Hello again, dear readers, and I hope a lot of you have kicked off your summer movie season by seeing Captain America: Civil War. But even with all the big blockbusters coming our way, it’s good to also pay attention to smaller films. Such is the case with this week’s Trailer Trashin’ column, where I take a look at the international trailer for the French-Belgian animated film Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants.
Premise: In a peaceful little clearing, the remains of a hastily-abandoned picnic spark warfare between two tribes of ants. A bold young ladybug finds himself caught in the middle of the battle. He befriends Mandible, one of the black ants, and helps him save the anthill from the assault of the terrible red ant warriors, led by the fearful Butor.
My take: If this looks familiar to you, there’s a good reason for that.
Premise: In a peaceful little clearing, the remains of a hastily-abandoned picnic spark warfare between two tribes of ants. A bold young ladybug finds himself caught in the middle of the battle. He befriends Mandible, one of the black ants, and helps him save the anthill from the assault of the terrible red ant warriors, led by the fearful Butor.
My take: If this looks familiar to you, there’s a good reason for that.
- 5/13/2016
- by Timothy Monforton
- CinemaNerdz
Farmington-Hills based nonprofit organization kickstART farmington announced the film lineup and schedule for the 2016 Greater Farmington Film Festival earlier this month and it looks like they will be offering a great selection of films this year. The Greater Farmington Film Festival takes place March 3-6, 2016 with a selection of recently released feature films and documentaries that engage the heart and mind, explore important contemporary issues, and inspire action: good films for a better world.
You can find the full film line up and schedule for the 2016 Greater Farmington Film Festival below. Overall, the festival provides a unique opportunity for audiences to enjoy these inspiring films as none of these films have been released widely in Michigan, and several will enjoy their Michigan debut.
In addition, the Greater Farmington Film Festival invites the public to attend the 2016 Festival Preview Party on Thursday evening, February 18th, from 7:00-10:00 Pm at...
You can find the full film line up and schedule for the 2016 Greater Farmington Film Festival below. Overall, the festival provides a unique opportunity for audiences to enjoy these inspiring films as none of these films have been released widely in Michigan, and several will enjoy their Michigan debut.
In addition, the Greater Farmington Film Festival invites the public to attend the 2016 Festival Preview Party on Thursday evening, February 18th, from 7:00-10:00 Pm at...
- 2/17/2016
- by Mike Tyrkus
- CinemaNerdz
Montreal’s genre film festival to showcase 135 features and almost 300 shorts across its three-week run from July 14-Aug 4.Scroll down for line-up
Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled its full line-up for its upcoming 19th edition which kicks off next Tuesday [July 14].
Over its three-week run, the Montreal-based genre film festival will showcase 135 features, including 22 world, 13 international premieres and 21 North American premieres, and almost 300 short films.
Shinji Higuchi’s Attack on Titan will receive its Canadian premiere as the closing film of this year’s edition on Aug 4. The live-action film is based on Hajime Isyama’s steampunk fantasy war opera manga series.
Additional highlights of the final wave of titles include the world premieres of Malik Bader’s thriller Cash Only and Ken Ochiai’s Ninja the Monster, as well as the Canadian premiere of Jonathan Milott & Cary Murnion’s horror comedy Cooties starring Elijah Wood.
A trio of Sion Sono films will also be shown at this...
Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled its full line-up for its upcoming 19th edition which kicks off next Tuesday [July 14].
Over its three-week run, the Montreal-based genre film festival will showcase 135 features, including 22 world, 13 international premieres and 21 North American premieres, and almost 300 short films.
Shinji Higuchi’s Attack on Titan will receive its Canadian premiere as the closing film of this year’s edition on Aug 4. The live-action film is based on Hajime Isyama’s steampunk fantasy war opera manga series.
Additional highlights of the final wave of titles include the world premieres of Malik Bader’s thriller Cash Only and Ken Ochiai’s Ninja the Monster, as well as the Canadian premiere of Jonathan Milott & Cary Murnion’s horror comedy Cooties starring Elijah Wood.
