The Most Precious of Cargoes, the first animated feature from Oscar-winning French director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), will open this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
The feature is a 2D animated adaptation of the best-selling book by French author Jean-Claude Grumberg. Set during World War II, it tells the story of a French Jewish family deported to Auschwitz. On the train to the death camp, in a desperate gesture, the father throws one of his baby twins out into the snow, where he’s discovered by a childless Polish couple living deep in the forest.
Hazanavicius presented the film as a work-in-progress at Annecy two years ago. French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant narrates the film with voice acting from Dominique Blanc, Denis Podalydès, and Grégory Gadebois. Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water) composed the score. Animation is from 3.0 Studio – formerly Prima Linea — the group behind the...
The feature is a 2D animated adaptation of the best-selling book by French author Jean-Claude Grumberg. Set during World War II, it tells the story of a French Jewish family deported to Auschwitz. On the train to the death camp, in a desperate gesture, the father throws one of his baby twins out into the snow, where he’s discovered by a childless Polish couple living deep in the forest.
Hazanavicius presented the film as a work-in-progress at Annecy two years ago. French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant narrates the film with voice acting from Dominique Blanc, Denis Podalydès, and Grégory Gadebois. Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water) composed the score. Animation is from 3.0 Studio – formerly Prima Linea — the group behind the...
- 4/25/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Leading French production-distribution outfit Le Pacte has boarded the upcoming 2D animated feature project “Conference of the Birds,” which will be spotlighted at the Marché du Film’s Animation Day during this year’s Cannes Festival.
In addition to co-producing, Le Pacte will handle French distribution and serve as international sales agent on the film, part of the five-title Annecy Showcase at the Animation Day. Confirmed voice cast members include Golshifteh Farahani and Louis Garrel.
“Conference of the Birds” is an updated adaptation of Farid al-Din Attar’s 900-year-old Persian poem of the same name. The film centers on a flock of birds who are the sole survivors of a man-made natural disaster. Leading the avian gang is Hod-Hod, a young adventurous hoopoe who sets off on a quest to meet the legendary bird Simorgh, rumored to hold the key to solving all the birds’ problems.
According to the filmmakers,...
In addition to co-producing, Le Pacte will handle French distribution and serve as international sales agent on the film, part of the five-title Annecy Showcase at the Animation Day. Confirmed voice cast members include Golshifteh Farahani and Louis Garrel.
“Conference of the Birds” is an updated adaptation of Farid al-Din Attar’s 900-year-old Persian poem of the same name. The film centers on a flock of birds who are the sole survivors of a man-made natural disaster. Leading the avian gang is Hod-Hod, a young adventurous hoopoe who sets off on a quest to meet the legendary bird Simorgh, rumored to hold the key to solving all the birds’ problems.
According to the filmmakers,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
After announcing a whopping number of English-language films in competition, Cannes Film Festival has added some international titles: Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature “The Most Precious of Cargoes” and Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Variety has learned.
An auteur-driven allegorical feature, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” (first-look still below) is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust. It will be the first animated feature to compete in more than a decade, since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008.
The film is co-produced and represented internationally by Studiocanal, which also has Gilles Lellouche’s “Beating Hearts” in competition. “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is a passion project for Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “The Artist,” who has been developing the project for years. Hazanavicius penned the script with Grumberg and created the drawings,...
An auteur-driven allegorical feature, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” (first-look still below) is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust. It will be the first animated feature to compete in more than a decade, since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008.
The film is co-produced and represented internationally by Studiocanal, which also has Gilles Lellouche’s “Beating Hearts” in competition. “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is a passion project for Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “The Artist,” who has been developing the project for years. Hazanavicius penned the script with Grumberg and created the drawings,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival will award legendary Japanese anime house Studio Ghibli with its honorary Palme d’Or this year, the first time Cannes has given its highest award to a company instead of an individual.
“For the first time in our history, it’s not a person but an institution that we have chosen to celebrate,” said Cannes Festival president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Frémaux, announcing the honor on Wednesday. They praised Ghibli’s animated features as filled with characters who “populate our imaginations with prolific, colorful universes and sensitive, engaging narrations. With Ghibli, Japanese animation stands as one of the great adventures of cinephilia, between tradition and modernity.”
Founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Studio Ghibli has in the past 40 years, “achieved what seemed to be an impossible feat: Independently producing pure masterpieces and conquering the mass market,” the festival said.
“For the first time in our history, it’s not a person but an institution that we have chosen to celebrate,” said Cannes Festival president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Frémaux, announcing the honor on Wednesday. They praised Ghibli’s animated features as filled with characters who “populate our imaginations with prolific, colorful universes and sensitive, engaging narrations. With Ghibli, Japanese animation stands as one of the great adventures of cinephilia, between tradition and modernity.”
Founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Studio Ghibli has in the past 40 years, “achieved what seemed to be an impossible feat: Independently producing pure masterpieces and conquering the mass market,” the festival said.
- 4/17/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Studio Ghibli, the acclaimed Japanese animation house known for Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Oscar-winner The Boy And The Heron, is to receive an honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes – the first time the festival has bestowed the award on a group.
The honour is usually awarded to individuals, which has included Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford in recent years and will also be given to Star Wars creator George Lucas at the 77th edition of the festival, which runs May 14-25.
Studio Ghibli is synonymous with veteran directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who are among...
The honour is usually awarded to individuals, which has included Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford in recent years and will also be given to Star Wars creator George Lucas at the 77th edition of the festival, which runs May 14-25.
Studio Ghibli is synonymous with veteran directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who are among...
- 4/17/2024
- ScreenDaily
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
Animation icon Hayao Miyazaki, at age 83, earned an Academy Award nomination for his semi-autobiographical fantasy film The Boy and the Heron in the animated feature competition.
He previously won a competitive best animated feature Oscar in 2003 for his film Spirited Away, which to date is the only category winner that was not made in the English language. He received an Academy Honorary Award in 2014, and earned additional competitive Oscar nominations for his movies The Wind Rises and Howl’s Moving Castle. With this, his fourth nomination, he is tied for the most nominations in the best animated feature category with Pixar’s Pete Docter.
The Boy and the Heron has been billed as the final movie from Miyazaki, who with this nomination is the oldest nominee in the history of the animated feature category, which was first presented in 2001.
It is producer Toshio Suzuki’s third Oscar nomination following The Red Turtle...
He previously won a competitive best animated feature Oscar in 2003 for his film Spirited Away, which to date is the only category winner that was not made in the English language. He received an Academy Honorary Award in 2014, and earned additional competitive Oscar nominations for his movies The Wind Rises and Howl’s Moving Castle. With this, his fourth nomination, he is tied for the most nominations in the best animated feature category with Pixar’s Pete Docter.
The Boy and the Heron has been billed as the final movie from Miyazaki, who with this nomination is the oldest nominee in the history of the animated feature category, which was first presented in 2001.
It is producer Toshio Suzuki’s third Oscar nomination following The Red Turtle...
- 1/23/2024
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In just a few weeks, the 18th recipient of the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature will be revealed. While it is highly likely that the new winner will share a 3D visual style in common with nearly all of its predecessors, voters may instead decide to finally honor a fully hand-drawn movie for the first time. Fittingly, this monumental distinction would be credited to the legendary Studio Ghibli and its esteemed cofounder, Hayao Miyazaki, who suspended his brief retirement in order to make his dozenth film, “The Boy and the Heron.”
