Friendly Festivals

CFrance’s top film events come together to bring animation to the Croisette in the new Annecy Goes to Cannes showcase.

annes and Annecy have long had their respective territories when it came to hosting France’s most prestigious film events. Cannes is the definitive event for independent and global cinema — an event awash in established, up-and-coming and wannabe actors, directors and films with aspirations to art-house greatness. Annecy has done much the same for animation, its reputation for showcasing breakout films and talent having grown significantly in the past few decades.

So it only makes sense for the two to come together in a new partnership that will see Annecy present four international animated feature projects at the Cannes Film Market, giving those films exposure to a wider market in a new setting.

Here’s the scoop on the four films to be presented at the Annecy Goes to Cannes showcase, scheduled for May 16 from 10 a.m. to noon in salle Bory at the Palais des Festivals.

The Last Fiction In Production (Iran), Pooyan Mokri (Producer), Hoorakhsh Studio — www.hoorakhshstudio.com

Producer Pooyan Mokri plans to present the debut of the second trailer for the project as well as screen about 20 minutes of footage from this 2D film based on an epic poem called The Shahnameh, which tells the mythic and historical past of the Persian Empire.

The project began in 2009 and was part of the MIFA Pitches program at Annecy in 2013. More than 100 artists are working on the film, which is scheduled for release in November 2017.

Mokri says the quality of the film is high while the budget has been kept low, which should make it appealing to the international distributors and buyers attending the Market.

Funan In Preproduction (France), Denis Do (Director), Sébastien Onomo (Producer), Les Films d’Ici

Production is scheduled to begin in June on this feature, the first from director Denis Do. The film is inspired by the real story of Do’s mother and brother during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

Do says the movie is not a documentary, but he says it will not flinch from reality. “Without directly explaining all the political facts and situation during the Khmer Rouge regimes, we will dive into it,” he says. “It’s a movie about family, memories, love, fear, hatred, selfishness, hope. And, of course, it’s not very common to have such a story in animation.”

Producer Sébastien Onomo plans to present a teaser trailer, part of the animatic and images from various scenes in the movie.

He says the movie has a financing gap and would warmly welcome new partners. Arara and the Guardians of the Amazon Rainforest In Development (Colombia), Vlamyr Vizcaya (Producer), El Tuerto Pictures & Heiko Nemmert (Producer), Morro Images (Germany) Not too much is known about this in-development family comedy, a Colombia-Germany co-production.

It tells an adventure tale that follows Mujuy, an indigenous boy from the Amazon Rainforest who has three days to save his girlfriend after she is kidnapped during a shamanic ritual.

On his journey, he joins forces with animals from species in danger of extinction against the international poachers organization.

Loving Vincent In Post-production (Poland), Sean Bobbitt (Producer), Breakthru Productions

Based on the letters and paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, Loving Vincent has generated significant media attention across the globe as the world’s first feature-length painted animation after a trailer was released in March and went viral on social media.

The story is drawn from more than 800 letters writ- ten by Van Gogh himself, with visuals adapted from more than 120 of his best-known paintings — with each frame of the film painted by hand much the same way Van Gogh himself did. [

CCinema Management Group Beverly Hills, Calif.-based CMG presents a pair of new animated titles and a pair of old animated favorites at this year’s market.

CMG also will be hosting Special Animation Promo Screenings at the Lerins in Cannes: May 13 at 3:30 and 4:15 p.m. at Lerins 4; and May 14 at noon and 12:45 p.m. at Lerins 3.

Loving Vincent Also presented as part of the Annecy Goes to Cannes showcase (see page 21), Loving Vincent tells the story of artist Vincent Van Gogh through his letters and paintings. The trailer for this feature, released in March, generated worldwide media attention for being the world’s first feature-length painted animation. Mission: Kathmandu In 1955 Quebec City, an apprentice detective teams up with an anthropology research assistant to follow clues in a missing explorer’s coded diary on a mission to prove the existene of the abominable snowman.

The Little Vampire Based on Angela Sommer-Bodenburg’s best-selling series of children’s books, this feature tells the story of Rudolph, a 13-year-old vampire whose clan is threatened by a notorious vampire hunter. He meets Tony, a mortal of the same age, who helps Rudolph in an actionand humor-packed battle against their adversaries.

Ping Pong Rabbit A rural rabbit named Robb pursues his province’s biggest prize: a storied jade table awarded annually to the finest pingpong player in the land. Standing in his path is the perennial champion, a ruthless monkey who uses the jade table to amass power and wealth for himself. Riki Group This Russia-based production, distribution and licensing company is bringing its Kikoriki feature franchise to the market with two features completed and a third in production. Here are the details on this series of CG-animated, stereoscopic 3D family adventure films.

Kikoriki: Team Invincible The first film in the Kikoriki franchise, Team Invincible introduces the Kikoriki, who live peacefully in their native land, far from the civilized world. One day, they stumble upon an old TV set that gives them a glimpse of the “real world,” and they become obsessed with a show about the superhero Lucien, who bravely defends his city against the evil Caligari. Believing all this to be real, the Kikoriki decide to must help Lucien save the world. Kikoriki: Legend of the

Golden Dragon Kikoriki Island’s resident scientist invents an amazing device: a helmet called the Improverizor, which swaps personality traits from one person to another. When young Wally tries to use the untested device to cure his cowardice, he ends up body-switched with a squirmy little cate r p i l l a r. Now he has even more to fear than he could have ever imagined, and so do his fellow villagers.

Kikoriki: Deja Vu Now in production, the third Kikoriki movie focuses on Krash, who wants to throw his best buddy Barry an unforgettable birthday party and contacts the Déja Vu Agency to organize an exciting time-travel adventure. But a cataclysmic accident scatters the Kikoriki crew across time and Krash has to find and retrieve his friends through the ages with the help of his alter ego from another time and place.

SC Films International Simon Crowe’s international sales, distribution, finance and production company will be presenting the market premiere of the animated family feature Ozzy, which is set for theatrical release in Spain in October. The film will be presented May 12 at 11:30 a.m. at Arcades 3 and May 14 at 10 a.m. at Arcades 2.

SC Films also will be presenting the sci-fi action movie Winter’s Dream, May 13 at 6 p.m. at Arcades 2 and May 16 at 3:30 p.m. at Arcades 2. [