News

Caitlin Yarsky teamed up with Dark Horse Comics for Living Hell, a dark modern fantasy tale centered on Jerome Jameel, "a loving father and husband who also happens to be a demon": "He’s fled his former prison of Hell to live incognito on earth as a bartender, hiding in plain sight. Jerome is determined to stay out of trouble, but when he kills one of Hell's most vicious bounty hunters in self defense, he inherits the job of infernal bailiff, hunting down his own kind. Jerome soon faces a range of ancient deities and monsters, from the human-eating ghosts known as Jikininki to psychopomps like Baron Samedi. But with every act of betrayal, Jerome loses a little more of his hard-earned humanity."

Along with a 5-page preview you can read right now, we caught up with Living Hell writer & artist Caitlin Yarsky to learn more about the upcoming...

Since the success of “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,” which grossed nearly $50 million domestically in 2021, it’s been clear that anime will continue to be a major player at the specialty box office for years to come. Now, with Toho International’s acquisition of one of the medium’s top American distributors, Gkids, competition for the eyes and dollars of anime fans is about to step up.

It’s a natural fit for the two companies to be joining forces. Last December, Toho and GKids made box office history by pushing two Japanese-produced films into the top 3 at the U.S. box office on the same weekend. For Toho, it was “Godzilla Minus One,” the first ever film from cinema’s oldest franchise to win an Oscar, earning $56.4 million in America.

For GKids, it was Hayao Miyazaki’s likely final film — and also Oscar winner — “The Boy and the Heron,” which...

A folie a deux is defined as a shared delusion between two people in close association. So maybe the idea that the “Joker” sequel would perform as well as its predecessor was always meant to be suspect.

Over the weekend, “Joker: Folie a Deux” crashed with audiences after finding little support among critics. The Todd Phillips musical drama about the famed Batman villain earned less than $37.8 million at the domestic box office, a far cry from the record-setting $96 million with which the original debuted in 2019. That film grossed a then-record $1.079 billion worldwide, the most money ever for an R-rated release at the time. Now, the expectations are that “Joker: Folie a Deux” might not top $300 million. The project earned a D-grade from ticket buyers on CinemaScore, a service that polls moviegoers about their theatrical experience. Critics, many of whom thought the first film was subpar, eviscerated the sequel too — the...

"I'm already proud of you, Marcel." Sony Pictures Classics has revealed the first teaser trailer for a French animated film called Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol, the latest creation from Sylvain Chomet. You already know his other films - The Triplets of Belleville and The Illusionist. This is his latest feature since Attila Marcel in 2013. He also directed the animated short at the start of Joker: Folie à Deux about his shadow. His new film follows the life of Marcel Pagnol, a playwright, novelist, and a filmmaker who became one of the world's most inventive & prolific artists in the mid-20th century. Based on Pagnol's book, examining his entire life from childhood through his successful career in France and beyond. No US release date is set - expected in early 2025. This teaser features an English-language voice cast with what sounds like Tom Hiddleston as the voice of Marcel, though they...

“Folie à deux” means a kind of shared madness — possibly two extreme hearts on similar wavelength or maybe a clash inside one disturbed person’s head. When Arthur Fleck aka Joker meets Harleen “Lee” Quinel aka Harley Quinn in director/co-writer Todd Phillips’ audacious and head-spinning follow-up to his billion-dollar-grossing 2019 origin story, Joker: Folie à Deux is maybe all of that.

The first trailer for this new film, which could be called a musical but really is so much more than that one hook, used the underlying theme of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” and perhaps that ultimately is what Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver are trying to say. This meeting of the minds between Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) and Lee (Lady Gaga) is indeed an odd love story in a world losing control.

An early inspiration for the filmmaker and his star,...

If you think the idea of making Joker: Folie à Deux a musical is a bizarre choice, wait until you hear what Todd Phillips has in mind for the film’s opening. In addition to featuring musical elements, Phillips plans to open the highly-anticipated sequel with a Looney Tunes-inspired animated sequence.

Before you freak out, know that Phillips recruited top-tier talent for this bold choice. The legendary French artist and animator Sylvain Chomet helped Phillips create the animated sequence. If Chomet’s name sounds familiar, he’s the director of 2003’s The Triplets of Belleville and 2010’s The Illusionist, two positively brilliant and award-winning animated features.

In addition to Chomet’s animated sequence, Joker: Folie à Deux includes a “variety show sequence” with Joker and Harley presenting a Sonny and Cher-like dynamic. These elements are part of Todd Phillips’ radical approach to Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel to 2019’s box office-breaking Joker.