A trio of Sion Sono films will also be shown at this...
- 7/7/2015
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
The 19th Annual Fantasia Film Festival is only a week away, beginning July 14 and running through August 4. And as promised for today, they’ve revealed their full line-up of films screening at 2015’s festival in Montreal.
This year’s line-up boasts 22 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, and 21 North American Premieres. Both Marvel’s Ant-Man and the animated Miss Hokusai were previously announced, but now they’ve added the much anticipated Attack on Titan movie as their closing night film. Other highlights include the Sundance darlings Cooties, starring Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson, Cop Car, starring Kevin Bacon and directed by the upcoming Spider-man director Jon Watts, and a trio of films from horror auteur Sion Sono.
See the full line-up announcement of films below via Fantasia’s Facebook page, and be sure to check out their website at fantasiafestival.com for additional information.
****
Fantasia 2015:
36 Countries, 135 Features, and Nearly 300 Short Films
- Including 22 World Premieres,...
This year’s line-up boasts 22 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, and 21 North American Premieres. Both Marvel’s Ant-Man and the animated Miss Hokusai were previously announced, but now they’ve added the much anticipated Attack on Titan movie as their closing night film. Other highlights include the Sundance darlings Cooties, starring Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson, Cop Car, starring Kevin Bacon and directed by the upcoming Spider-man director Jon Watts, and a trio of films from horror auteur Sion Sono.
See the full line-up announcement of films below via Fantasia’s Facebook page, and be sure to check out their website at fantasiafestival.com for additional information.
****
Fantasia 2015:
36 Countries, 135 Features, and Nearly 300 Short Films
- Including 22 World Premieres,...
- 7/7/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants, based on/built from the TV show – Minuscule – The Private Lives of Insects, is not just an animated adventure, but a kind of artistic experiment.
It’s a story told visually, with no dialog beyond the hoots and squeaks of ladybugs and ants, which makes it a challenging experiment already, but it is also an experiment of form, structure, and thematic content. It’s an effort that ultimately betrays the European sensibilities responsible for it.
A ladybug gets separated from her family, and finds herself in a lunchbox that a group of black ants are very interested in. She (just based on the “ladybug” standard) is dragged away by the ants, who are after the sugar cubes, and when some nasty red ants get involved, the adventure begins. Our ladybug has to figure out, not just the situation she’s in at the moment,...
It’s a story told visually, with no dialog beyond the hoots and squeaks of ladybugs and ants, which makes it a challenging experiment already, but it is also an experiment of form, structure, and thematic content. It’s an effort that ultimately betrays the European sensibilities responsible for it.
A ladybug gets separated from her family, and finds herself in a lunchbox that a group of black ants are very interested in. She (just based on the “ladybug” standard) is dragged away by the ants, who are after the sugar cubes, and when some nasty red ants get involved, the adventure begins. Our ladybug has to figure out, not just the situation she’s in at the moment,...
- 6/9/2015
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Film is nominated for Oscar in foreign language category. Kristen Stewart and Sean Penn also win Césars.
Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu picked up seven awards at France’s César ceremony in Paris on Friday evening (February 20), including best film and best director.
The film, inspired by the stoning to death of an unmarried couple with children by Islamists in northern Mali in 2012, has gained fresh resonance in France following the deadly attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January.
The picture also picked up awards for its screenplay, sound, editing and cinematography while celebrated Tunisian composer Amine Bouhafa clinched the César for best original score.
Timbuktu is in the running for an Oscar in the foreign language category on Sunday night, alongside Ida, Leviathan, Tangerines and Wild Tales.
Another top winner at Friday’s ceremony was Thomas Cailley’s Love At First Fight (Les Combattants), about the relationship that blooms on an army assault course. It won for...
Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu picked up seven awards at France’s César ceremony in Paris on Friday evening (February 20), including best film and best director.
The film, inspired by the stoning to death of an unmarried couple with children by Islamists in northern Mali in 2012, has gained fresh resonance in France following the deadly attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January.
The picture also picked up awards for its screenplay, sound, editing and cinematography while celebrated Tunisian composer Amine Bouhafa clinched the César for best original score.
