving genre, animation and live action, the stylish movie boasts an exciting cast including Louise Labeque (“Zombi Child”) and Julia Faure (“Camille Rewinds”), with voices by beloved late actor Gaspard Ulliel, as well as Louis Garrel, Laetitia Casta, Anaïs Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste.
“Coma” explores online behavior and content consumption through the eyes of a teenage girl who immerses audiences into her dreams and nightmares. Locked in her room, her only relationship to the outside world is virtual. Navigating between dreams and reality, she’s guided by a disturbing and mysterious YouTuber, Patricia Coma.
Bonello’s 10th feature, “Coma” was produced by Les Films du Bélier and My New Picture. Co-producers are Remembers Production, the...
Weaving genre, animation and live action, the stylish movie boasts an exciting cast including Louise Labeque (“Zombi Child”) and Julia Faure (“Camille Rewinds”), with voices by beloved late actor Gaspard Ulliel, as well as Louis Garrel, Laetitia Casta, Anaïs Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste.
“Coma” explores online behavior and content consumption through the eyes of a teenage girl who immerses audiences into her dreams and nightmares. Locked in her room, her only relationship to the outside world is virtual. Navigating between dreams and reality, she’s guided by a disturbing and mysterious YouTuber, Patricia Coma.
Bonello’s 10th feature, “Coma” was produced by Les Films du Bélier and My New Picture. Co-producers are Remembers Production, the...
- 2/2/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
“Don’t you want to share your solitude with me?” asks this film’s version of Robinson Crusoe. Directing this question to the film’s prospective audience would surely bring varying answers. Alienated by the project’s inherent surrealism and fragmentation, a number of viewers could potentially decline to partake. Anca Damian’s animated feature, however, will reward with visual splendor those willing to immerse themselves in its world.
Robinson’s island is nothing like its literary counterpart. The waters surrounding it appear tainted and the island itself plays host to a very different cast of characters than the original, featuring refugees, border guards, and garbage dumps. A number of these visitors echo global issues plentifully woven into the fabric of this otherwise whimsical spectacle. Damian’s visual treat of a film offers contemplation on ecological disaster, capitalism, and solitude, all within a story that could be described as a surreal anthology of images.
Robinson’s island is nothing like its literary counterpart. The waters surrounding it appear tainted and the island itself plays host to a very different cast of characters than the original, featuring refugees, border guards, and garbage dumps. A number of these visitors echo global issues plentifully woven into the fabric of this otherwise whimsical spectacle. Damian’s visual treat of a film offers contemplation on ecological disaster, capitalism, and solitude, all within a story that could be described as a surreal anthology of images.
- 1/28/2022
- by Antoni Konieczny
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Romanian animator Anca Damian’s psychedelic, musical take on the Robinson Crusoe’s story, “The Island,” will be accompanied by an Ar exhibition inviting the audience to further explore its colorful universe, Variety has learned. A board-game based on her seventh feature has also been developed, mirroring its protagonists’ search for paradise in the film.
Set to bow at Rotterdam Film Festival, “The Island” was produced by Aparte Film, with Best Friend Forever handling international sales.
Despite referencing his most famous creation, Damian doesn’t care for Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel, she says. “It was written a long time ago and it has no meaning now. It’s awful. The way Robinson Crusoe thinks that he is saving the so-called ‘savage’… The whole thing is unacceptable.”
The project – her first since 2019’s “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” – was inspired by a concert performed by Ada Milea and Alexander Balanescu, itself based...
Set to bow at Rotterdam Film Festival, “The Island” was produced by Aparte Film, with Best Friend Forever handling international sales.
Despite referencing his most famous creation, Damian doesn’t care for Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel, she says. “It was written a long time ago and it has no meaning now. It’s awful. The way Robinson Crusoe thinks that he is saving the so-called ‘savage’… The whole thing is unacceptable.”
The project – her first since 2019’s “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” – was inspired by a concert performed by Ada Milea and Alexander Balanescu, itself based...
- 1/27/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Answering the SunInternational Film Festival Rotterdam have announced the full lineup for their "scaled-down" 51st edition, which will take place online between January 26 — February 6. As part of a full, nationwide lockdown, cinemas will remain closed in the Netherlands until at least 14 January. Tiger COMPETITIONAchrome (Maria Ignatenko)The Cloud Messenger (Rahat Mahajan)The Child (Marguerite de Hillerin/Félix Dutilloy-Liégeois)Eami (Paz Encina)Excess Will Save Us (Morgane Dziurla-Petit)Kafka for Kids (Roee Rosen)Malintzin 17 (Mara Polgovsky/Eugenio Polgovsky)Met mes (Sam de Jong)The Plains (David Easteal)Proyecto Fantasma (Roberto Doveris)Le rêve et la radio (Renaud Després-Larose/Ana Tapia Rousiouk)Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish (Lei Lei)To Love Again (Gao Linyang)Yamabuki (Juichiro Yamasaki)Big Screen COMPETITIONAssault (Adilkhan Yerzhanov)Broadway (Christos Massalas)Third Grade (Jacques Doillon)Daryn’s Gym (Brett Michael Innes)Drifting Petals (Clara Law)The Harbour (Rajeev Ravi)The Island (Anca Damian)Kung Fu Zohra (Mabrouk El Mechri...