Back when the first "Joker" movie was coming out in 2019, it's safe to say that pretty much everybody lost their collective minds in every sense of the phrase. After its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, early reactions painted the R-rated comic book movie as everything from the next coming of Jesus Christ himself to the single worst experience ever committed to the medium of film to, incredibly enough, a "dangerous" work that would inevitably lead to real-world violence ... somehow. It was easy to see how Joaquin Phoenix's mentally-unwell character known as Arthur Fleck might've actually had a point when he said, "Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?" But forget all that, because the original movie apparently has nothing on what the sequel has in store for us right from the jump.

"Joker: Folie à Deux" marks director Todd Phillips' follow-up effort set...

When it comes to animation, you can always rely on the French. They've been innovating and experimenting with the form since the dawn of motion pictures. From magic lantern presentations at the turn of the 20th century to modern works of art like The Triplets Of Belleville and Persepolis, French...

Picturehouse Entertainment has made its first animation pickup, acquiring UK-Ireland distribution rights to Sylvain Chomet’s The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol.

The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol follows the life of Pagnol, a playwright, novelist and filmmaker who became one of the world’s most inventive and prolific artists in the mid-20th century.

The film is currently in production ahead of completion in 2025. It is produced by Ashargin Poire and Valerie Puech for What the Prod. Co-producers are Lilian Eche’s Bidibul Productions, Adrian Politowski’s Align and Aton Soumache for On Classics (Mediawan Kids & Family), in...

French animation company Folivari is producing animated coming-of-age feature The Wild Inside with Patrick Imbert to direct.

Based on Jamey Bradbury’s novel of the same name, the film follows an Alaskan girl forced to confront her connection to nature and wild animals after her mother goes missing.

It marks Imbert’s third collaboration with Folivari following Cesar award-winner The Summit Of Gods and 2018 nominee The Big Bad Fox And Other Tales.

Folivari was founded in 2014 by Damien Brunner, Thibaut Ruby and Didier Brunner who previously produced the Oscar-nominated animations Ernest And Celestine and The Triplets Of Belleville.

The company...

Screen can reveal the first trailer for animated feature Fox And Hare Save The Forest, ahead of its world premiere at the Berlinale.

The 3D animation follows a group of animal friends who embark on an adventure when a lake threatens to submerge their forest home, perhaps the work of a megalomaniac beaver. The trailer reveals a stop motion animated feel, which was achieved by making the characters out of clay and 3D-scanning them.

It is directed by Dutch filmmaker and illustrator Mascha Halberstad, whose debut feature Oink premiered in the Berlinale’s youth-focussed Generation sidebar and was nominated for...

Mediawan Kids & Family, a leading European youth animation studio working with filmmakers Sylvain Chomet (“The Triplets of Belleville”) and Joann Sfar (“The Rabbi’s Cat”), is ramping up its international distribution pipeline with the acquisition of three premium series: “Maddie + Triggs,” “The Specials” and “Idefix and the Indomitables.”

“Maddie + Triggs” is an inclusive preschool musical comedy series produced by Turnip + Duck, an award-winning Irish studio. A spinoff of a popular podcast aimed at children aged 4 to 7, the series was pitched at Cartoon Forum in 2022 and commissioned by the BBC’s kids’ network CBeebies in the U.K. and RTÉjr Ireland’s Children’s broadcast service. The series is animated by the Bristol-based indie Sun & Moon Studios. “Maddie+ Triggs” follows the adventures of Maddie, a visually impaired 7-year-old girl, and her dog Triggs, who find music through the sounds of everyday life.

“Today, there is more awareness and appreciation of difference than ever before,...

Pablo Berger’s “Robot Dreams,” which gets a theatrical release from Neon at an as-yet-unannounced time this year, was one of the animated delights of 2023. The Spanish/French hand-drawn dramedy (adapted from Sarah Varon’s wordless graphic novel) concerns the bittersweet friendship between lonely Dog and Robot, which he buys for company, in a version of ’80s Manhattan populated with animals. It’s garnered awards buzz in a longshot quest for an Oscar nomination this season.

After premiering at Cannes, “Robot Dreams” earned the Annecy Contrecham Award along with The Animation Is Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize. It was also selected as the runner-up for Best Animated Film by both the Los Angeles and Boston Film Critics groups.

Although the Spanish director was enamored with the graphic novel when he read it in 2010, he didn’t consider turning it into an animated feature until after making two live-action films,...

