First Look: Grammy Winner Cecile McLorin Salvant’s Dazzling Musical ‘Ogresse,’ Backed by Claude Barras, Miyu (EXCLUSIVE)
Stop-motion maestro Claude Barras (“My Life as a Zucchini,” “Savages!”) will back “Ogresse,” a tragicomic musical directed by three-time Grammy winner Cecile McLorin Salvant and Belgian animator Lia Bertels.
Variety can share this first look.
More from Variety
Led by Miyu Productions – the studio behind last year’s Annecy Animation Festival top-winner “Chicken For Linda!” – the upcoming project adapts a stage show vocalist and MacArthur fellow Cecile McLorin Salvant has toured since 2019, marrying Salvant’s jazz stylings with 2D animation from Bertels and stop-motion interludes overseen by Barras’ Lausanne-based Helium Films.
Belgium’s Umedia (“How to Have Sex,” “The Taste of Things”) and Luxemburg’s Melusine Productions (“The Swallows of Kabul”) will co-produce alongside John Carlin, with French distributor KMBO handling the domestic release.
The so-called murder ballad set to a jazz tempo will hit bittersweet tones as it follows a forest-dwelling ogress, ostracized because of her physical difference and pursued by a young hunter determined to claim her heart in either love or combat. The project draws from musical standards and Haitian folklore as it explores toxic romance and questions of belonging through song.
Now heading into production, the title has already emerged as a significant buzz driver, claiming two prizes at last year’s Mifa pitch session and dazzling attendees at the most recent Cartoon Movie co-production forum this past March.
“I’ve always admired Lia Bertels’ graphic style and I was blown away by Cécile McLorin Salvant’s stage show that I saw this spring,” Barras tells Variety. “Here is a modern, feminist folktale that explores deeply personal themes entirely through music. It’s like nothing I’d seen before, and I loved that. This is really something special.”
“This is an extraordinary project with great poetic and political power, demonstrating once again just how much animation can bring to contemporary storytelling,” add Emmanuel-Alain Raynal and Pierre Baussaron of Miyu. “We’re thrilled to bring together such a talented co-production team with studios like Melusine and Helium. What’s more, working with a prestigious partner like KMBO promises to help this unique work connect with the widest possible audience.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