- 1/7/2022
- MUBI
This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the 14 films selected for its flagship Tiger Competition. Scroll down for the full list.
The selection is typically globe-trotting, with features ranging from Chile to China, Sweden to Israel, and Mexico to India. A jury will grant three prizes: the Tiger Award, plus two special jury awards. On the jury are: Zsuzsi Bánkuti, Gust Van den Berghe, Tatiana Leite, Thekla Reuten and Farid Tabarki.
Last year’s winner of IFFR’s Tiger competition was Indian filmmaker Vinothraj P.S.’s Pebbles, which was the country’s contender for this year’s International Oscar race, though didn’t make the shortlist.
Today, the festival also confirmed the line-ups for its Big Screen Competition, which aims to bridge the gap between popular and arthouse cinema. Titles selected range from Romania to France and South Africa. The Tiger Short Competition was also unveiled.
The selection is typically globe-trotting, with features ranging from Chile to China, Sweden to Israel, and Mexico to India. A jury will grant three prizes: the Tiger Award, plus two special jury awards. On the jury are: Zsuzsi Bánkuti, Gust Van den Berghe, Tatiana Leite, Thekla Reuten and Farid Tabarki.
Last year’s winner of IFFR’s Tiger competition was Indian filmmaker Vinothraj P.S.’s Pebbles, which was the country’s contender for this year’s International Oscar race, though didn’t make the shortlist.
Today, the festival also confirmed the line-ups for its Big Screen Competition, which aims to bridge the gap between popular and arthouse cinema. Titles selected range from Romania to France and South Africa. The Tiger Short Competition was also unveiled.
- 1/7/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Women are being encouraged to enter cinema professions traditionally dominated by men such as cinematography, sound and grip.
The European Commission has a launched a new awareness campaign aimed at encouraging women to enter cinema professions traditionally dominated by men such as cinematography, sound and grip.
The CharactHER initiative has been spearheaded by French gender equality activist Delphyne Besse, one of the founding members of France’s trail-blazing body Le Collectif 50/50.
It revolves around 12 video portraits of women who have forged successful careers in traditionally male-dominated parts of the film industry. They include Greek cinematographer Olympia Mytilinaiou, Belgian showrunner Marie Enthoven,...
The European Commission has a launched a new awareness campaign aimed at encouraging women to enter cinema professions traditionally dominated by men such as cinematography, sound and grip.
The CharactHER initiative has been spearheaded by French gender equality activist Delphyne Besse, one of the founding members of France’s trail-blazing body Le Collectif 50/50.
It revolves around 12 video portraits of women who have forged successful careers in traditionally male-dominated parts of the film industry. They include Greek cinematographer Olympia Mytilinaiou, Belgian showrunner Marie Enthoven,...
- 7/9/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
On the 30th anniversary of Creative Europe’s Media Programme, the European Commission in association with the advocacy group 50/50 is launching a big diversity and inclusion campaign aimed at ramping up the representation of women in the film and news media sector.
Dubbed CharactHer, the campaign was designed to foster inclusion, empower women and highlight inspiring female professionals from all across Europe working as directors, showrunners, cinematographers, key grip, stunt performers, music composers, VFX supervisors, colorists, journalists and in the video game industry. These are all fields where women are still widely outnumbered by men.
The campaign is also meant to squash stereotypes and encourage young women to pursue careers in domains that are traditionally considered to be “masculine.”
Even at Cannes, which was the first festival to sign a gender parity pledge in 2018 thanks to the org 50/50, there is still a long way to go. Indeed, there are only...
Dubbed CharactHer, the campaign was designed to foster inclusion, empower women and highlight inspiring female professionals from all across Europe working as directors, showrunners, cinematographers, key grip, stunt performers, music composers, VFX supervisors, colorists, journalists and in the video game industry. These are all fields where women are still widely outnumbered by men.
The campaign is also meant to squash stereotypes and encourage young women to pursue careers in domains that are traditionally considered to be “masculine.”
Even at Cannes, which was the first festival to sign a gender parity pledge in 2018 thanks to the org 50/50, there is still a long way to go. Indeed, there are only...