Timbuktu is in the running for an Oscar in the foreign language category on Sunday night, alongside Ida, Leviathan, Tangerines and Wild Tales.
Another top winner at Friday’s ceremony was Thomas Cailley’s Love At First Fight (Les Combattants), about the relationship that blooms on an army assault course. It won for...
- 2/21/2015
- ScreenDaily
Update, 2:25 Am Pt: Last year’s dueling Yves Saint Laurent biopics each picked up several nominations this morning for France’s César Awards. Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent, the country’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar, leads the pack with 10 mentions, followed by Thomas Cailley’s Directors’ Fortnight title Les Combattants with nine, and Oscar nominee Timbuktu with eight. Yves Saint Laurent, from helmer Jalil Lespert, took seven nods. Otherwise, there are a number of usual suspects in the batch including Best Actress Oscar nominee Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night, as well as Juliette Binoche for Olivier Assayas’ Sils Maria. In something of a departure — and a first — for the French Académie, they nominated American actress Kristen Stewart for her supporting turn in that Cannes competition entry. (Adrien Brody won the Best Actor prize in 2003 for The Pianist.) There are also six nominations for late 2014 release La Famille Bélier.
- 1/28/2015
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Tim here. Our journey through the list of films submitted for the Best Animated Feature Oscar now takes us to France and Belgium and the utterly beguiling children’s film Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants. Cumbersome title notwithstanding, it’s a light and breezy little lark, with a simple fairy tale-esque story so elemental in its particulars – an infant ladybug separated from her parents falls in with a colony of black ants and helps them in their war against aggressive red ants - that the movie can get away without having a single word of dialogue to be found anywhere in its running time.
Writer-directors Thomas Szabo & Hélène Giraud have adapted the movie from their television series Minuscule (which I understand to be terrifically popular in places that aren’t the United States), made up of 6-minute comic shorts in which a variety of insects get into comic scrapes.
Writer-directors Thomas Szabo & Hélène Giraud have adapted the movie from their television series Minuscule (which I understand to be terrifically popular in places that aren’t the United States), made up of 6-minute comic shorts in which a variety of insects get into comic scrapes.
- 12/26/2014
- by Tim Brayton
- FilmExperience
Three titles in the running for the best animated feature at the European Film Awards.
The European Film Academy has announced the three nominations up for the European Animated Feature Film Award, set to be announced at the European Film Awards in Riga on Dec 13.
The titles include Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, written and directed by Mathias Malzieu and Stéphane Berla; Minuscule - Valley of the Ants, written and directed by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud; and The Art of Happiness, directed and co-written by Alessandro Rak.
The latter is Italian while the other two are France-Belgium co-productions.
The nominations were decides by a committee comprising Efa Board Members Marek Rozenbaum, producer (Israel) and Roberto Cicutto, producer (Italy), as well as Doris Cleven (Director Anima, Belgium), Wolfgang Spindler (journalist, Euronews, France) and Caroline Cor (production analyst, feature films department, Cnc, France), all three of them representatives of Cartoon, the European...
The European Film Academy has announced the three nominations up for the European Animated Feature Film Award, set to be announced at the European Film Awards in Riga on Dec 13.
The titles include Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, written and directed by Mathias Malzieu and Stéphane Berla; Minuscule - Valley of the Ants, written and directed by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud; and The Art of Happiness, directed and co-written by Alessandro Rak.
The latter is Italian while the other two are France-Belgium co-productions.
The nominations were decides by a committee comprising Efa Board Members Marek Rozenbaum, producer (Israel) and Roberto Cicutto, producer (Italy), as well as Doris Cleven (Director Anima, Belgium), Wolfgang Spindler (journalist, Euronews, France) and Caroline Cor (production analyst, feature films department, Cnc, France), all three of them representatives of Cartoon, the European...
- 9/22/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Three titles in the running for the best animated feature at the European Film Awards.
The European Film Academy has announced the three nominations up for the European Animated Feature Film Award, set to be announced at the European Film Awards in Riga on Dec 13.
