From the 55 projects showcased at Cartoon Movie this week, Screen selectes picked eight stand-out titles that shine with their diverse origins, audiences, genres, and innovative techniques.
Ananda (In concept)
Dirs: Fatimah Tobing Rony, Ariel Victor Arthanto
Indonesian filmmaker Fatimah Tobing Rony, director of the animated short Annah La Javanaise, and co-director of the live-action film Chants Of Lotus, makes her feature animated debut with Ananda, co-directed with Ariel Victor Arthanto.
Inspired by historical events, the 1893-set story follows a 13-year-old girl who is captured from her peaceful Javanese village and taken to Paris where she is forced to work for an abusive painter. The film chronicles her journey to reclaim her freedom.
It is produced by Sébastien Onomo of France’s Special Touch Studios, in collaboration with Indonesia’s Kalyana Shira Film, Luxembourg’s Paul Thiltges Distributions, and Germany’s Luftkind Filmverleih.
“Ananda is an ambitious family film tackling child exploitation through an epic adventure,” says Onomo. “What if one of these young girls managed to return home to break the cycle of this vile trade?”
Brume (In development)
Dir: Chloé Nicolay
Chloé Nicolay’s feature debut Brume is a hand-drawn family animation, produced by Damien and Didier Brunner of France’s Folivari studio, which has credits including the Oscar-nominated Ernest & Celestine and Patrick Imbert’s César-winning The Summit Of The Gods.
Written by Celine Sciamma, Brume evokes Celtic legends to tell the story of a bold seven-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a witch. When a dense fog engulfs her Brittany village, she embarks on an adventure into the forbidden forest with her best friend and pet pig Hubert.
“We developed a visual language that evokes expressiveness and spontaneity, with scribbled elements and bold colors, like a child’s drawing,” says Nicolay. “It’s a unique mix of visual elements from European, American and Japanese animation.”
How to Deal with Shattering Geists (In concept)
Dir: Kajsa Næss
A coming-of-age adventure in the spirit of E.T., Turning Red, and Ponyo, Næss’ film explores a child’s realisation that parents don’t have all the answers. “We celebrate a child’s right to break free, speak up, and form their own identity,” say producers Tonje Skar Reiersen and Lise Fearnley of Oslo-based Mikrofilm of which Næss is also a partner.
Based on Tyra Teodora Tronstad’s novel, the film follows a child growing up in a family where certain things remain unspoken. Næss, whose first feature was the animation Titina, says she aims to create an empowering film about self-expression.
“The film will be a mix of 2D and 3D, keeping the hand-drawn feel both in design, animation and storytelling, using 3D to enhance the film’s magical and mysterious elements,” she explains.
Rose And The Marmots (In concept)
Dir: Alain Ughetto
Award-winning French animation director Alain Ughetto is at Cartoon Movie with his first 3D feature, Rose And The Marmots, which has been inspired by real events.
“It will help young audiences discover life in the early 20th century,” says producer Alexandre Cornu of Les Films du Tambour de Soie.
He describes Rose And The Marmots, as “an action-packed spectacle full of twists and surprises”.
The film is set in 1910 and sees Rose and her grandfather Hoffman trapped in a remote shack, far from the civilized world, where they must struggle for survival following the dramatic deaths of Rose’s parents.
Rose is set up as a co-production between France’s WeJustKids, Italy’s Graffiti Film, and Portugal’s Ocidental Filmes, with international sales handled by Lucky Numbers.
Ughetto’s previous film No Dogs Or Italians Allowed, won prizes around the world including at Annecy and the European Film Awards.
Short Stories About Love And Space (In concept)
Dir: Anca Damian
Celebrated Romanian director Anca Damian says: ’All my films are ‘out of the box’ and explore themes such as life and death, love, and connection.”
Short Stories About Love And Space unfolds on New Year’s Eve 2032, when an accident involving a new technology causes the present to converge with the future and four strangers cross paths in a city plunged into chaos.
“This project is aimed at a wide audience with a science fiction premise,” says Damian. “Through its four characters, the film questions the future world. Nevertheless, the same themes, life and death, love, and connection, remain.”
The film is produced by the director’s label, Aparte Film, with plans to utilise 3D computer animation and motion capture techniques.
Damian is a former Annecy winner for Crulic: The Path to Beyond.
The Axolotls (In development)
Dir: Filip Pošivač
The Axolotls is the second feature from Czech filmmaker Filip Pošivač, following Tony, Shelly And The Magic Light, which won the jury award at Annecy.
The children’s film is about the relationship between humans and nature. “Our film is inspired by real animals , axolotls, also known as water dragons,” explains producer Bara Chaberova of Czech studio Bionaut.
“They are very cute, very colorful, and unfortunately, critically endangered species. Axolotls are fragile… just like relationships.”
Co-produced by Norway’s Fenomen, the film will combine 2D and 3D animation. “What I think is unique about our project is that we work with the ecology of relationships, both the relationships between the protagonists of our story and those in nature. We rarely realizs that if we do something in one place, behave in one way, it always manifests itself somewhere else,” Pošivač adds.
The Twilight World (In concept)
Dir. Werner Herzog
The celebrated German director Werner Herzog is adapting his novel of the same name into his first animated feature. The Twilight World is the true story of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese intelligence officer who refused to believe World War II had ended. Onoda continued to fight a personal war in the jungles of the Philippines for 30 years.
The project will be produced by Germany’s Psyop in partnership with French Sun Creature, the producers of Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee.
“I always felt Hiroo Onoda’s story ….was best suited for literature, not cinema,” says Herzog in a statement. “It wasn’t until the producers at Psyop approached me about adapting Onoda’s story into an animated film that I realized the potential that animation had to tell this story in a truly compelling and imaginative way.”
Treasure Island (In concept)
Dirs: Vincent Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord
Oscar-nominated graphic artist and filmmaker Vincent Paronnaud (Persepolis) and Alexis Ducord (Zombillenium) join forces for this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
“Our project stands out with a bold and modern vision. Our ambition is to offer an adaptation that blends visual power with technical innovation while remaining faithful to the essence of the novel,” says producer Perrin Capron, producer at French studio Je Suis Bien Content.
“Through a strong artistic approach, drawing inspiration from the aesthetics of the 1950s, we aim to create a unique pictorial rendering, restoring the full strength and contemporary resonance of this adventure tale.”
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