Catalan Titles Set to Impress at Annecy 2024
Catalan animation is in a fantastic place and at this year’s Annecy Festival, the region will demonstrate its vitality to the whole world with an impressive lineup of films and projects selected in major sections.
Featuring in this year’s main competition lineup, Maria Trenor’s rock and roll musical “Rock Bottom” is a psychedelic trip inspired by the life and music of U.K. artist Robert Wyatt.
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One of the most topical films to come out of Catalonia in recent years, “Black Butterflies,” is an animated documentary about three women from very different parts of the world whose lives are dramatically impacted by climate change. The film is directed by David Baute and produced by Ikiru Films, Televisió de Catalunya, Tinglado Film, Anangu Grup and Tunche Films.
Screening in this year’s non-competitive Annecy Presents section, “Buffalo Kids” is a CG family feature produced by Jordi Gasull’s Barcelona and Madrid-based 4Cats Pictures along with Atresmedia Cine, Anangu Grup and Mogambo Entertainment. Beverly Cinema Management Group recently closed a raft of sales deals for the film in key territories.
The Catalan-Portugal co-production “The Doctor’s Wife,” a short film by director Bruno Simoes, will screen in this year’s Tribute to Portuguese Animation – A New Generation. It’s produced by Barcelona’s Studio Kimchi and Lisbon’s Animanostra.
MIFA, Annecy’s hugely important networking market, will spotlight two Catalan projects currently in development, “Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake” and “Caramel’s World.”
“Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake” is the first-ever stop-motion animated feature to be produced in Catalonia. Directed by Irene Iborra Rizo, the film tells the story of a girl and her family who are evicted from their home. It’s pitching at the Annecy’s Works-in-Progress section. Producers include Cornelius Films, Citoplasmas, Panique!, Bigaro Films and Vivement Lundi.
Award-winning Spanish filmmaker Salvador Simó (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles,” “Dragonkeeper”) will host an early look at his feature project “Caramel’s World,” a story about a childhood friendship between a child and a camel in a Saharan refugee camp. The project, produced by Koniec Films, Signatia, Les Films du Cygne, is part of this year’s MIFA Pitches.
“Catwalk,” a project from Catalan filmmakers Lidia Luna, Toni Mortero and Omayra Gonzàlez, will feature in a panel about technology in animation as part of the Next Film Lab Generation presentation.
Two Catalan projects will feature in this year’s Women in Animation From Spain Pitches: Sílvia Cortés’ “Jasmine & Jambo” (Teidees Audiovisual) and Angie Cornejo’s ” Wixi Against the Binary Lens” (Mil Monos Cine).
Catalan companies attending this year’s Annecy and MIFA include 3 Bessones AIE, 4Cats Pictures, A Contracorriente Films, Alba Sotorra, Animac, Apocalipsis
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