With an original plot that pointedly references the classic Japanese novel “How Do You Live?,” “The Boy and the Heron” is the 25th entry in Studio Ghibli’s animated canon and the company’s 10th film released after the creation of this Golden Globe category. Although four of its post-2005 productions earned Oscar notices for Best Animated Feature,...
With an original plot that pointedly references the classic Japanese novel “How Do You Live?,” “The Boy and the Heron” is the 25th entry in Studio Ghibli’s animated canon and the company’s 10th film released after the creation of this Golden Globe category. Although four of its post-2005 productions earned Oscar notices for Best Animated Feature,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
With Hayao Miyazaki’s final film The Boy and the Heron proving to be — oh, wait, it won’t be his last? In news that should shock no one who has followed the legendary director’s career, it has been announced that Hayao Miyazaki will indeed not be retiring.
In a Twitter/X post, the official Studio Ghibli Pictures page wrote the following: “Hayao Miyazaki will not be retiring after all. Studio Ghibli’s vice-president has declared that he has already returned to the office with new ideas for a new film. He’S Still Cooking Guys”. The announcement is accompanied by a picture of Hayao Miyazaki hard at work in the studio.
Hayao Miyazaki will not be retiring after all.
Studio Ghibli's vice-president has declared that he has already returned to the office with new ideas for a new film.
He’S Still Cooking Guys pic.twitter.com/dPaW...
In a Twitter/X post, the official Studio Ghibli Pictures page wrote the following: “Hayao Miyazaki will not be retiring after all. Studio Ghibli’s vice-president has declared that he has already returned to the office with new ideas for a new film. He’S Still Cooking Guys”. The announcement is accompanied by a picture of Hayao Miyazaki hard at work in the studio.
Hayao Miyazaki will not be retiring after all.
Studio Ghibli's vice-president has declared that he has already returned to the office with new ideas for a new film.
He’S Still Cooking Guys pic.twitter.com/dPaW...
- 9/9/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
French filmmaker Claire Denis has been announced as the jury president for the Official Section of the 71st San Sebastian Film Festival, running from September 22-30.
Denis will be joined by the German director Christian Petzold; Chinese actress Fan Bingbing; Colombian producer, director, and writer Cristina Gallego; French photographer Brigitte Lacombe; Hungarian producer Robert Lantos; and Spanish actress Vicky Luengo.
The jury awards the Golden Shell for Best Film and the Silver Shell awards for Best Director, Best Leading Performance, and Best Supporting Performance, as well as jury prizes for Cinematography and Screenplay. The Official Awards will be announced and presented at the festival’s Closing Gala on September 30.
The festival also announced today that it will hand Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki an honorary Donostia Award for career achievement. Miyazaki will receive the award virtually during the opening ceremony on September 22.
Filmmakers also set to attend San Seb include Maite Alberdi,...
Denis will be joined by the German director Christian Petzold; Chinese actress Fan Bingbing; Colombian producer, director, and writer Cristina Gallego; French photographer Brigitte Lacombe; Hungarian producer Robert Lantos; and Spanish actress Vicky Luengo.
The jury awards the Golden Shell for Best Film and the Silver Shell awards for Best Director, Best Leading Performance, and Best Supporting Performance, as well as jury prizes for Cinematography and Screenplay. The Official Awards will be announced and presented at the festival’s Closing Gala on September 30.
The festival also announced today that it will hand Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki an honorary Donostia Award for career achievement. Miyazaki will receive the award virtually during the opening ceremony on September 22.
Filmmakers also set to attend San Seb include Maite Alberdi,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Hayao Miyazaki wasn’t at the Toronto Film Festival on Thursday for the international premiere of his movie The Boy and the Heron, but three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro was.
Del Toro surprised the crowd for the movie’s gala presentation tonight and received rapturous applause at Roy Thomson Hall.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey introduced del Toro as “Miyazaki’s most passionate fan.”
“He knows what makes my fat butt move!” quipped del Toro after Bailey asked him to introduce the film.
“This is the first audience to watch this movie outside of Japan,” beamed del Toro to great cheers. “This is the world, god-damn premiere!”
“Animation is film, and tonight’s film goes beyond that. Animation is hard,” said del Toro.
“We are privileged enough to be living in a time where Mozart is composing symphonies,” said del Toro. “Miyazaki san is a master of that stature, and...
Del Toro surprised the crowd for the movie’s gala presentation tonight and received rapturous applause at Roy Thomson Hall.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey introduced del Toro as “Miyazaki’s most passionate fan.”
“He knows what makes my fat butt move!” quipped del Toro after Bailey asked him to introduce the film.
“This is the first audience to watch this movie outside of Japan,” beamed del Toro to great cheers. “This is the world, god-damn premiere!”
“Animation is film, and tonight’s film goes beyond that. Animation is hard,” said del Toro.
“We are privileged enough to be living in a time where Mozart is composing symphonies,” said del Toro. “Miyazaki san is a master of that stature, and...
- 9/8/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Sources tell Deadline that the Toronto International Film Festival’s opening night film on Sept. 7, The Boy and the Heron from Hayao Miyazaki, has sold out in record time.
This despite the fact that Miyazaki won’t be in attendance at TIFF in a year that’s heavily relying on the turnout of filmmakers as most actors can’t promote their movies due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. This is not a shocker in regards to Miyazaki being a no-go at TIFF: He hasn’t done any interviews or appearances for the hand-drawn animated The Boy and the Heron in Japan where the pic opened to fantastic numbers and currently counts a running total box office there of $48M. It was always expected that the filmmaker would not travel to TIFF where The Boy and the Heron is making its international premiere. In a break with tradition, Studio Ghibli...
This despite the fact that Miyazaki won’t be in attendance at TIFF in a year that’s heavily relying on the turnout of filmmakers as most actors can’t promote their movies due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. This is not a shocker in regards to Miyazaki being a no-go at TIFF: He hasn’t done any interviews or appearances for the hand-drawn animated The Boy and the Heron in Japan where the pic opened to fantastic numbers and currently counts a running total box office there of $48M. It was always expected that the filmmaker would not travel to TIFF where The Boy and the Heron is making its international premiere. In a break with tradition, Studio Ghibli...
- 8/25/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Hayao Miyazaki will open the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival with his latest pic, The Boy and the Heron.
The film will screen out of competition at the festival’s Kursaal Auditorium on September 22, following the opening night gala.
This is the fourth time Miyazaki has played the Spanish festival, but it is the first time he will have participated in the Official Selection. He previously played the Velodrome section with Spirited Away and Gake no Ue no Ponyo / Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008) and in Perlak with The Wind Rises. Two other Ghibli films have been selected in the Perlak section: Kaguya-hime no Monogatari / The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) by Isao Takahata and La tortue rouge / Red Turtle (2016) by Michael Dudok de Wit.
The Boy and the Heron will make its bow in Spain after opening the Toronto Film Festival on September 7. The...
The film will screen out of competition at the festival’s Kursaal Auditorium on September 22, following the opening night gala.
This is the fourth time Miyazaki has played the Spanish festival, but it is the first time he will have participated in the Official Selection. He previously played the Velodrome section with Spirited Away and Gake no Ue no Ponyo / Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008) and in Perlak with The Wind Rises. Two other Ghibli films have been selected in the Perlak section: Kaguya-hime no Monogatari / The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) by Isao Takahata and La tortue rouge / Red Turtle (2016) by Michael Dudok de Wit.