- 7/9/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Sébastien Onomo, producer of 2018 Annecy Crystal winner “Funan,” has teamed with Romanian animator Anca Damian to co-produce her new project “Starseed.” Damian’s first feature, “Crulic,” similarly topped Annecy, in 2011. Her most recent film, “Marona’s Fantastic Tale,” took both best feature and audience awards at Bucheon in 2019.
“Starseed” will be co-produced by Damian’s label Aparte Film and Onomo at France’s Special Touch Studios and Creative Touch Studios.
Set at a Zimbabwe school, “Starseed” follows Geekisde, a special but lonely girl with albino features. Bullied by other children and feeling different to the rest of her schoolmates, she finds strength in the love of her mother and learns that she might be from a different planet.
“Starseed” will be pitched as a project at concept stage at next week’s Cartoon Movie, where Damian will also present another title at a more advanced stage of development, “The Island,” a modern Robinson Crusoe musical.
“Starseed” will be co-produced by Damian’s label Aparte Film and Onomo at France’s Special Touch Studios and Creative Touch Studios.
Set at a Zimbabwe school, “Starseed” follows Geekisde, a special but lonely girl with albino features. Bullied by other children and feeling different to the rest of her schoolmates, she finds strength in the love of her mother and learns that she might be from a different planet.
“Starseed” will be pitched as a project at concept stage at next week’s Cartoon Movie, where Damian will also present another title at a more advanced stage of development, “The Island,” a modern Robinson Crusoe musical.
- 3/5/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
“Sorya,” “Starseed,” and “Caramel’s Words” are among 55 projects from 16 countries set to be pitched at this year’s Cartoon Movie, Europe’s leading animated feature co-production event.
The 23rd edition will move totally online, running March 9-11.
Part of an In Development showcase, “Sorya” is directed by Denis Do, an Annecy Fest best feature film winner for “Funan.” That debut depicted the brutality of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime. In “Sorya,” in contrast, he takes a more intimate approach, following a Cambodian teen woman arriving in Phnom Penh to work in a textile factory, flirting with dreams of becoming a singer, flirting with singing stardom and finally trying to find some stability in her life. Special Touch Studios’ Sébastien Onomo produces. “Funan” composer Thibault Kientz Agyeman will create the film’s the score.
French highlights also take in Pierre Földes’ “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” (produced by Cinema Defacto), Sarah Van Den Boom...
The 23rd edition will move totally online, running March 9-11.
Part of an In Development showcase, “Sorya” is directed by Denis Do, an Annecy Fest best feature film winner for “Funan.” That debut depicted the brutality of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime. In “Sorya,” in contrast, he takes a more intimate approach, following a Cambodian teen woman arriving in Phnom Penh to work in a textile factory, flirting with dreams of becoming a singer, flirting with singing stardom and finally trying to find some stability in her life. Special Touch Studios’ Sébastien Onomo produces. “Funan” composer Thibault Kientz Agyeman will create the film’s the score.
French highlights also take in Pierre Földes’ “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” (produced by Cinema Defacto), Sarah Van Den Boom...
- 2/1/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
The 23rd edition of the annual forum aimed at strengthening the production and distribution of animated feature films will take place from 9-11 March. Cartoon Movie, the annual forum aimed at strengthening the production and distribution of animated feature films in Europe and beyond, organised by Cartoon, has announced that its 23rd edition will take place online from 9-11 March. A total of 55 projects from 16 countries have been selected for the showcase: 22 of these are at the concept stage, another 22 are in development and eight are in production. A sneak preview of three films that have already been completed will also be presented: Jonas Poher's Cannes 2020 title Flee (Denmark/Sweden/Norway/France), Will Ashurst's 3D movie Christmas at Cattlehill (Norway) and Anca Damian's animated documentary The Island (Romania/Belgium/France). The line-up features upcoming works by renowned directors, such as Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol's Tales of the Hedgehog,...
The 2020 ceremony will be streamed online from Berlin.
The European Film Awards has selected the four animation nominees for its 2020 online edition.
They are Rémy Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary (Fr-Den); Aurel’s Josep (Fr-Bel-Sp); Sergio Pablos’ Klaus (Sp), and Andrey Khrzhanovsky’s The Nose Or The Conspiracy Of Mavericks (Rus).
Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary depicts a young girl in the American Wild West in 1863 who is forced to grow up quickly and take care of her family. The film won the Cristal for best feature at Annecy Animation Festival in June.
The European Film Awards has selected the four animation nominees for its 2020 online edition.
They are Rémy Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary (Fr-Den); Aurel’s Josep (Fr-Bel-Sp); Sergio Pablos’ Klaus (Sp), and Andrey Khrzhanovsky’s The Nose Or The Conspiracy Of Mavericks (Rus).
Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary depicts a young girl in the American Wild West in 1863 who is forced to grow up quickly and take care of her family. The film won the Cristal for best feature at Annecy Animation Festival in June.