The pioneering French-Iranian producer and sales agent leaves behind a long-lasting legacy

Pioneering producer and celebrated Celluloid Dreams founder Hengameh Panahi died on November 5 following a long illness, sending shockwaves of sadness throughout the international film community and leaving a long-lasting legacy of both championing auteur cinema and shaking up the status quo in her wake.

The revered French-Iranian industry executive was known for finding and following emerging directors and accompanying their films to festival glory and international acclaim. Her career spanned four decades and more than 800 films.

She worked alongside iconic directors from across the globe including Jacques Audiard,...

One of the biggest blockbuster hits of 2003 was the Pixar animated feature “Finding Nemo,” featuring the voice talents of Albert Brooks and Ellen Degeneres, and directed by Andrew Stanton. It was Pixar’s fifth feature following “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “Monsters, Inc.” Released two decades ago on May 30, 2003, “Finding Nemo” was a box office smash, making $70 million its opening weekend in the United States and eventually reaching $380 million nationwide and $941 million worldwide. Read on for our celebration of the “Finding Nemo” 20th anniversary.

Most of the nation’s critics loved the film, including Moira MacDonald in Seattle Times, who said it’s “enchanting; written with an effortless blend of sweetness and silliness, and animated with such rainbow-hued beauty, you may find yourself wanting to freeze-frame it.” And Lou Lemenick in New York Post called it “a dazzling, computer-animated fish tale with a funny, touching script...

Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including David Easteal’s The Plains (one of the best films we saw on the festival circuit last year), Christophe Honoré’s Winter Boy, Koji Fukada’s 10-part series The Real Thing, Bruce Labruce’s Saint-Narcisse, and more.

Additional highlights include three films by Joan Micklin Silver, additions to their Lars von Trier series, Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville, Sally Potter’s Orlando, Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms, and more.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

April 1 – Henry Fool, directed by Hal Hartley

April 2 – Waltz with Bashir, directed by Ari Folman

April 3 – The All-Round Reduced Personality – Redupers, directed by Helke Sander | What Sets Us Free? German Feminist Cinema

April 4 – Saint-Narcisse, directed by Bruce Labruce

April 5 – Jaime Francisco, directed by Javier Rodríguez | Brief Encounters

April 6 – Hester Street, directed by Joan Micklin...

Animation is a medium of movement. Shapes, lines, light, and colors come to life. Filmmakers constantly find new ways to move those elements on-screen in the hopes they will move you. The technology has evolved exponentially since "Humorous Phases of Faces," the first publicly known animation, debuted in 1906. Innovations have transformed how animators draw, paint, photograph, render, and edit their films. New generations have transformed how animators utilize the medium to express themselves.

Animation is the freest form of expression in cinema. Live-action filmmakers are limited by their technology, while animators can draw anything that comes to mind. That freedom allows filmmakers to explore difficult subjects while keeping them approachable and accessible to children and adults. They can be about the nearing of death, fear of loneliness, overcoming depression, violent revolution, and the creation of Earth. We put together a list of 14 movies that used innovative styles and technology to...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in North America, Latin America, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Israel, India and Italy, and aboard airlines and ships worldwide, to the animated film The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol, from writer-director Sylvain Chomet. The deal for Chomet’s English-language feature follows SPC’s distribution of his past films The Triplets of Belleville and The Illusionist.

The latest film from the four-time Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner is set in 1955 follows 60-year-old Marcel Pagnol—one of the most prolific artists of the 20th century. An author with 150 million books sold worldwide and translated into more than 50 languages, Pagnol was also a well-known and acclaimed playwright and filmmaker prior to his passing in 1974.

When the editor-in-chief of Elle Magazine commissions a weekly column about the acclaimed playwright and filmmaker’s childhood, he sees this as a great opportunity to go back to his artistic roots: writing.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Sylvain Chomet’s “The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol,” an animated feature about the life of the legendary author Marcel Pagnol.

Chomet is the BAFTA-winning, four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker of “The Triplets of Belleville” and “The Illusionist” which were both distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

The deal covers all rights for North America, Latin America, Scandinavia, Middle East, Israel, India, Italy, and

worldwide airlines and ships at sea in all languages.

“‘The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol’ completes the animated feature film trilogy started with ‘The Triplets of Belleville’ and ‘The Illusionist’ (both enormous successes and evergreen titles for Sony Pictures Classics),” said SPC.

“Sylvain Chomet is one of the great masters of animation in the world. It is a pleasure and privilege to be back in business with Sylvain and to expand Sylvain’s audience wider than ever,” added the company.