The Boy and the Heron will make its bow in Spain after opening the Toronto Film Festival on September 7. The...
- 8/17/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Opening Night at the Toronto International Film Festival is cause for celebration because Hayao Miyazaki, the Academy Award-winning director of such films as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Howl’s Moving Castle, is bringing his latest film, The Boy and the Heron, to the 48th edition of the annual event! The Opening Night Gala starts on Thursday, September 7, at Roy Thomas Hall.
As today’s official press release mentions, several Studio Ghibli films have screened at TIFF, including The Red Turtle (2016), The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2014), The Wind Rises (2013), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), Spirited Away (2002), and Princess Mononoke (1999). Still, this is the first time a Japanese or animated film is opening the Festival. The honor marks another milestone in Miyazaki’s storied career as one of his generation’s most sought-after Japanese filmmakers.
“We are honoured to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists,...
As today’s official press release mentions, several Studio Ghibli films have screened at TIFF, including The Red Turtle (2016), The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2014), The Wind Rises (2013), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), Spirited Away (2002), and Princess Mononoke (1999). Still, this is the first time a Japanese or animated film is opening the Festival. The honor marks another milestone in Miyazaki’s storied career as one of his generation’s most sought-after Japanese filmmakers.
“We are honoured to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists,...
- 7/27/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Toronto International Film Festival has announced Japanese animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron as its opening night film.
Several films from Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli have screened at Toronto – including The Red Turtle (2016), The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2014), The Wind Rises (2013), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), Spirited Away (2002), and Princess Mononoke (1999) – but it will be the first time a Japanese film or an animated film has opened the festival.
“We are honoured to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF.
“Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love and rises to a staggering work of imagination. I look forward to our audience discovering its mysteries for themselves, but I can promise a singular, transformative experience.”
This announcement...
Several films from Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli have screened at Toronto – including The Red Turtle (2016), The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2014), The Wind Rises (2013), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), Spirited Away (2002), and Princess Mononoke (1999) – but it will be the first time a Japanese film or an animated film has opened the festival.
“We are honoured to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF.
“Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love and rises to a staggering work of imagination. I look forward to our audience discovering its mysteries for themselves, but I can promise a singular, transformative experience.”
This announcement...
- 7/27/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” will serve as the Opening Night Gala Presentation at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday. It is the first time in the 48-year history of the festival that Japanese feature has opened the festivities, as well as the first time an animated film has been honored in such a fashion.
“We are honored to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists,” said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey in a statement. “Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love and rises to a staggering work of imagination. I look forward to our audience discovering its mysteries for themselves, but I can promise a singular, transformative experience.”
“The Boy and the Heron” poster
Written and directed by Miyazaki,...
“We are honored to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists,” said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey in a statement. “Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love and rises to a staggering work of imagination. I look forward to our audience discovering its mysteries for themselves, but I can promise a singular, transformative experience.”
“The Boy and the Heron” poster
Written and directed by Miyazaki,...
- 7/27/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki’s much anticipated final film, now titled The Boy and the Heron in English, is set to open the Toronto Film Festival with a toned-down star presence on Sept. 7.
Studio Ghibli’s mysterious epic feature — with hand-drawn animation from Miyazaki — will have an international premiere at Roy Thomson Hall after being release in theaters in Japan on July 14. Gkids plans a theatrical release in North America later this year.
Studio Ghibli previously described the film as “a grand fantasy” loosely inspired by Japanese author Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 novel How Do You Live?, a coming-of-age story about the emotional and philosophical development of a young boy after the death of his father.
Studio Ghibli, which Miyazaki co-founded, has screened earlier titles in Toronto including The Red Turtle (2016), The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2014), The Wind Rises (2013), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), Spirited Away (2002) and Princess Mononoke...
Studio Ghibli’s mysterious epic feature — with hand-drawn animation from Miyazaki — will have an international premiere at Roy Thomson Hall after being release in theaters in Japan on July 14. Gkids plans a theatrical release in North America later this year.
Studio Ghibli previously described the film as “a grand fantasy” loosely inspired by Japanese author Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 novel How Do You Live?, a coming-of-age story about the emotional and philosophical development of a young boy after the death of his father.
Studio Ghibli, which Miyazaki co-founded, has screened earlier titles in Toronto including The Red Turtle (2016), The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2014), The Wind Rises (2013), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), Spirited Away (2002) and Princess Mononoke...
- 7/27/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In celebration of his love for animation, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro is set to program a weekend of animation for the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica called “Guillermo del Toro’s Weekend of Animation.”
The films programmed by del Toro will include screenings of “The Red Turtle” and “I Lost My Body.”
The weekend of animation will open with the 2016 Studio Ghibli film, “The Red Turtle,” with del Toro virtually introducing the film. Following that, there will be a screening of the Netflix film “I Lost My Body.”
Sunday concludes with a 35mm screening of the Oscar-nominated film “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.” Del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson will attend a post-screening Q&a.
There have been over 60 adaptations of “Pinocchio,” but del Toro’s version leans into the darkness, tenderness and humor of Carlo Collodi’s 1881 novel. At its heart, the film centers on the father-son relationship,...
The films programmed by del Toro will include screenings of “The Red Turtle” and “I Lost My Body.”
The weekend of animation will open with the 2016 Studio Ghibli film, “The Red Turtle,” with del Toro virtually introducing the film. Following that, there will be a screening of the Netflix film “I Lost My Body.”
Sunday concludes with a 35mm screening of the Oscar-nominated film “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.” Del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson will attend a post-screening Q&a.
There have been over 60 adaptations of “Pinocchio,” but del Toro’s version leans into the darkness, tenderness and humor of Carlo Collodi’s 1881 novel. At its heart, the film centers on the father-son relationship,...
- 2/17/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
In Woo Ming Jing’s latest feature film “Stone Turtle” which world-premiered in Locarno’s International Competition, an immigrant woman takes revenge in her own hands after her tormentor from the past appears to challenge her. It is a feminist tale in which folklore, dance and genre tropes play a significant role in layering the non-linear plot. Parts of the events are getting re-told, re-plotted or even re-dreamt to steer the narrative in other directions. Woo makes no secret of his biggest influence – Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog Day” (1993), and even the Netflix series “Russian Doll” which is given in the repetitiveness of certain events that get altered by Zahara when she wants to influence the now by changing the past.
“Stone Turtle” screened in Locarno Film Festival
Regarding other filmic influences, they mainly come from Japanese sources, and this is not just the case with the animated part drawn by Paul Williams,...
“Stone Turtle” screened in Locarno Film Festival
Regarding other filmic influences, they mainly come from Japanese sources, and this is not just the case with the animated part drawn by Paul Williams,...
- 8/11/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
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
Ugo Bienvenu (aka Ugo), the popular French illustrator and comics author of “Préférence système,” is partnering up with veteran producer Valerie Schermann on his animated feature debut “Arco.”
An ambitious science-fiction film, “Arco” is being co-developed and co-produced by Remembers, the outfit launched by Bienvenu and Félix de Givry, and Schermann at Akaba. The project was previously presented by the Cartoon Movie forum and has already sparked interest from several distributors.
Bienvenu, who grew up in Guatemala, Tchad, Paris and Mexico, graduated from the Gobelins school, studied at CalArts, and has so far created five graphic novels targeting young adults, notably “Paiement accepté,” and “Préférence.”