- 10/20/2020
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Josep, Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary, Klaus and The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks are vying for the European Animated Feature Film award. The European Film Awards have announced the nominations for the award category European Animated Feature Film 2020. The nominations were determined by a committee comprised of Efa Board Member Béatrice Thiriet (France), director Anca Damian (Romania), producer Antonio Saura (Spain) and, representing Cartoon, the European Association of Animation Film, producer Diogo Carvalho (Portugal), producer Camilla Deakin (UK) and institutional representative Norbert Laporte (Luxembourg). The nominees are: European Animated Feature FilmJosep - Aurel (France/Belgium/Spain)Calamity: A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary - Rémi Chayé (France/Denmark)The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks - Andrey Khrzhanovsky (Russia)Klaus - Sergio Pablos (Spain) The nominated films will soon be submitted to the more than 3,800 Efa Members to elect the winner. The European Animated Feature Film 2020 will then be.
- 10/20/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
"I fell in love with my human's scent." GKids has unveiled the new official Us trailer for the indie animated film titled Marona's Fantastic Tale, made by Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian with graphic design by Brecht Evens. This French feature premiered at the Annecy Film Festival last year (here's the first trailer), and is finally getting a virtual release this summer. The film is about a little dog who, at the end of her life, looks back on her life and tells the story of her various owners. She has loved them all unconditionally, but of course life hasn't always been easy. The film is beautiful not only because it's told from the perspective of a dog, but also due to the strange, entrancing, imaginative animation style that mixes techniques to create something unique. Featuring the voice of Lizzie Brocheré as Marona. It's a rather lovely one-of-a-kind film that I'll...
- 5/22/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Annecy 2020 Online’s first wave of special programming for its world-class French animation festival (June 15-30) will include making of sessions, previews, and works-in-progress. The biggest news is that indie feature “Animal Crackers,” which premiered at Annecy in 2017, returns as a making of program, having been acquired by streamer Netflix.
The CG children’s fantasy, directed by Tony Bancroft (“Mulan”) and Scott Christan Sava, concerns a magical box of cookies coming to the rescue of a rundown circus. It contains voice work by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, and boasts the work of character designer Carter Goodrich (“Ice Age”).
Netflix is also bringing a work-in-progress presentation of “The Cuphead Show!” series for 2021, adapted from retro-style video game by showrunners Dave Wasson (“Mickey Mouse”) and Cosmo Segurson (“SpongeBob Squarepants”). Drawing on the classic ’30s rubber hose animation style of Disney and Fleischer, the comedy follows the misadventures of the impulsive Cuphead and his naive brother,...
The CG children’s fantasy, directed by Tony Bancroft (“Mulan”) and Scott Christan Sava, concerns a magical box of cookies coming to the rescue of a rundown circus. It contains voice work by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, and boasts the work of character designer Carter Goodrich (“Ice Age”).
Netflix is also bringing a work-in-progress presentation of “The Cuphead Show!” series for 2021, adapted from retro-style video game by showrunners Dave Wasson (“Mickey Mouse”) and Cosmo Segurson (“SpongeBob Squarepants”). Drawing on the classic ’30s rubber hose animation style of Disney and Fleischer, the comedy follows the misadventures of the impulsive Cuphead and his naive brother,...
- 5/20/2020
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Netflix, China’s Alibaba and France have thrown their weight behind the Annecy Animation Festival, with the festival set to showcase an in progress reveal of the U.S. streaming giant’s “The Cupcake Show!” plus a look back at cult movie “Animal Crackers,” as well as six French productions in its Work in Progress section, Annecy’s single most important program strand.
Distributed by Alibaba Pictures Group, “New Gods: Nezha Reborn,” from Ji Zhao, follows on the highest grossing animated movie ever in a single territory, earning over $700 million in China.
French productions are led by the hugely awaited “The Summit of the Gods,” produced by Jean-Charles Ostorero and the most ambitious movie to date from Didier and Damien Brunner.
Also in the French Wip mix is “The Island,” the latest from Romania’s Anca Damian, who won Annecy’s top pirize with “Crilic: The Path to Beyond,” as...
Distributed by Alibaba Pictures Group, “New Gods: Nezha Reborn,” from Ji Zhao, follows on the highest grossing animated movie ever in a single territory, earning over $700 million in China.
French productions are led by the hugely awaited “The Summit of the Gods,” produced by Jean-Charles Ostorero and the most ambitious movie to date from Didier and Damien Brunner.
Also in the French Wip mix is “The Island,” the latest from Romania’s Anca Damian, who won Annecy’s top pirize with “Crilic: The Path to Beyond,” as...