A modern fable, the...

A feature film sequel to the animated French family hit “Ernest & Celestine” is coming soon, and Studiocanal has revealed a first look at the film along with new details ahead of launching worldwide sales on the movie.

“Ernest & Celestine 2: A Trip to Gibberitia” is a sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2012 film, which picked up six Annie Award nominations and won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Though the sequel was first announced as far back as 2017 in France, with production beginning in May 2020, the film is finally close to completion, and Studiocanal plans to release it in France on December 14, 2022.

The distributor will also be launching worldwide sales on the title at the European Film Market.

The original film is based on a series of books and tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a bear named Ernest and a mouse named Celestine, who go on the...

Netflix’s “The Summit of the Gods” (opening November 24 in select theaters and streaming November 30) accomplishes something new and immersive in 2D animation: the beauty, excitement, and danger of scaling Mount Everest. However, for French director Patrick Imbert (“The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales”), this was not about soaring new heights in animation, but exploring the obsession with mountain climbing.

“You use the tools that you bring with telling a movie story,” said Imbert, a former animation supervisor who teamed up with producers Didier Brunner, Damien Brunner, Jean-Charles Ostorero (who co-scripted), and Stéphan Roelants. “And that’s why we use image, sound design, and music [by Amine Bouhafa] to create something that doesn’t exist outside. Of course, I know and love some animation a lot, but most of my influences are live-action movies. For example, [Stanley] Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon.’ One thing I learned is that many different things happen to that character,...

Rich Ting (“Warrior”), Darren Barnet (“Never Have I Ever”) and Keiko Agena (“Better Call Saul”) have been tapped to lead the voice cast for the English-language dub of Netflix’s “The Summit of the Gods,” from César award-winning filmmaker Patrick Imbert.

Based on the acclaimed manga by Jirô Taniguchi and the novel by Baku Yumemakura, “The Summit of the Gods” poses the question, “Were George Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine the first men to scale Everest on June 8th, 1924? Only the little Vestpocket Kodak camera they took with them might reveal the truth.”

“The Summit of the Gods” picks up in Kathmandu, 70 years after Mallory and Irvine’s journey, when a young Japanese reporter named Fukamachi Makoto (Barnet) recognizes the camera in the hands of the mysterious Habu Joji (Ting), an outcast climber believed missing for years. As the plot progresses, Fukamachi enters a world of obsessive mountaineers on...

With awards season fast approaching, it’s looking like this could be the year animation awards finally grow up. With Sundance winner “Flee” earning early buzz, there’s clearly a growing appetite for more mature animated fare in the U.S. Entering into the fray this year is “The Summit of the Gods,” a sweeping 2D animation from French director Patrick Imbert. Adapted from the acclaimed manga series of the same name, “The Summit of the Gods” follows a Japanese adventure photographer and mountaineer obsessed with finding a legendary climber attempting to scale Mount Everest. IndieWire is proud to premiere the trailer exclusively below.

Here’s the official synopsis, per Netflix: “Were George Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine the first men to scale Everest on June 8, 1924? Only the little Vestpocket Kodak camera they took with them might reveal the truth. In Kathmandu, 70 years later, a young Japanese reporter...

Exclusive: Netflix has taken worldwide rights to animated feature The Summit Of The Gods (Le Sommet Des Dieux). Based on Jiro Taniguchi and Baku Yumemakura’s best selling manga, the movie debuted in the Cinema de la Plage section at the Cannes Film Festival this past July. Netflix is planning a theatrical release in select U.S. theaters on November 24, followed by select cinemas in the UK on November 26 and will put it on the streaming service on November 30.

Patrick Imbert (The Big Bad Fox And Other Tales) directs the film that poses the question: Were George Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine the first men to scale Everest on June 8, 1924? And sets in motion a quest for the truth.

The synopsis tells us that only the little Kodak camera Mallory and Irvine took with them might reveal the real story. Seventy years after their feat,...

The Israeli director Ari Folman rose to international fame at Cannes, where his feted Waltz With Bashir was a rare animated film that competed for the Palme d’Or. Its daring use of rotoscope imagery to explore trauma in the Lebanon War might have led to assume something equally provocative in exploring the horrors of the Holocaust.

Where is Anne Frank, however, premieres out of competition and, although led with good intentions, it is a film laden with heavy-handed storytelling and a tendency to didacticism that would make Brecht blush. It may be a film for children, and one that tries to sincerely link the darkest moments of history with current political issues for a younger generation, but Folman, the child of Auschwitz survivors, makes some big missteps.