He also previously co-wrote and co-directed the mini-series “Antman,” as well as several shorts, including the animated title “Maman” (with Kevin Manach) which competed at Annecy in 2013. Aside from his career in comics and films, Bienvenu is also creating exclusive content, including commercials for the Paris Opera,...
An ambitious science-fiction film, “Arco” is being co-developed and co-produced by Remembers, the outfit launched by Bienvenu and Félix de Givry, and Schermann at Akaba. The project was previously presented by the Cartoon Movie forum and has already sparked interest from several distributors.
Bienvenu, who grew up in Guatemala, Tchad, Paris and Mexico, graduated from the Gobelins school, studied at CalArts, and has so far created five graphic novels targeting young adults, notably “Paiement accepté,” and “Préférence.”
He also previously co-wrote and co-directed the mini-series “Antman,” as well as several shorts, including the animated title “Maman” (with Kevin Manach) which competed at Annecy in 2013. Aside from his career in comics and films, Bienvenu is also creating exclusive content, including commercials for the Paris Opera,...
- 6/19/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
New independent label will handle sales on five to six high-end animated features a year.
Paris-based sales powerhouse Wild Bunch International (Wbi) and leading French animation distributor Gebeka Films are joining forces to create joint animation world sales label Gebeka International.
“The long-term goal is to handle sales on five to six big independent animated features with festival and awards potential a year,” explained Wbi co-head Vincent Maraval.
He will oversee the new venture with Gebeka Films president Réginald de Guillebon.
Lyon-based Gebeka Films specialises in releasing high-end French and European animated features in France. Past releases include Rémi Chayé’s Calamity,...
Paris-based sales powerhouse Wild Bunch International (Wbi) and leading French animation distributor Gebeka Films are joining forces to create joint animation world sales label Gebeka International.
“The long-term goal is to handle sales on five to six big independent animated features with festival and awards potential a year,” explained Wbi co-head Vincent Maraval.
He will oversee the new venture with Gebeka Films president Réginald de Guillebon.
Lyon-based Gebeka Films specialises in releasing high-end French and European animated features in France. Past releases include Rémi Chayé’s Calamity,...
- 6/16/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the leading global get-together for all things animation, has unveiled the lineup for this year’s Work in Progress section, among the most highly anticipated events of the world’s animation calendar. When a physical event is possible, lines begin to form early in the morning as fans of the high-profile projects hope to get into the limited seating available at the Salle Pierre Lamy.
A barometer for future standout awards and/or box office success, recent high-profile projects featured at Annecy’s Work in Progress include Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Oscar-winner “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” and Oscar nominees in Netflix’s “Klaus” and “Over the Moon,” Cartoon Saloon’s “Wolfwalkers,” Claude Barras’ “My Life as a Zucchini,” Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s “Ernest & Celestine,” Michael Dudok de Wit’s “The Red Turtle” and Dean DeBlois’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2.
A barometer for future standout awards and/or box office success, recent high-profile projects featured at Annecy’s Work in Progress include Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Oscar-winner “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” and Oscar nominees in Netflix’s “Klaus” and “Over the Moon,” Cartoon Saloon’s “Wolfwalkers,” Claude Barras’ “My Life as a Zucchini,” Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s “Ernest & Celestine,” Michael Dudok de Wit’s “The Red Turtle” and Dean DeBlois’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2.
- 5/3/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Spanish-French co-production involves Barcelona-based Arcadia and France’s Noodles Production and Les Films du Worso.
Elle Driver will introduce sales on Spanish director Pablo Berger’s feature-length animation Robot Dreams at the upcoming European Film Market.
It is Berger’s fourth feature, after multi-award-winning silent melodrama Blancanieves and 2017 fantasy comedy-drama Abracadabra.
The director’s first foray into animation, it is adapted from the popular 2007 graphic novel of the same name by US artist Sara Varon, set in an imaginary 1980s New York populated by animals with no definable age or gender.
The storyline revolves around the friendship between Dog and...
Elle Driver will introduce sales on Spanish director Pablo Berger’s feature-length animation Robot Dreams at the upcoming European Film Market.
It is Berger’s fourth feature, after multi-award-winning silent melodrama Blancanieves and 2017 fantasy comedy-drama Abracadabra.
The director’s first foray into animation, it is adapted from the popular 2007 graphic novel of the same name by US artist Sara Varon, set in an imaginary 1980s New York populated by animals with no definable age or gender.
The storyline revolves around the friendship between Dog and...
- 2/22/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Rémi Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary
The French Institute Alliance Française in New York has announced that Rémi Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary, co-written with Sandra Tosello and Fabrice de Costil will open the fourth annual Animation First Festival. Calamity Jane is voiced by Salomé Boulven. Rémi Chayé joins Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle), Michel Ocelot (Kirikou And The Sorceress) and Jean-François Laguionie to become the fourth guest of honour. Chayé’s 2015 film Long Way North (Tout En Haut Du monde), written by Claire Paoletti and Patricia Valeix with a screenplay by Fabrice de Costil will also screen during the festival. Wes Anderson, the first American special guest, has selected four animated films that inspired him.
Wes Anderson selects Suzie Templeton’s Oscar-winning Peter & The Wolf
Rémi Chayé: “It's an honour to bring Calamity Jane [Crystal Award winner for best feature at the.
The French Institute Alliance Française in New York has announced that Rémi Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary, co-written with Sandra Tosello and Fabrice de Costil will open the fourth annual Animation First Festival. Calamity Jane is voiced by Salomé Boulven. Rémi Chayé joins Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle), Michel Ocelot (Kirikou And The Sorceress) and Jean-François Laguionie to become the fourth guest of honour. Chayé’s 2015 film Long Way North (Tout En Haut Du monde), written by Claire Paoletti and Patricia Valeix with a screenplay by Fabrice de Costil will also screen during the festival. Wes Anderson, the first American special guest, has selected four animated films that inspired him.
Wes Anderson selects Suzie Templeton’s Oscar-winning Peter & The Wolf
Rémi Chayé: “It's an honour to bring Calamity Jane [Crystal Award winner for best feature at the.
- 1/15/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Wes Anderson selects David Hand’s Bambi
Wes Anderson has selected four films that inspired him: David Hand’s Bambi, Martin Rosen’s The Plague Dogs (1982), and two shorts, Garry Trudeau’s A Doonesbury Special (1977), and Suzie Templeton’s Peter & The Wolf (2006) to screen during the French Institute Alliance Française Animation First Festival in New York, co-curated by Delphine Selles-Alvarez and Catherine Lamairesse.
Mathieu Amalric: Renaissance Man poster featuring Fantastic Mr. Fox and Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell And The Butterfly Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle) was the honoured guest of the inaugural Animation First Festival in 2018, Michel Ocelot (Kirikou and the Sorceress) and Jean-François Laguionie were the guests of honour in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Fi:af President Marie-Monique Steckel: “This year's Animation First promises to be the richest in the Festival's history. We are delighted to have so many exciting new films, cult classics,...
Wes Anderson has selected four films that inspired him: David Hand’s Bambi, Martin Rosen’s The Plague Dogs (1982), and two shorts, Garry Trudeau’s A Doonesbury Special (1977), and Suzie Templeton’s Peter & The Wolf (2006) to screen during the French Institute Alliance Française Animation First Festival in New York, co-curated by Delphine Selles-Alvarez and Catherine Lamairesse.