- 5/20/2020
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The director says the animation’s topic is uncannily in sync with the state of the world today. The only Romanian director to have delivered animated features over the last decade, Anca Damian is currently in production with her newest project, The Island, which she describes as a musical comedy and “an upside-down Robinson Crusoe story”. The film is a co-production between Damian’s Aparte Film, Take Five (Belgium) and Komadoli (France). The screenplay, written by Damian and Augusto Zanovello, shares characters with Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, but in the animation, Robinson is a doctor who isolates himself voluntarily on an island, his seclusion soon to be interrupted by migrants, guards and Ngo representatives. In Damian’s fourth animated feature, Friday is, for example, the sole survivor on a boat which had left Africa for Italy... The vocal cast comprises Alexandru Bălănescu, Ada Milea (both of whom are in charge of the.
Gkids has secured the North American distribution rights to Lupin III: The First, a Japanese anime feature which stems from the Lupin the 3rd franchise originally created by Monkey Punch. From writer-director Takashi Yamazaki, the film will get a theatrical release this year in Japanese and an all-new English language dub.
The pic follows “gentleman thief” Lupin III who, along with his colorful underworld companions, races to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Bresson Diary, before it falls into the hands of a dark cabal that will stop at nothing to resurrect the Third Reich.
More from DeadlineWith 'Marona's Fantastic Tale,' Director Anca Damian Depicts The World As Experienced By A Dog, Examining Themes Of Empathy & Connection'Children Of The Sea' Director Ayumu Watanabe Discusses Message Of His Manga Adaptation: "You Are One Of Many People On This Earth, And We're All Connected"Director Makoto Shinkai Examines Climate Change & Weather-Related...
The pic follows “gentleman thief” Lupin III who, along with his colorful underworld companions, races to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Bresson Diary, before it falls into the hands of a dark cabal that will stop at nothing to resurrect the Third Reich.
More from DeadlineWith 'Marona's Fantastic Tale,' Director Anca Damian Depicts The World As Experienced By A Dog, Examining Themes Of Empathy & Connection'Children Of The Sea' Director Ayumu Watanabe Discusses Message Of His Manga Adaptation: "You Are One Of Many People On This Earth, And We're All Connected"Director Makoto Shinkai Examines Climate Change & Weather-Related...
- 3/26/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Charades, the Paris-based sales company behind the Oscar-nominated “I Lost My Body” and “Mirai,” has closed a raft of deals on high-profile animated features, including “Little Nicholas” and “Marona’s Fantastic Tale.”
Anca Damian’s “Marona’s Fantastic Tale,” which world premiered in competition at last year’s Annecy Film Festival and was nominated at the European Film Awards, portrays a dog who, reflecting back on her life, reminisces about her different homes and owners after being hit by a car.
Set for a North American release later this year with Gkids, “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” has been acquired by Japan (Riskit), Spain (Pack Magic), the Baltics (Scanorama), Taiwan (Sky Digi), China (Legend Film), Poland (New Horizons), South Korea (Challan), Sweden (Triart) and Netherlands (Windmill). Damian’s followup to “Crulic: The Path to Beyond,” “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” is made with a range of styles, from expressionistic sketches to crayon drawings.
Anca Damian’s “Marona’s Fantastic Tale,” which world premiered in competition at last year’s Annecy Film Festival and was nominated at the European Film Awards, portrays a dog who, reflecting back on her life, reminisces about her different homes and owners after being hit by a car.
Set for a North American release later this year with Gkids, “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” has been acquired by Japan (Riskit), Spain (Pack Magic), the Baltics (Scanorama), Taiwan (Sky Digi), China (Legend Film), Poland (New Horizons), South Korea (Challan), Sweden (Triart) and Netherlands (Windmill). Damian’s followup to “Crulic: The Path to Beyond,” “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” is made with a range of styles, from expressionistic sketches to crayon drawings.
- 2/22/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Bordeaux-based animation event to showcase 66 international projects.
They Shot The Piano Player, the new animation from Spanish director Fernando Trueba and artist Javier Mariscal, who previously collaborated on the Oscar-nominated Chico & Rita, is one of the projects being showcased at Cartoon Movie 2020, the annual European feature animation co-production forum.
It will take place in Bordeaux, France, from March 3-5.
Cartoon Movie will showcase 66 animated feature films in the works to some 900 potential buyers and partners. They are comprised of six in production, 27 in development and 28 in concept. There will also be sneak previews of five completed films.
They Shot...
They Shot The Piano Player, the new animation from Spanish director Fernando Trueba and artist Javier Mariscal, who previously collaborated on the Oscar-nominated Chico & Rita, is one of the projects being showcased at Cartoon Movie 2020, the annual European feature animation co-production forum.
It will take place in Bordeaux, France, from March 3-5.
Cartoon Movie will showcase 66 animated feature films in the works to some 900 potential buyers and partners. They are comprised of six in production, 27 in development and 28 in concept. There will also be sneak previews of five completed films.
They Shot...