The opening frames show a rainy near future Amsterdam, with a line of tourists waiting for entry to the Anne Frank Museum...

€8.5m feature animation revolves around a real-life fox terrier that went to North Pole on 1920s expedition.

Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for the upcoming Norwegian animation feature Titina inspired by the real-life story of a fox terrier that accompanied her master on a 1920s expedition to the North Pole in an air balloon.

It is lead produced by Oslo-based production house Mikrofilm in co-production with Belgium’s Vivi Film.

Both companies have Oscar track records. Mikrofilm clinched a nomination for the short 2015 work Me And My Moulton. Vivi Film was a partner on 2003 best feature animation nominee The Triplets of Belleville,...

€8.5m feature animation revolves around a real-life fox terrier that went to North Pole on 1920s expedition.

Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for the upcoming Norwegian animation feature Titina inspired by the real-life story of a fox terrier that accompanied her master on a 1920s expedition to the North Pole in an air balloon.

It is lead produced by Oslo-based production house Mikrofilm in co-production with Belgium’s Vivi Film.

Both companies have Oscar track records. Mikrofilm clinched a nomination for the short 2015 work Me And My Moulton. Vivi Film was a partner on 2003 best feature animation nominee The Triplets of Belleville,...

First image from Sylvain Chomet for his vast project on Marcel Pagnol revealed at Annecy Festival of Animation Photo: Annecy Film Festival

A long cherished project by Sylvain Chomet, the film-maker who shot to prominence with The Triplets Of Belleville as well as the Scottish-set The Illusionist, has been unveiled with a teaser clip at the Annecy Festival of Animation.

Described by showbiz Bible Variety as “a modern fable,” the biopic will chart the life of Marcel Pagnol, the legendary French novelist, playwright and film director who grew up in Marseille and whose fabled Provence set trilogy Marius, Fanny And César, and other classics, were set in the region.

Sylvain Chomet receiving his honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh during his sojourn in Scotland to make The Illusionist Photo: Dawn Marie Jones / French Film Festival UK

Pagnol was prolific during the Thirties and Fifties. His books have sold 150 million...

Sylvain Chomet, the BAFTA-winning, four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker of “The Triplets of Belleville” and “The Illusionist,” has partnered up with Mediawan’s On Kids & Family on his next directorial outing, “The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol.”

The ambitious film is being co-developed and produced by What The Prod, the outfit created and headed by Ashargin Poiré and Valérie Puech, with veteran animation producer Aton Soumache at On Kids & Family. The project is being presented at Annecy Film Festival with a well-polished, English-speaking teaser.

A modern fable, the animated biopic will chart the epic life of Pagnol, a celebrated French novelist, playwright and filmmaker who grew up in a middle-class household in Marseille and became one of the world’s most inventive and prolific artists from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. Throughout his long career, Pagnol’s books were translated into more than 50 languages and sold more than 150 million units. Pagnol also...

Didier Brunner – producer of “The Triplets of Belleville,” “The Secret of Kells” and “Ernest and Celestine” – is readying his next production, ’Prends Garde à toi!,’ an adaptation of the ‘Carmen’ story led by one of France’s freest creative spirits: Sébastien Laudenbach.

Laudenbach’s feature debut, “The Girl Without Hands,” an adaptation of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, was acquired by Gkids for North American distribution. It also took Annecy’s 2016 Jury Prize. He is now directing his second animated feature, “Chicken for Linda!”

“Prends Garde à toi!” is inspired by both Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella and Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera, the title (literally “Beware!”) being a famous repeated warning from Carmen’s entrance aria in the opera.

Laudenbach’s third feature, the 2D animated feature is set up at Paris-based Folivari, the production company founded by Didier and son Damien Brunner in 2014, which has seen rapid success with 26-part...

France’s Dandelooo, best known for International Emmy winner “The Treehouse Stories,” and Belgium’s Vivi Film, whose credits include Oscar nominated films “The Triplets of Belleville” and “The Secret of Kells,” have partnered to co-produce and co-finance the animated series “The Upside Down River.”

Dandelooo’s animation studio Ooolala will produce the 2D animation in co-operation with Canal Plus Family, written by Jean Regnaud (“Ernest & Celestine”) and Marie de Banville (“Tobie Lolness”), and directed by Paul Leluc. The series, targeted at 8 to 12-year olds, will start production at the end of this year. Delivery is set for mid 2023, with Dandelooo responsible for worldwide distribution.