Mathieu Amalric: Renaissance Man poster featuring Fantastic Mr. Fox and Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell And The Butterfly Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle) was the honoured guest of the inaugural Animation First Festival in 2018, Michel Ocelot (Kirikou and the Sorceress) and Jean-François Laguionie were the guests of honour in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Fi:af President Marie-Monique Steckel: “This year's Animation First promises to be the richest in the Festival's history. We are delighted to have so many exciting new films, cult classics,...
- 1/2/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The return of Studio Ghibli has commenced with the official trailer debuts for the studio’s new feature, “Earwig and the Witch.” Based on the children’s novel of the same name by author Diana Wynne Jones, “Earwig” marks the first solo Studio Ghibli production since the 2014 release of “When Marnie Was There.” The Japanese animation giant co-produced 2016’s “The Red Turtle.”
“Earwig and the Witch” is directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, and marks the studio’s first feature fully rendered with CG animation. The decision to pass on the studio’s famous hand-drawn style has made “Earwig” a polarizing title, but the Cannes Film Festival did give the title its seal approval by naming it part of the 2020 official selection earlier this year. The English-language dub is set to feature the voices of Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?...
“Earwig and the Witch” is directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, and marks the studio’s first feature fully rendered with CG animation. The decision to pass on the studio’s famous hand-drawn style has made “Earwig” a polarizing title, but the Cannes Film Festival did give the title its seal approval by naming it part of the 2020 official selection earlier this year. The English-language dub is set to feature the voices of Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?...
- 12/22/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Deal covers 21 films including Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away.
Wild Bunch has acquired all French rights to the entire catalogue of celebrated Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli, including its new animated feature Earwig and the Witch.
Disney has traditionally released Studio Ghibli titles in France, but the licensing deal has recently come to the end of its term. The Wild Bunch deal came into effect on September 2.
The accord includes Gorô Miyazaki’s Earwig And The Witch. The film is the studio’s first feature animation in six years and made it into Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection in June.
Wild Bunch has acquired all French rights to the entire catalogue of celebrated Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli, including its new animated feature Earwig and the Witch.
Disney has traditionally released Studio Ghibli titles in France, but the licensing deal has recently come to the end of its term. The Wild Bunch deal came into effect on September 2.
The accord includes Gorô Miyazaki’s Earwig And The Witch. The film is the studio’s first feature animation in six years and made it into Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection in June.
- 9/11/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
French film executives Mathieu Robinet, former head of Bac Films, and Yohann Comte, co-founder of Charades, have joined forces to launch Drive-in Festival, a not-for-profit initiative that will take place in several cities across the country until theaters reopen.
The initiative was inspired by American drive-in cinemas and similar initiatives created in Germany, South Korea and even Lithuania, where the Vilnius International Film Festival converted airport space into a massive drive-in cinema, said Comte.
Robinet, who conceived the idea of the Drive-in Festival, enlisted Comte and other film executives and received the blessing of cities, individual exhibitors, distributors such as Le Pacte, The Jokers and Wild Bunch, and the National Film Board to put together a line-up of films that can be watched outdoors from people’s cars.
The first session kicked off May 16 in Bordeaux on the Place des Quinconces, which welcomed 200 cars for “Hippocrate,” Thomas Lilti’s film...
The initiative was inspired by American drive-in cinemas and similar initiatives created in Germany, South Korea and even Lithuania, where the Vilnius International Film Festival converted airport space into a massive drive-in cinema, said Comte.
Robinet, who conceived the idea of the Drive-in Festival, enlisted Comte and other film executives and received the blessing of cities, individual exhibitors, distributors such as Le Pacte, The Jokers and Wild Bunch, and the National Film Board to put together a line-up of films that can be watched outdoors from people’s cars.
The first session kicked off May 16 in Bordeaux on the Place des Quinconces, which welcomed 200 cars for “Hippocrate,” Thomas Lilti’s film...
- 5/20/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
GKids will release the entire Studio Ghibli catalog of animated films for digital purchase for the first time in North America on Dec. 17.
The Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli catalog includes best animated film Academy Award winner “Spirited Away” and five other Oscar-nominated titles: “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “The Wind Rises,” “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” “When Marnie Was There” and “The Red Turtle,” which was co-produced with Wild Bunch.
Films will be available to purchase in both English and Japanese languages on all major digital transactional platforms. It’s the first time the Studio Ghibli films will be available for digital purchase anywhere in the world. GKids previously announced an exclusive U.S. streaming deal with HBO Max for the Studio Ghibli library starting in May.
Director and studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki was given an honorary award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards in 2014, and the...
The Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli catalog includes best animated film Academy Award winner “Spirited Away” and five other Oscar-nominated titles: “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “The Wind Rises,” “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” “When Marnie Was There” and “The Red Turtle,” which was co-produced with Wild Bunch.
Films will be available to purchase in both English and Japanese languages on all major digital transactional platforms. It’s the first time the Studio Ghibli films will be available for digital purchase anywhere in the world. GKids previously announced an exclusive U.S. streaming deal with HBO Max for the Studio Ghibli library starting in May.
Director and studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki was given an honorary award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards in 2014, and the...
- 12/2/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
The Best Animated Feature Oscar race is starting to take shape, but first we have the various precursors to separate the wheat from the chaff. A win at the Golden Globes can arguably be the biggest boost an animated film can receive before the Oscars. In the 13 years of its existence at the Globes, the winner of Best Animated Feature has matched up 10 times with the Academy Awards, only differing in 2006, 2011 and 2014. As for nominations, the Globes Animated Feature lineup often includes at least three films that would go on to earn Oscar noms. The past two years have found the two organizations completely in sync, indicating a Golden Globe nomination in Best Animated Feature is more important than ever for future Oscar glory.
SEEOscar flashback: ‘Toy Story 3’ director thanks fans for embracing ‘talking toys’ during Best Animated Feature speech [Watch]
The Golden Globes have traditionally been much friendlier to...
SEEOscar flashback: ‘Toy Story 3’ director thanks fans for embracing ‘talking toys’ during Best Animated Feature speech [Watch]
The Golden Globes have traditionally been much friendlier to...
- 11/16/2019
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
Production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has come on board to finance musical animation film “They Shot the Piano Player,” directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, Oscar-nominated for their 2012 animation “Chico & Rita.”
Jeff Goldblum is attached to voice the lead character, a New York music journalist on a quest to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio Jr.
Film Constellation describes the film as “a celebratory origin story” of the Bossa Nova movement that “captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the 60s and 70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.”
The pic features a who’s who of the best of Brazilian music, including João Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Vinicius de Moraes and Paulo Moura.
Trueba, whose credits include music films “Calle 54,” “Bebo Y Cigala” and “The Miracle of Candeal,...
Jeff Goldblum is attached to voice the lead character, a New York music journalist on a quest to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio Jr.
Film Constellation describes the film as “a celebratory origin story” of the Bossa Nova movement that “captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the 60s and 70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.”
The pic features a who’s who of the best of Brazilian music, including João Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Vinicius de Moraes and Paulo Moura.
Trueba, whose credits include music films “Calle 54,” “Bebo Y Cigala” and “The Miracle of Candeal,...
- 11/5/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
In this week’s International TV Newswire, new German studio to be formed by Tele MünchenGroup (Tmg), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film share licensing division details; soccer leagues jointly condemn a Saudi pirate broadcaster; Franco-Belgian comic superstar “Marsupilami” gets a 3D reboot and Spain’s Atresmedia steps up its on demand game.
