The exceptional film by the French director Florence Miailhe and scriptwriter Marie Desplechin was animated by a special technique of oil painting on glass and was a work in progress since 2012. Almost half of the work was done by Czech animators in the studio of Czech company MAUR film who produced e.g. world renowned film Daughter by Daria Kashcheeva, who, by the way, started her festival tour in Annecy.

The story is remotely inspired by the fate of the author’s family which had roots in Jewish settlements in old time Russia. In the film which takes place in the present time, we follow the adventurous and dramatic journeys of two children, Kyona and her brother Adriel, who are running from hate across half a world, and during their magic initiation journey are growing up.

„Florence managed to create on the one hand a sensitive and captivating story about growing up, which at the same time reflects in comprehensible form the fate of victims caught in the nets of fascism, the holocaust and communism. The work on this project was always a challenge, as it is our first feature length film. The team of animators led by the experienced Lucie Sunková managed to paint almost half of the whole film in less than 18 months,“ explains the producer Martin Vandas. 

The world premiere of the film will happen in Annecy on 16th June and spectators can see the film also on 17th and 19th June at festival venues.

ABOUT THE FILM

Director                                        Florence Miailhe
Script                                            Marie Desplechin, Florence Miailhe
Artistic director                           Youri Tcherenkov (CZ)
of animation     

Animators
– France (Valentine Delqueux, Marie Juin, David Martin, Aurore Peuffier, Anita Brüvere, Ewa Łuczkow, Paola de Sousa);
– Germany (Aline Helmcke, Urte Zintler, Ewa Łuczkow);
– Czech Republic (Lucie Sunková, Polina Kazak, Eva Skurská, Anna Paděrová, Zuzana Studená, Marta Szymanska).

Music                                             Philipp E. Kümpel
Directors of postproduction       Jean Delduc, Matthias Reger
Production directors                   Dominique Deluze (FR), Karsten Matern (DE), Marcela Vrátilová (CZ)
Producers                                  Les Films de l´Arlequin (FR), Balance Film (DE), MAUR film (CZ), XBO Films (FR), ARTE France Cinéma, MDR / ARTE Germany, Czech Television
Length                                           80 minutes
Animation technique                   glass hand-draw painting

The film was financially supported by national funds in three countries (including Czech Film Fund), Eurimages and Creative Europe MEDIA.

Film stills for download http://www.maurfilm.com/portfolio-items/the-crossing/