Of the 68 films (as of this writing) that will screen at the Cannes Film Festival this month, three of them are animated. All three films are being presented as special screenings, thus won’t be competing for an award.
Nevertheless, premiering at Cannes, even as a special screening, is a prestigious accomplishment and it bodes well for the future prospects of all three films.
The three films are Arco (France, 82 minutes) by Ugo Bienvenu, A Magnificent Life (France/Luxembourg/Belgium, 90 minutes) by Sylvain Chomet, and Amélie et la Métaphysique des tubes (Little Amélie or the Character of Rain) (France, 77 minutes) by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han. Notably, all three films have also been selected to screen in competition next month at the Annecy festival.
There’s an especially good reason for awards watchers to pay close attention to these titles as potential year-end Oscar contenders. The Cannes-to-Annecy route was the path that Flow went down last year, and it took that film from being a little-known European co-production to one of the most critically acclaimed animated features of the decade. The film capped off its illustrious list of accomplishments (César Award, European Film Award, Golden Globe) with an Oscar win a couple months ago.
There are other reasons to focus on these films. All three are primarily hand-drawn 2d films, a technique that has been overlooked by AMPAS voters in recent years. Only four 2d films have earned Academy Award nominations in the last five years; stop-motion animation, which is even more of a niche technique, has five nominations in that same period. We’re long overdue for some genuine 2d recognition at the Oscars – and with the major U.S. theatrical studios having a relatively quiet year on the cg front, this has the potential to be a banner year for hand-drawn filmmaking. Besides these three titles, there are other promising 2d contenders on the way including Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed and Kenji Iwaisawa’s 100 Meters.
The fantasy film Arco, which is set in the year 2932 and involves rainbow time machines, is backed by Natalie Portman, who has not only joined the film’s English voice cast but is also producing under her banner MountainA. If Portman becomes involved with the film’s promotion as Angelina Jolie did with The Breadwinner, it would greatly improve the film’s year-end award possibilities. Arco has not announced U.S. distribution at this point, but don’t be surprised to see an announcement out of Cannes.
Then there’s A Magnificent Life from Sylvain Chomet, who has already been nominated for the Oscar multiple times — for his contemporary classic The Triplets of Belleville as well as The Illusionist. Chomet is considered one of animation’s top auteur filmmakers, so if the film achieves the standard that is expected from him, expect more accolades. The film has already been acquired for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.
The underdog among these films, if a film premiering at Cannes can ever be called an underdog, is Amélie et la Métaphysique des tubes.. Adapted from an autobiographical novel by Amélie Nothomb, this is the synopsis:
Amélie is a little Belgian girl born in Japan. Thanks to Nishio san, her nanny, the world is all about adventure and discovery! But on the day she turns three, an event changes the course of her life. Because at this age, for Amélie, everything is played out, happiness as well as tragedy…
It is the only one of the three that has already released a trailer and it looks stunning. Both directors are respected industry artists who are transitioning to the director’s seat for the first time; Han is a respected veteran who played a key role as animation director and other positions on Remi Chaye’s film Long Way North and Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary. Little Amélie will release in French theaters on June 25; no U.S. distributor has been named.