German Merger Details Licensing Strategy
Announced earlier this year, the new German studio merging giant Tele MünchenGroup (Tmg), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film, announced management structures at its new licensing division on Friday.
The main takeaways: the unit will be headed by CEO Fred Kogel, who will handle acquisitions with previous head of international acquisitions at Universum Film Alexander Janssen. L.A.-based Eden Rock Media’s Thomas Augsberger, who has been advising Tmg in its acquisitions of feature films as well as the development of films and series, will...
German Merger Details Licensing Strategy
Announced earlier this year, the new German studio merging giant Tele MünchenGroup (Tmg), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film, announced management structures at its new licensing division on Friday.
The main takeaways: the unit will be headed by CEO Fred Kogel, who will handle acquisitions with previous head of international acquisitions at Universum Film Alexander Janssen. L.A.-based Eden Rock Media’s Thomas Augsberger, who has been advising Tmg in its acquisitions of feature films as well as the development of films and series, will...
- 8/2/2019
- by Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius is set to adapt Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling tale “La plus precious des marchandises” into an animated feature film. The Dardenne brothers are co-producing the film with Studiocanal, which will handle all rights, including international sales.
The tale, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust, is produced by Patrick Sobelman and Robert Guédiguian at France’s Ex Nihilo, and Florence Gastaud, Riad Sattouf and Hazanavicius at Les Compagnons de Cinéma. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are co-producing via their banner Les Films du Fleuve. Valérie Schermann’s company, Prima Linéa, whose track record includes the award-winning “The Red Turtle,” will be handling the animation.
The story intertwines the fates of a Jewish family, including newborn twins, who are arrested in Paris and deported to Auschwitz, and a poor and childless woodcutter couple living in the depths of a Polish forest. While on a train to the death camp,...
The tale, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust, is produced by Patrick Sobelman and Robert Guédiguian at France’s Ex Nihilo, and Florence Gastaud, Riad Sattouf and Hazanavicius at Les Compagnons de Cinéma. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are co-producing via their banner Les Films du Fleuve. Valérie Schermann’s company, Prima Linéa, whose track record includes the award-winning “The Red Turtle,” will be handling the animation.
The story intertwines the fates of a Jewish family, including newborn twins, who are arrested in Paris and deported to Auschwitz, and a poor and childless woodcutter couple living in the depths of a Polish forest. While on a train to the death camp,...
- 6/6/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes–A panel of leading animation industry executives gathered during the Cannes Film Market on Sunday to shed light on their strategies for the theatrical release of adult-oriented animated features.
It was a timely conversation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Five of the 28 animated projects in the Marché du Film are adult audience-focused, including two in the official selection, noted Annemie Degryse, CEO and producer of Belgium’s Lunanime, while moderating “The A-z Game Plan to Releasing Animated Films for Adults for the Big Screen.” Yet even as adult-oriented animation is enjoying greater critical acclaim than ever before, its commercial prospects are often limited.
“Finding the audience is always difficult for adult [targeting] movies,” said Carole Baraton, co-founder of Paris-based sales agent Charades. While family animation – despite its ups and downs – has had an established model for box-office success since the early days of Disney, adult-oriented animated features are still largely seen as niche-oriented.
It was a timely conversation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Five of the 28 animated projects in the Marché du Film are adult audience-focused, including two in the official selection, noted Annemie Degryse, CEO and producer of Belgium’s Lunanime, while moderating “The A-z Game Plan to Releasing Animated Films for Adults for the Big Screen.” Yet even as adult-oriented animation is enjoying greater critical acclaim than ever before, its commercial prospects are often limited.
“Finding the audience is always difficult for adult [targeting] movies,” said Carole Baraton, co-founder of Paris-based sales agent Charades. While family animation – despite its ups and downs – has had an established model for box-office success since the early days of Disney, adult-oriented animated features are still largely seen as niche-oriented.
- 5/19/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Director Christian Carion and his frequent star Guillaume Canet show off their very particular sets of skills in “My Son” (“Mon garçon”), a polished, if mechanical, vigilante thriller that attempts to combine the psychological deep dive of Denis Villeneuve’s “Prisoners” with the adrenaline shot of Pierre Morel’s “Taken.” Falling well short of those superior films, this limited-release offering — which did modest business when it opened in France back in 2017 — squanders a compelling performance by top-billed Canet, playing an absentee father searching for his kidnapped son in the mountains of southeast France. Themes of parental guilt and the effects of broken families on children are hinted at early but discarded in favor of genre pleasures, which Carion provides to increasingly formulaic effect.
“My Son” is Carion’s fifth feature and his first in a contemporary setting since his 2001 César-nominated debut, “The Girl from Paris.” Since then, he’s tackled World War I,...
“My Son” is Carion’s fifth feature and his first in a contemporary setting since his 2001 César-nominated debut, “The Girl from Paris.” Since then, he’s tackled World War I,...
- 5/9/2019
- by Mark Keizer
- Variety Film + TV
Having long since taught us how to train our dragons, DreamWorks’ franchise has moved on to bigger — and, it turns out, better — things. Rare is the animated sequel not part of the “Toy Story” mythos to justify its existence to anyone other than the kiddos, and yet “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” manages to do that by ending the now-complete trilogy on a high note.
That’s in part because the series has taken its time. It’s been nearly five years since “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” which followed the original by four years; we’ve now been watching Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon Toothless grow up for nearly a decade, and the movies have come of age with them. Directed once again by Dean DeBlois, “The Hidden World” strikes a bittersweet chord in reminding its young audience that all good...
That’s in part because the series has taken its time. It’s been nearly five years since “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” which followed the original by four years; we’ve now been watching Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon Toothless grow up for nearly a decade, and the movies have come of age with them. Directed once again by Dean DeBlois, “The Hidden World” strikes a bittersweet chord in reminding its young audience that all good...
- 1/2/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
The best way to learn the tricks of movie screenwriting is to read as many movie scripts as possible. Script Reader Pro made headlines last year for debuting 50 screenplays online for free, and now the team over at Shore Scripts has done the same by making 45 genre screenplays available for free online. Shore Scripts picked five scripts in nine different film genres to feature, which means you now have free access to films written by Stanley Kubrick, Tony Kushner, Rian Johnson, Nora Ephron, and Tina Fey.
Shore Scripts is an organization made up filmmakers in the United Kingdom and the United States that seeks to help emerging screenwriters break into the industry. The team is offering free downloadable scripts for films as classic as “The Iron Giant,” “Goodfellas,” “A Clockwork Orange,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
The full list of free screenplays by genre is below. Click here to...
Shore Scripts is an organization made up filmmakers in the United Kingdom and the United States that seeks to help emerging screenwriters break into the industry. The team is offering free downloadable scripts for films as classic as “The Iron Giant,” “Goodfellas,” “A Clockwork Orange,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
The full list of free screenplays by genre is below. Click here to...
- 7/9/2018
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
More than 11 years ago, Joe Penna chose his “MysteryGuitarMan” YouTube username at 3:45 a.m. all because he wanted to post a video of himself playing guitar. Now in 2018, his “Guitar Impossible” video has over 16 million views, he’s directed a music video for Avicii, and the world premiere of his new film “Arctic” is freezing over the Croisette.
You’re originally from Brazil. You live in L.A. now. Did you miss the warm weather while you were shooting up in the Arctic?
Absolutely. “Arctic” was originally set on Mars, but then we heard about “The Martian.” Shooting in Iceland was good for the film, but not for me as a Brazilian man.