- 1/28/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
France animation event to showcase 66 features in Bordeaux.
Cartoon Movie has unveiled the 66 projects from 20 countries that will be pitched at Europe’s leading animation co-production event.
Highlights of this year’s event, which runs March 3-5 in Bordeaux for the fourth consecutive year, include They Shot the Piano Player, which marks the second collaboration of director Fernando Trueba and artist Javier Mariscal, who were Oscar-nominated for Chico & Rita in 2012.
It is expected to attract around 900 buyers and potential partners who will consider animation features in different stages of development, comprising five sneak previews, six in production, 27 in development and 28 in concept.
Cartoon Movie has unveiled the 66 projects from 20 countries that will be pitched at Europe’s leading animation co-production event.
Highlights of this year’s event, which runs March 3-5 in Bordeaux for the fourth consecutive year, include They Shot the Piano Player, which marks the second collaboration of director Fernando Trueba and artist Javier Mariscal, who were Oscar-nominated for Chico & Rita in 2012.
It is expected to attract around 900 buyers and potential partners who will consider animation features in different stages of development, comprising five sneak previews, six in production, 27 in development and 28 in concept.
- 1/28/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Barcelona – Rémi Chayé’s “Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary,” Anca Damian’s “The Island,” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal’s “They Shot the Piano Player,” and Enrique Gato’s “Tad the Lost Explorer and the Curse of the Mummy” are among the sixty-six projects from twenty countries to be pitched at the 22nd Cartoon Movie, Europe’s leading animated movie co-production event. Cartoon Movie will take place in the French port city of Bordeaux, kicking off March 3rd.
Projects will be accessible for buyers and potential partners and will be pitched in different stages of production: 28 in concept, 27 in development, six in production and five sneak previews. The five projects at the sneak preview showcase and the six in production have previously been to Cartoon Movie in preliminary production stages. Twenty-three projects are co-productions.
A family adventure, Rémi Chayé’s (acclaimed “Long Way North”) sophomore feature depicts the...
Projects will be accessible for buyers and potential partners and will be pitched in different stages of production: 28 in concept, 27 in development, six in production and five sneak previews. The five projects at the sneak preview showcase and the six in production have previously been to Cartoon Movie in preliminary production stages. Twenty-three projects are co-productions.
A family adventure, Rémi Chayé’s (acclaimed “Long Way North”) sophomore feature depicts the...
- 1/21/2020
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
With her awards-contending animated film Marona’s Fantastic Tale, director Anca Damian aimed to capture the world, as experienced by a dog.
In part, Damian says, the goal was to “get the perception of empathy and love without limits that a dog can give.” At the same time, the director adds, the film had a lot to say about human beings, who “have more dreams, more thoughts, more wishes, and more sense-blocking obstacles to feel real love and empathy for the world around us.”
Written by the director’s son, Anghel Damian, the Gkids drama picks up with a dog after an accident, as she recalls all the masters she’s lived with over the years. For the director of Marona’s Fantastic Tale, the concept for the visuals emerged simultaneously with the script—connected fundamentally to the themes she was exploring and the story she was telling.
“I have...
In part, Damian says, the goal was to “get the perception of empathy and love without limits that a dog can give.” At the same time, the director adds, the film had a lot to say about human beings, who “have more dreams, more thoughts, more wishes, and more sense-blocking obstacles to feel real love and empathy for the world around us.”
Written by the director’s son, Anghel Damian, the Gkids drama picks up with a dog after an accident, as she recalls all the masters she’s lived with over the years. For the director of Marona’s Fantastic Tale, the concept for the visuals emerged simultaneously with the script—connected fundamentally to the themes she was exploring and the story she was telling.
“I have...
- 1/1/2020
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor,” Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory” lead the race for the 32nd European Film Awards with four nominations apiece in the major categories. The awards, voted on by more than 3,600 members of the European Film Academy, will be presented at the awards ceremony on Dec. 7 in Berlin.
Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” followed with three nominations in the top categories each, while Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables” and Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher” were both short-listed in two major categories.
“The Favourite” picked up an additional nomination in the comedy category, while “Les Misérables” received a further nomination in the Discovery section for newcomers.
A single nomination each went to “A White, White Day,” “And Then We Danced,” “Beanpole,” “Gundermann” and “Queen of Hearts.”
Competing for best documentary are “For Sama,...
Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” followed with three nominations in the top categories each, while Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables” and Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher” were both short-listed in two major categories.
“The Favourite” picked up an additional nomination in the comedy category, while “Les Misérables” received a further nomination in the Discovery section for newcomers.
A single nomination each went to “A White, White Day,” “And Then We Danced,” “Beanpole,” “Gundermann” and “Queen of Hearts.”
Competing for best documentary are “For Sama,...
