FIAF’s Animation First 2020 Lineup Announced
Skwigly
Celebrating France’s rich tradition as a pioneer of animation, Animation First showcases the vast history, enduring ingenuity, and diversity of France’s renowned animation studios and schools. Animation First opens with the US Premiere of The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily (2019) by noted illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti on Friday, February 7. This adaptation of the beloved 1945 Italian children’s book by Dino Buzzati marks the debut feature film by Mattotti, who is known for his celebrated New Yorker covers and graphic novels.
The Festival continues on Saturday, February 8, with the US Premiere of The Prince’s Voyage, the most recent film by legendary director Jean-François Laguionie, this year’s guest of honor, as well as his Louise by the Shore (2016). Laguionie is one of the most important contemporary animation filmmakers, and he has been fittingly celebrated with awards, retrospectives, exhibitions, and restorations of his early works.
Building on its legacy of sharing sneak peaks of anticipated works and insider looks at noteworthy projects, Animation First will offer fascinating insights across several revealing programs. On Saturday, Feb. 9th, Benjamin Massoubre, editor of the award-winning I Lost My Body (a contender for this year’s Academy Award® Best Animated Feature race), will give a behind-the-scenes presentation into the creation of this film, following a free screening of the feature.
The festival also shines a spotlight on women in animation. On Saturday, Feb. 8th, directors Phuong Mai Nguyen and Charlotte Cambon de Lavalette will discuss the process of adapting Penelope Bagieu’s best-selling graphic novel Brazen, highlighting the lives of 30 extraordinary women. On Sunday, Feb. 9th, Cambon de Lavalette and Nguyen will be joined by director Anca Damian, writer Anik Leray, and producer Valérie Schermann for a Women in Animation panel covering equal representation in the industry. A special presentation of the critically hailed movie The Swallows of Kabul , the debut film from Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, anchors Saturday, Feb. 8th’s program. The NY Premiere of Anca Damian’s Marona’s Fantastic Tale, nominated for Best Feature at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, is one of Sunday, Feb. 9th highlights.
This special Closing-Night Program will celebrate some of the best short animated films from the past year. On January 29, the César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, will announce its 2020 nominees. Animation First will screen all the finalists in the Best Animated Short category, alongside other notable films, including “The Magnificent Cake!” (Winner, 2018 Toronto International Film Festival), “Memorable” (short list, 2020 Academy Awards), and “I’m Going Out for Cigarettes” (nominee, 2020 Annie Awards). This is a rare opportunity for US audiences to see these acclaimed works on the big screen.
And around town, Animation First partners with the New York Institute of Technology to present the US premiere of Notre Dame de Paris, The Age of the Builders, on Monday, February 10. This timely look at the grand cathedral’s 850-year history, leading up to the tragic fire on April 16, 2019, will be followed by a Q&A with director Emmanuel Blanchard and motion-capture specialist Jean-François Szlapka.