Your leading man, Mads Mikkelsen, told Variety last year it was the most difficult shoot he’s ever done. Why do you think that is?
He’s in every frame of the film and understood the character so well.
You’re originally from Brazil. You live in L.A. now. Did you miss the warm weather while you were shooting up in the Arctic?
Absolutely. “Arctic” was originally set on Mars, but then we heard about “The Martian.” Shooting in Iceland was good for the film, but not for me as a Brazilian man.
Your leading man, Mads Mikkelsen, told Variety last year it was the most difficult shoot he’s ever done. Why do you think that is?
He’s in every frame of the film and understood the character so well.
- 5/8/2018
- by Tara Bitran
- Variety Film + TV
Takahata’s credits included Grave Of The Fireflies.
Japanese filmmaker Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, has died aged 82.
Takahata directed animated classics such as Grave Of The Fireflies, Only Yesterday and Pom Poko. His most recent film as director was The Tale Of Princess Kaguya, which was nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards in 2015.
Born in 1935 in Mie Prefecture, Takahata started his career in 1959 and worked on both animated features and TV series as a screenwriter, director and producer.
While Miyazaki is best known for pure fantasies, Takahata focused on realistic dramas,...
Japanese filmmaker Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, has died aged 82.
Takahata directed animated classics such as Grave Of The Fireflies, Only Yesterday and Pom Poko. His most recent film as director was The Tale Of Princess Kaguya, which was nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards in 2015.
Born in 1935 in Mie Prefecture, Takahata started his career in 1959 and worked on both animated features and TV series as a screenwriter, director and producer.
While Miyazaki is best known for pure fantasies, Takahata focused on realistic dramas,...
- 4/6/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Isao Takahata, a highly influential Japanese animator and filmmaker, and a co-founder of Studio Ghibli alongside longtime collaborator Hayao Miyazaki, died Thursday after a brief hospitalization. He was 82.
Takahata died following a battle with lung cancer, according to a statement Studio Ghibli provided to TheWrap.
Takahata directed the animated wartime drama “Grave of the Fireflies,” “Pom Poko,” “My Neighbors the Yamadas” and was nominated for an Oscar for his film “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.”...
Takahata died following a battle with lung cancer, according to a statement Studio Ghibli provided to TheWrap.
Takahata directed the animated wartime drama “Grave of the Fireflies,” “Pom Poko,” “My Neighbors the Yamadas” and was nominated for an Oscar for his film “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.”...
- 4/6/2018
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Isao Takahata, renowned Japanese director, screenwriter, animator, producer and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, died on Thursday, due to lung cancer, according to Yahoo! Japan. He was 82.
After directing and doing the storyboards for a number of episodes in TV anime series like “Future Boy Conan” and “Anne of Green Gables”, he accepted Hayao Miyazaki’s invitation to join Studio Ghibli. The first movie directed by Takahata for Ghibli was “Grave of the Fireflies” in 1988, while in 1989, Takahata went on to do the music direction for to “Kiki’s Delivery Service”. His next projects for Ghibli include “Only yesterday” (1991), “Pom Poko” (1994), “My Neighbors the Yamadas” (1999), and “Winter Days” (2003). His last directorial work was “The Tale of Princess Kaguya in 2013, while he also served as artistic producer in Michael Dudok de Wit’s “The Red Turtle“.
On November 4, 2007, Takahata was awarded the Special Award at the Kobe Animation Awards, while he received...
After directing and doing the storyboards for a number of episodes in TV anime series like “Future Boy Conan” and “Anne of Green Gables”, he accepted Hayao Miyazaki’s invitation to join Studio Ghibli. The first movie directed by Takahata for Ghibli was “Grave of the Fireflies” in 1988, while in 1989, Takahata went on to do the music direction for to “Kiki’s Delivery Service”. His next projects for Ghibli include “Only yesterday” (1991), “Pom Poko” (1994), “My Neighbors the Yamadas” (1999), and “Winter Days” (2003). His last directorial work was “The Tale of Princess Kaguya in 2013, while he also served as artistic producer in Michael Dudok de Wit’s “The Red Turtle“.
On November 4, 2007, Takahata was awarded the Special Award at the Kobe Animation Awards, while he received...
- 4/6/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, has died at 82, according to Yahoo! Japan. Takahata was a revered director in his own right, helming such animated classics as “Grave of the Fireflies,” “Only Yesterday,” and “Pom Poko”; he most recently directed “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” which received near-universal praise an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.
Takahata’s career dates back to the early 1960s, when he worked in both the film and television industries in his native Japan. In addition to directing, he also worked as an animator, screenwriter, and producer, with his final credit coming on Michaël Dudok de Wit’s acclaimed “The Red Turtle.” Among his many other accolades, Takahata received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival in 2009.
“Grave of the Fireflies” remains his best-known and most respected work, often appearing high on the list of the greatest...
Takahata’s career dates back to the early 1960s, when he worked in both the film and television industries in his native Japan. In addition to directing, he also worked as an animator, screenwriter, and producer, with his final credit coming on Michaël Dudok de Wit’s acclaimed “The Red Turtle.” Among his many other accolades, Takahata received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival in 2009.
“Grave of the Fireflies” remains his best-known and most respected work, often appearing high on the list of the greatest...
- 4/5/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
It’s the final stop on the 2017 awards calendar, and with echoes of the hashtag chatter and acceptance speeches from the Globes, BAFTAs and Oscars still ringing in our ears the team at Empire rolled out their own red carpet this evening.
This is the eighth Empire Awards we have covered, and it’s always a fun event. With the awards voted for by the public it is chance for popular films to claim some awards glory, and the winners this year didn’t disappoint in their fan favourite status.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi took home the most awards, with winning turns in the Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects categories. It was wonderful to see the success of God’s Own Country making its way from the critics and Academy members to the general public. Amma Asante was honoured with the Inspiration award,...
This is the eighth Empire Awards we have covered, and it’s always a fun event. With the awards voted for by the public it is chance for popular films to claim some awards glory, and the winners this year didn’t disappoint in their fan favourite status.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi took home the most awards, with winning turns in the Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects categories. It was wonderful to see the success of God’s Own Country making its way from the critics and Academy members to the general public. Amma Asante was honoured with the Inspiration award,...
- 3/19/2018
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge) director Michaël Dudok de Wit on the escape in Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo: "That's the climax of the book as far as I'm concerned." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the reaction of Isao Takahata and his co-writer, Lady Chatterley director Pascale Ferran, to the original script for The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge). Dreams, escapes, nature, Darren Aronfsky's Mother! with Jennifer Lawrence, reading the original Robinson Crusoe, and what is a "deep, deep, deep fear" for him surface in the final installment of my conversation with the director and honored guest of New York's Animation First Festival at the French Institute Alliance Française, co-curated by Delphine Selles-Alvarez and Catherine Lamairesse.
Michaël Dudok de Wit on Pascale Ferran's reaction to the violence in the script: "We need to work on the remorse bit even more."
In The Red Turtle,...
Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the reaction of Isao Takahata and his co-writer, Lady Chatterley director Pascale Ferran, to the original script for The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge). Dreams, escapes, nature, Darren Aronfsky's Mother! with Jennifer Lawrence, reading the original Robinson Crusoe, and what is a "deep, deep, deep fear" for him surface in the final installment of my conversation with the director and honored guest of New York's Animation First Festival at the French Institute Alliance Française, co-curated by Delphine Selles-Alvarez and Catherine Lamairesse.