- 11/9/2019
- by Leo Barraclough and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
“Everyone had the right to love and a bone.” That’s just one of the many canine insights served up by “Marona’s Fantastic Tale,” a dazzling expressionistic view of the world through the eyes of a stray dog who wants nothing more than those two comforts. Actually, the unassuming narrator (Lizzie Brochere) — who looks like the black-and-white version of painter George Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog” — would also appreciate if her various owners could just settle on what to call her, preferably a name that no one else has. Given the title, that’s perhaps the only detail audiences can anticipate in Romanian animator Anca Damian’s unexpected offering, which provides pleasures for all ages, but especially for dog lovers.
For Damian, the Paris-set “Marona” (which exists in both French- and Romanian-language versions) marks a significant departure both in tone and style from her previous work, most notably “Crulic – The Path to Beyond,...
For Damian, the Paris-set “Marona” (which exists in both French- and Romanian-language versions) marks a significant departure both in tone and style from her previous work, most notably “Crulic – The Path to Beyond,...
- 10/23/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix’s “I Lost My Body,” the existential adventure about a severed hand, won the Grand Prize award at the third annual Animation Is Film Festival, held last weekend at the Tcl Chinese 6 Theater in Hollywood. The Cannes Nespresso Grand Prize winner from French director Jérémy Clapin beat out GKids’ “Weathering With You,” the popular Japanese climate-change romance from “Your Name” director Makoto Shinkai, which shared the Audience award with “The Swallows of Kabul” (from French directors Zabou Breitman and Elea Gobbe-Mevellec) about love and horror during Taliban occupation.
In addition, Romanian director Anca Damian’s hear-tugger “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” (GKids) earned the special jury prize for visual impact, exploring the memories of a mixed-breed Labrador with its various owners in a daring assortment of animated techniques.
The Aif win for “I Lost My Body,” the adult-themed, boldly graphic mystery about overcoming pain and suffering, means that the streamer...
In addition, Romanian director Anca Damian’s hear-tugger “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” (GKids) earned the special jury prize for visual impact, exploring the memories of a mixed-breed Labrador with its various owners in a daring assortment of animated techniques.
The Aif win for “I Lost My Body,” the adult-themed, boldly graphic mystery about overcoming pain and suffering, means that the streamer...
- 10/22/2019
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
“I Lost My Body,” the curious story of a disembodied hand searching to reunite with its body, won the grand prize at the Animation is Film Festival, held Oct. 18-20 in Los Angeles. The audience prize was split between two films, Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You” and “The Swallows of Kabul” by Zabou Breitman and Elea Gobbe-Mevellec.
Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to “I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin, after the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The French film — which bested its live-action competition to win the top prize in Critics’ Week at Cannes — screened in its original language at Animation Is Film. Netflix has also prepared an English dub featuring the voices of Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat and George Wendt, which will be available to Netflix subscribers on Nov. 29, two weeks after the French version receives its Oscar-qualifying run on Nov. 15.
“The...
Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to “I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin, after the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The French film — which bested its live-action competition to win the top prize in Critics’ Week at Cannes — screened in its original language at Animation Is Film. Netflix has also prepared an English dub featuring the voices of Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat and George Wendt, which will be available to Netflix subscribers on Nov. 29, two weeks after the French version receives its Oscar-qualifying run on Nov. 15.
“The...
- 10/22/2019
- by LaTesha Harris
- Variety Film + TV
Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov and Decho Taralezhkov will be in the spotlight, alongside Anca Damian, Adina Dulcu, Miha Mazzini, Robert Budina, Uta Beria and Nana Janelidze. Running within the 20th Arras Film Festival (scheduled from 8 to 17 November 2019 – read our news), the 8th edition of Arras Days will unveil seven projects currently being written which are set to be pitched to a jury of three professionals on Saturday 16 November, and which will be battling it out for two development grants. Also intended to act as a coproduction and funding platform, Arras Days will provide any producers, distributers and sales agents interested in these projects with an opportunity to discover them in situ. One project which stands out amongst others in the running is Triumph, written by the Bulgarians Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov and Decho Taralezhkov, which...
- 10/22/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Upcoming films by Ruben Östlund, Julia Ducournau, Jonas Carpignano, Susanna Nicchiarelli and Anca Damian, among the selection. At its 156th meeting held from 13 to 16 October in Strasbourg, the Board of Management of the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund agreed to support 11 fiction films, one documentary and four animation projects for a total amount of €4,799,300. The share of eligible projects with female directors examined at this Eurimages Board of Management meeting was 26%; 62.5% of the projects supported were directed by women; €2 819,300 was awarded to these projects, representing 58.7% of the total amount awarded. The projects selected: The Siren - Sepideh Farsi (France/Germany/Luxembourg/Belgium) (animation film) (read news)Titane - Julia Ducournau (France/Belgium)Wolf - Nathalie Biancheri (Ireland/Poland)A Chiara - Jonas Carpignano (Italy/France) (read news)The Albanian Virgin - Bujar Alimani (Germany/Belgium)Titina - Kajsa Næss (Norway/Belgium) (animation film)The Island - Anca Damian (Romania/France...