“The Upside Down River” is adapted from the children’s novel “La rivière à l’envers” by leading French children’s author Jean Claude Mourlevat, winner of the 2021 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s biggest prize for children’s literature.

Published by Editis Group,...

Barry Sonnenfeld is set to make his first animated feature film with Perestroika in Paris, an adaptation of the Jane Smiley book of the same name. Legendary producer Frank Marshall will produce the movie via the Kennedy/Marshall Company, and the plan is to create a 2D animated film reminiscent of the animated comedy The Triplets of Belleville. The […]

The post ‘Perestroika in Paris’: Barry Sonnenfeld Will Direct 2D Animated Movie appeared first on /Film.

Video Version of this Article Photo/Video: The Triplets of Belleville/Hollywood Insider YouTube Channel Prior to the modern age of microphones and monologues, silent filmmakers pioneered the art form of Cinema with an emphasis on heightened body language and facial expression. Before the 1920s, it was common to depict an entire cosmos of emotional narrative from facial gestures and movement alone. As presented in the animation ‘The Triplets of Belleville’, little to no dialogue is actually needed to deeply move the audience or to illustrate a powerfully impactful story. While its premise is mostly comedic, within the film lies a tragic darkness--distilled only by the heroic gestures of righteousness, kindness, and love. Related article: Pixar Drawing Tutorials: The Animation Studio Uses YouTube to Tackle Self-Isolation Related article: Top 10 Family Guy Characters | Who Makes The Cut? Meg Griffin, Peter Griffin, Stewie, Quagmire? Most of the narrative is conveyed through pantomime and song,...

With “The Summit of the Gods” shaping up as one of the major draws of this year’s online Annecy Work in Progress section, Didier and Damien Brunner’s Paris-based Folivari is teaming with France’s Gaumont on a second signature animated feature, “The Nazis, My Father and Me.”

Putting its large weight behind the title, Gaumont will co-produce, distribute in France and handle world sales on the coming of age action-thriller set in October 1941 New York City, just weeks before the U.S. finally entered WWII.

News of the Gaumont deal comes as Folvari has moved into production on animated feature “Ernest and Celestine: A Journey in Charabia,” the sequel to the Oscar-nominated original.

For French animation, such moves are signs of the times. With Gaumont on board for “The Nazis, My Father and Me,” Folivari is now working with some of the highest-profile and weightiest film-tv companies in France.

In Netflix’s Oscar hopeful for best animated film, “I Lost My Body,” which premieres on the streaming service November 29, a resourceful and determined severed hand escapes a medical lab and ends up fending off rats, dogs, ants, pigeons and other dangers while in pursuit of its rightful owner. Echoes of Oliver Stone‘s 1981 awful horror story “The Hand” resounded in my head initially as I watched this appendage scoot along Parisian streets and flop down an escalator inside of a discarded can of ravioli. But this is a more surreal and imaginative take on such a pursuit, one that is tied to the story of an awkward young man who is desperately trying to make a life for himself while reflecting upon his boyhood with his loving parents in flashback passages that are shown in black and white.

The French-language film is directed by Jeremy Clapin, who co-adapted the...

Titina is the feature-length debut of Kajsa Næss.

Paris-based Les Films du Losange has boarded world sales and French distribution on Norwegian animation project Titina, which is lead produced by Oslo-based production house Mikrofilm.

The film revolves around the adventures of a real-life fox terrier called Titina, who gained celebrity status in the 1920s when she accompanied her master, the Italian aeronautic engineer Umberto Nobile, and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen on an expedition to conquer the North pole in an airship.

The adventure will be retold through her eyes as she becomes the first and last fox terrier to visit the North Pole,...

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,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

A Burning Hot Summer (Philippe Garrel)

What makes Philippe Garrel’s films so distinct is their blend of autobiographical pain and silent-film mise-en-scène–a failed relationship or revolution rendered not so much through the increasingly dialogue-heavy scripts of his films, but the placement of bodies, gestures, and, furthermore, the dreams that contain and emerge from them. Yet while A Burning Hot Summer may be the only film he’s made in the 21st century not shot in black-and-white, once the senior Maurice Garrel (in his final role) appears as an apparition in his grandson’s hospital bed-bound vision, the personal and the fantastical have formed their most natural relationship.

(Welcome to Pop Culture Imports, a column that compiles the best foreign movies and TV streaming right now.) This week’s Pop Culture Imports is filled with classics, old and new. That includes Jackie Chan’s beloved martial arts classic series Police Story, Sylvain Chomet’s award-winning animated film The Triplets of Belleville, and the new anime classic Attack on Titan. Joining […]

The post Pop Culture Imports: ‘Police Story,’ ‘The Triplets of Belleville,’ ‘Attack on Titan,’ And More appeared first on /Film.