Michaël Dudok de Wit on Pascale Ferran's reaction to the violence in the script: "We need to work on the remorse bit even more."
In The Red Turtle,...
- 2/18/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge) director Michaël Dudok de Wit on the escape in Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo: "That's the climax of the book as far as I'm concerned." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the reaction of Isao Takahata and his co-writer, Lady Chatterley director Pascale Ferran, to the original script for The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge). Dreams, escapes, nature, Darren Aronfsky's Mother! with Jennifer Lawrence, reading the original Robinson Crusoe, and what is a "deep, deep, deep fear" for him surface in the final installment of my conversation with the director and honored guest of New York's Animation First Festival at the French Institute Alliance Française, co-curated by Delphine Selles-Alvarez and Catherine Lamairesse.
Michaël Dudok de Wit on Pascale Ferran's reaction to the violence in the script: "We need to work on the remorse bit even more."
In The Red Turtle,...
Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the reaction of Isao Takahata and his co-writer, Lady Chatterley director Pascale Ferran, to the original script for The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge). Dreams, escapes, nature, Darren Aronfsky's Mother! with Jennifer Lawrence, reading the original Robinson Crusoe, and what is a "deep, deep, deep fear" for him surface in the final installment of my conversation with the director and honored guest of New York's Animation First Festival at the French Institute Alliance Française, co-curated by Delphine Selles-Alvarez and Catherine Lamairesse.
Michaël Dudok de Wit on Pascale Ferran's reaction to the violence in the script: "We need to work on the remorse bit even more."
In The Red Turtle,...
- 2/18/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Michaël Dudok de Wit on Isao Takahata of Studio Ghibli: "He's very much into symbolism, metaphors and the subtle emotions." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The French Institute Alliance Française in New York in their latest CinéSalon series is honouring actresses who have won the César Award. Catherine Deneuve in François Truffaut's 10-César award-winning The Last Metro (Le Dernier Métro - introduced by Anne-Katrin Titze on February 13 at 4:00pm); Sandrine Bonnaire in Agnès Varda's Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi), and Isabelle Huppert (Oscar-nominated for her performance) in Paul Verhoeven's Elle are the upcoming Best Actress: A César-Winner Showdown films to be shown.
Michaël Dudok de Wit with Anne-Katrin Titze on Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: "It's basically fairy tales and ghost stories." Photo: Natascha Bodemann
Michaël Dudok de Wit's (César and Oscar-nominated and Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize winner) debut feature The Red Turtle,...
The French Institute Alliance Française in New York in their latest CinéSalon series is honouring actresses who have won the César Award. Catherine Deneuve in François Truffaut's 10-César award-winning The Last Metro (Le Dernier Métro - introduced by Anne-Katrin Titze on February 13 at 4:00pm); Sandrine Bonnaire in Agnès Varda's Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi), and Isabelle Huppert (Oscar-nominated for her performance) in Paul Verhoeven's Elle are the upcoming Best Actress: A César-Winner Showdown films to be shown.
Michaël Dudok de Wit with Anne-Katrin Titze on Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: "It's basically fairy tales and ghost stories." Photo: Natascha Bodemann
Michaël Dudok de Wit's (César and Oscar-nominated and Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize winner) debut feature The Red Turtle,...
- 2/7/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Michaël Dudok de Wit on Isao Takahata of Studio Ghibli: "He's very much into symbolism, metaphors and the subtle emotions." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The French Institute Alliance Française in New York in their latest CinéSalon series is honouring actresses who have won the César Award. Catherine Deneuve in François Truffaut's 10-César award-winning The Last Metro (Le Dernier Métro - introduced by Anne-Katrin Titze on February 13 at 4:00pm); Sandrine Bonnaire in Agnès Varda's Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi), and Isabelle Huppert (Oscar-nominated for her performance) in Paul Verhoeven's Elle are the upcoming Best Actress: A César-Winner Showdown films to be shown.
Michaël Dudok de Wit with Anne-Katrin Titze on Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: "It's basically fairy tales and ghost stories." Photo: Natascha Bodemann
Michaël Dudok de Wit's (César and Oscar-nominated and Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize winner) debut feature The Red Turtle,...
The French Institute Alliance Française in New York in their latest CinéSalon series is honouring actresses who have won the César Award. Catherine Deneuve in François Truffaut's 10-César award-winning The Last Metro (Le Dernier Métro - introduced by Anne-Katrin Titze on February 13 at 4:00pm); Sandrine Bonnaire in Agnès Varda's Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi), and Isabelle Huppert (Oscar-nominated for her performance) in Paul Verhoeven's Elle are the upcoming Best Actress: A César-Winner Showdown films to be shown.
Michaël Dudok de Wit with Anne-Katrin Titze on Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: "It's basically fairy tales and ghost stories." Photo: Natascha Bodemann
Michaël Dudok de Wit's (César and Oscar-nominated and Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize winner) debut feature The Red Turtle,...
- 2/7/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“Mary and the Witch’s Flower” is something of a miracle. Regardless of its merits as a movie, the fact that it even exists in such a dire time for animated cinema is something worth celebrating. It was only a few years ago, in August 2014, when the peerless Studio Ghibli announced it was re-evaluating its future in the wake of financial hardships and Hayao Miyazaki’s supposed retirement — the move seemed to confirm the collective fear that the world’s most consistently brilliant film studio was lost without the visionary storyteller responsible for so much of its immortal output.
Back then, the news felt like a potentially fatal blow for hand-drawn animation, the final surrender of a cold war that had started with friendly fire (Pixar) and ended with outright humiliation (“The Emoji Movie”). But all was not lost.
Studio Ghibli soon flickered back to life, co-producing Michaël Dudok de...
Back then, the news felt like a potentially fatal blow for hand-drawn animation, the final surrender of a cold war that had started with friendly fire (Pixar) and ended with outright humiliation (“The Emoji Movie”). But all was not lost.
Studio Ghibli soon flickered back to life, co-producing Michaël Dudok de...
- 1/18/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
EuropaCorp tops list despite ‘Valerian’ woes.
Source: EuropaCorp
‘Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets’
EuropaCorp was France’s top film exporter in 2017 in terms of the international box office achieved by French majority and minority French productions on its slate, the country’s cinema export agency UniFrance has revealed.
According to a report by the body looking at preliminary figures for the 2017 international box office, titles on the EuropaCorp sales slate - led by Luc Besson’s sci-fi tale Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets - achieved some 31.4m admissions worldwide in 2017.
EuropaCorp also topped the international box office chart for majority French productions as well as for the best performing producers.
In the backdrop, however, the Unifrance figures come amid a difficult time for the company as it retrenches due to the overall poor performance of the big budget Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets in relation to its past English-language...
Source: EuropaCorp
‘Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets’
EuropaCorp was France’s top film exporter in 2017 in terms of the international box office achieved by French majority and minority French productions on its slate, the country’s cinema export agency UniFrance has revealed.
According to a report by the body looking at preliminary figures for the 2017 international box office, titles on the EuropaCorp sales slate - led by Luc Besson’s sci-fi tale Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets - achieved some 31.4m admissions worldwide in 2017.
EuropaCorp also topped the international box office chart for majority French productions as well as for the best performing producers.
In the backdrop, however, the Unifrance figures come amid a difficult time for the company as it retrenches due to the overall poor performance of the big budget Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets in relation to its past English-language...
- 1/8/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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