- 10/22/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, I Lost My Body, Marona's Fantastic Tale and The Swallows of Kabul are vying for the European Animated Feature Film award. The European Film Awards have announced the nominations for the award category European Animated Feature Film 2019. The nominations were determined by a committee comprised of Efa Board Deputy Chairman Antonio Saura (Spain), Efa Board Member Graziella Bildesheim (Italy) and producer Paul Young (Ireland) as well as, representing Cartoon, the European Association of Animation Film, film critic Stéphane Dreyfus (France), producer Kristine Mi Knudsen (Germany) and director Janno Põldma (Estonia). The nominees are: European Animated Feature FilmBuñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles - Salvador Simó (Spain/Netherlands)I Lost My Body - Jérémy Clapin (France)Marona's Fantastic Tale - Anca Damian (Romania/France/Belgium)The Swallows of Kabul - Zabou Breitman, Éléa Gobbé-Mévellec (France/Luxembourg/Switzerland) The nominated films will soon be...
- 10/16/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Spanish festival hit Bunuel in the Labyrinth of Turtles will compete against three French co-productions for best European animated film at the upcoming European Film Awards.
The French films have all toured the festival circuit. French director Jeremy Clapin's I Lost My Body premiered in competition in Critics' Week at Cannes, where it won the top prize and was picked up by Netflix. The tale of a severed hand looking for its home was produced by Marc du Pontavice.
Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian teamed with Belgian artist Brecht Evens for Marona's Fantastic Tale, a French-language chronicle of a puppy who never ...
The French films have all toured the festival circuit. French director Jeremy Clapin's I Lost My Body premiered in competition in Critics' Week at Cannes, where it won the top prize and was picked up by Netflix. The tale of a severed hand looking for its home was produced by Marc du Pontavice.
Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian teamed with Belgian artist Brecht Evens for Marona's Fantastic Tale, a French-language chronicle of a puppy who never ...
- 10/15/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Spanish festival hit Bunuel in the Labyrinth of Turtles will compete against three French co-productions for best European animated film at the upcoming European Film Awards.
The French films have all toured the festival circuit. French director Jeremy Clapin's I Lost My Body premiered in competition in Critics' Week at Cannes, where it won the top prize and was picked up by Netflix. The tale of a severed hand looking for its home was produced by Marc du Pontavice.
Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian teamed with Belgian artist Brecht Evens for Marona's Fantastic Tale, a French-language chronicle of a puppy who never ...
The French films have all toured the festival circuit. French director Jeremy Clapin's I Lost My Body premiered in competition in Critics' Week at Cannes, where it won the top prize and was picked up by Netflix. The tale of a severed hand looking for its home was produced by Marc du Pontavice.
Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian teamed with Belgian artist Brecht Evens for Marona's Fantastic Tale, a French-language chronicle of a puppy who never ...
- 10/15/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes Film Festival chiefs Pierre Lescure and Thierry Fremaux have named the six titles that will comprise its inaugural ‘Film Week’ at Hong Kong’s K11 Musea in November (12-17). They include three from this year’s Cannes competition: Young Ahmed, which won best director, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, which took best screenplay, and Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor. Screening from the Un Certain Regard section are The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmão, which won the sidebar’s top prize, The Climb, which took the jury’s Coup de Cœur prize; and On A Magical Night, which took the best performance award for Chiara Mastroianni. The Hong Kong event will also feature masterclasses with Young Ahmed directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux, who will talk about the works of the Lumiere brothers, and a third as-yet unannounced guest.
Rakuten TV, the European VOD service owned by Japanese retailer Rakuten,...
Rakuten TV, the European VOD service owned by Japanese retailer Rakuten,...
- 10/15/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Winners set to be announced in Berlin on December 7.
The European Film Awards (Efa) has unveiled the four features that will compete for the animation prize.
Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles; I Lost My Body; Marona’s Fantastic Tale; and The Swallows of Kabul are all in the running for European Animated Feature Film 2019.
The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony on December 7 in Berlin.
Salvador Simó’s Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles has already picked up several festival awards including the jury prize at the Annecy International Animation Festival in June.
The film,...
The European Film Awards (Efa) has unveiled the four features that will compete for the animation prize.
Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles; I Lost My Body; Marona’s Fantastic Tale; and The Swallows of Kabul are all in the running for European Animated Feature Film 2019.
The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony on December 7 in Berlin.
Salvador Simó’s Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles has already picked up several festival awards including the jury prize at the Annecy International Animation Festival in June.
The film,...
- 10/15/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
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