Annecy — Three European animation powerhouses – Didier and Damien Brunner’s Folivari, Canal Plus and Studiocanal – are linking to develop “The Baker Street Four,” a premium tween/family animation series marking a striking spin off from the Sherlock Holmes franchise.

“My Life as a Zucchini” French producer Blue Spirit will serve as the animation studio, as on the Didier Brunner-produced 1998’s Kirikou movie, hit TV series “The Long Long Holiday” and on Brunner’s Academy Award-nominated animated features “The Secret of Kells,” “The Triplets of Belleville,” and “Ernest & Celestine.”

News of the Folivari-Studiocanal-Canal Plus development pact comes as Folivari has unveiled that a third season of TV series “Samsam” is now in the works, further producers on “The Nazis, My Father and Me,” a new projects: “The Seven Dwarf Bears.”

With Everest epic “The Summit of the Gods” now in production, the new titles mark in general a move...

Writer-director Juan Antin worked for 14 years to make “Pachamama,” which tells the tale of a young boy growing up in the Andes in the time of the Incas and the Spanish explorers, and now the animated film will be seen by a global audience when it debuts on Netflix on Friday, June 7.

“The idea came one day when I was at a festival in Cuba presenting my first film, ‘Mercano the Martian,'” explains Antin. “I was staring at the sea and I had a vision. I imagined all those ships coming in from Europe and Spain 500 years ago. I said, ‘Wow, I can imagine how the indigenous people saw these men arrive and thought they were gods.’ I started to imagine the different points of view that each one has of the other and thought it would be a good idea for a film.”

“Pachamama,” which had its world...

Suggesting once more that audiences are underserved by high-quality independent animation, Studiocanal has closed multiple major territories to “Samsam,” the latest movie from Folivari, headed by Didier Brunner whose producer credits include the Academy Award nominated “The Old Lady and the Pidgeons,” “The Triplets of Belleville,” “The Secret of Kells” and “Ernest & Celestine.”

A departure for Folivari – it’s first full 3D feature, and a pre-school sci-fi adventure – as the company, run by Didier Brunner and Damien Brunner explores ever more upscale TV and talent from outside France and multifarious combinations 2D and 3D animation, without sacrificing its auteur-empowering philosophy and striving fir artistic excellence, the Folivari-Studiocanal co-production has closed licensing deals for China, in a banner deal with Wingsight, South Korea (Joy N Cinema), Scandinavia (Svensk) and Cis and the Baltic states (Volga).

In further deals, also often with frequent Studiocanal partners, Studiocanal has pre-sold Switzerland, a country...

Netflix has acquired Juan Antin’s Cesar-nominated animated feature “Pachamama,” the streaming giant announced Thursday. The film competes in the best animated film category at the upcoming 44thCesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, which will be presented Feb. 22 in Paris.

A hybrid animation adventure film about a mischievous young boy, living in a remote village in the Andes Mountains, who dreams of becoming a shaman, “Pachamama” will debut on Netflix in June.

“‘Pachamama’ has been a very long journey, guided by a message that came like an echo from ancient times – a message of love, respect and gratitude to our cherished Earth. Thanks to Netflix, I am thrilled to share this awe-inspiring story with a global audience,” said Antin.

A co-production between France, Luxembourg and Canada, “Pachamama” was directed by Antin, who also co-wrote with Olivier de Bannes, Patricia Valeix and Nathalie Hertzberg. It is produced by Oscar-nominee...

Premiere set for January 29 in Park City.

The filmmakers on Sundance-bound documentary Gaza have brought on Cinetic Media to handle Us sales in association with Filmoption International, who will oversee international sales and distribute in Canada.

Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell directed the portrait of Palestinians attempting to live meaningful lives amid ongoing conflict in one of the Middle East’s most combustible regions. Last week a Palestinian woman was shot dead during protests on the border fences.

Gaza will receive its world premiere in World Cinema Documentary Competition in Park City on January 29. The co-production between Ireland’s Real Films...

It took 14 years after the smash success of “The Incredibles” for the sequel to appear but the wait was worth it. This continuation of the story was well-received by both critics (93 at Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences ($1.1 billion and counting). Can it parlay this success into an Oscar for Best Animated Feature?

The original film did just that, winning a tight race against “Shrek 2,” the sequel to the film that had won this award in its inaugural year (2001), and the box office smash “Shark Tale.” The latter was a surprise nominee, given that it merited a mere 35 score at Rotten Tomatoes. But it boasted an all-star voice cast including Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellweger and Martin Scorsese. And it’s jukebox musical style made it one of the catchiest flicks of the year.

“Shrek 2” hit theaters just two years after the original film won the...

Forty-four were invited to join the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, including Kendrick Lamar, whose contributions to the “Black Panther” soundtrack are riding high on the album charts; songwriter Melissa Etheridge, who won an Oscar for her song for “An Inconvenient Truth”; and recent Oscar nominees Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka (“Lion”), Sufjan Stevens (“Call Me By Your Name”), Carlinhos Brown (“Rio”) and Benoit Charest (“The Triplets of Belleville”).

Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, whose work with Prince catapulted them into the limelight and who have gone on to do films (“Dangerous Minds”) and considerable television, were also invited, as were composers Jeff Beal, Fil Eisler and Sharon Farber, whose best-known feature-film credits are in the documentary arena.

Classical composers Osvaldo Golijov and Joanna Bruzdowicz are on the list, as are other composers from England and the Continent: Daniel Pemberton (“Steve Jobs”), Eric Serra (“The Fifth Element...

This weekend sees the release of “Hearts Beat Loud,” a winsome new indie about a father (Nick Offerman) and a daughter (Kiersey Clemons) who unexpectedly form a band together during the summer before the kid goes off to college. Riding a poppy, heartfelt soundtrack by Keegan DeWitt (whose songs are brought to life by the actors who sing them), “Hearts Beat Loud” is a nice reminder that movies are a peerlessly effective mechanism for bringing new music into our lives.

With that in mind, here are our picks for the 10 best original songs from the movies of the 21st century.

10. “Montage” (from “Swiss Army Man”)

Pop-pop-corn pop-pop-corn pop-pop-corn pop-pop-corn

pop-pop-corn! pop-pop-corn! pop-pop-corn! pop-pop-corn!

It’s already stuck in your head. This self-referential ear worm — the highlight of the exquisitely strange soundtrack that Manchester Orchestra wrote for Daniels’ exquisitely strange first movie — is dropped right into the middle of “Swiss Army Man,...

Charades, the year-old French sales company which has three movies playing at Cannes, has come on board to handle international sales on “My Family and the Wolf,” a fantasy-adventure feature to be directed by Adrià Garcia (“Nocturna”).

Mixing live action with bits of CGI animation, “My Family and the Wolf” is being produced by Folivari, the company headed by Didier Brunner, whose credits include such well-known French animated films as “Kirikou,” “Ernest & Célestine” and “The Triplets of Belleville.”

Nectarious Films, La Compagnie Cinématographique and Panache Productions are also producing. Apollo Films is co-producing and will release “My Family and the Wolf” in France. The feature was developed by Headless, a Barcelona-based label bringing together the animation trio Garcia, Alfredo Torres and Victor Maldonado.

Famed Spanish actress Carmen Maura (“Volver”) is set to star in the film, which follows 9-year-old Hugo, who embarks on a journey to protect his ill...

The jury’s still out on whether being a Best Picture nominee gives you an advantage in Best Original Song, but surely being a Best Animated Feature nominee is a huge plus, right? Technically yes, but it’s definitely not a sure thing to win both. “Coco” sits atop our latest predictions in both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Remember Me,” and if the Disney/Pixar film indeed goes two-for-two, it would only be the third time that the two categories went to the same film.

That might sound startling because so many catchy movie anthems have hailed from animated films, specifically Disney films. But the Best Animated Feature category was only added in 2001, right after Disney ruled Best Original Song in the ‘90s — five of the decade’s song winners were from animated Disney films; a sixth, “When You Believe,” was from DreamWorks’ “The Prince of Egypt...

Flanders funding organisation will invest €750,000 in a feature film every year.

In a move which could provide a major boost to long form animation in the Flemish region, The Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) is to set aside €750,000 ($793,000) each year to invest in a single majority-produced animated feature.

In an interview with Screen, Pierre Drouot, director of the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (Vaf), explained the thinking behind the intervention. The aim, Drouot said, was to guarantee at least one animated feature a year for which “the content and the IP was in the hands of the Flanders sector”.

“Animation is a sector that we want to develop even more in the future,” the Vaf boss said.

Flemish animation producers have been involved as minority partners in several award winning features in recent years, among them The Triplets Of Belleville, The Secret Of Kells and A Cat In Paris (all Oscar nominated). The aim now is to give Flemish animators...