The titles include Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, written and directed by Mathias Malzieu and Stéphane Berla; Minuscule - Valley of the Ants, written and directed by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud; and The Art of Happiness, directed and co-written by Alessandro Rak.
The latter is Italian while the other two are France-Belgium co-productions.
The nominations were decides by a committee comprising Efa Board Members Marek Rozenbaum, producer (Israel) and Roberto Cicutto, producer (Italy), as well as Doris Cleven (Director Anima, Belgium), Wolfgang Spindler (journalist, Euronews, France) and Caroline Cor (production analyst, feature films department, Cnc, France), all three of them representatives of Cartoon, the European...
The European Film Academy has announced the three nominations up for the European Animated Feature Film Award, set to be announced at the European Film Awards in Riga on Dec 13.
The titles include Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, written and directed by Mathias Malzieu and Stéphane Berla; Minuscule - Valley of the Ants, written and directed by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud; and The Art of Happiness, directed and co-written by Alessandro Rak.
The latter is Italian while the other two are France-Belgium co-productions.
The nominations were decides by a committee comprising Efa Board Members Marek Rozenbaum, producer (Israel) and Roberto Cicutto, producer (Italy), as well as Doris Cleven (Director Anima, Belgium), Wolfgang Spindler (journalist, Euronews, France) and Caroline Cor (production analyst, feature films department, Cnc, France), all three of them representatives of Cartoon, the European...
- 9/22/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Three titles in the running for the best animated feature at the European Film Awards.
The European Film Academy has announced the three nominations up for the European Animated Feature Film Award, set to be announced at the European Film Awards in Riga on Dec 13.
The titles include Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, written and directed by Mathias Malzieu and Stéphane Berla; Minuscule - Valley of the Ants, written and directed by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud; and The Art of Happiness, directed and co-written by Alessandro Rak.
The latter is Italian while the other two are France-Belgium co-productions.
The nominations were decides by a committee comprising Efa Board Members Marek Rozenbaum, producer (Israel) and Roberto Cicutto, producer (Italy), as well as Doris Cleven (Director Anima, Belgium), Wolfgang Spindler (journalist, Euronews, France) and Caroline Cor (production analyst, feature films department, Cnc, France), all three of them representatives of Cartoon, the European...
The European Film Academy has announced the three nominations up for the European Animated Feature Film Award, set to be announced at the European Film Awards in Riga on Dec 13.
The titles include Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, written and directed by Mathias Malzieu and Stéphane Berla; Minuscule - Valley of the Ants, written and directed by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud; and The Art of Happiness, directed and co-written by Alessandro Rak.
The latter is Italian while the other two are France-Belgium co-productions.
The nominations were decides by a committee comprising Efa Board Members Marek Rozenbaum, producer (Israel) and Roberto Cicutto, producer (Italy), as well as Doris Cleven (Director Anima, Belgium), Wolfgang Spindler (journalist, Euronews, France) and Caroline Cor (production analyst, feature films department, Cnc, France), all three of them representatives of Cartoon, the European...
- 9/22/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The European Film Academy has announced the nominees for the best European animated feature film honor at this year's European Film Awards. Three features – two French, one Italian – will compete at the 2014 EFAs, which take place Dec. 13 in Riga, Latvia. Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants, a 3D insect epic from directors Thomas Szabo and Helen Giraud will go up against Tim Burton-esque animation, Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart from French directors Mathias Malzieu and Stephane Berla and the metaphysical East-meets-West drama The Art of Happiness from Italian filmmaker Alessandro Rak.
read more...
read more...
- 9/22/2014
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hybrid children’s bug movie premieres in China at Shanghai International Film Festival today (June 19).
French hybrid children’s bug picture Minuscule: The Valley of the Lost Ants (Minuscule: La Vallée des Fourmis Perdues) is to be released on 1,200 screens in China, the film’s producers and sales agents Futurikon have announced.
Under a deal with Alexander Ma of Beijing-based Ifilmfilm, the picture will be released by state run distributor China Film Group in the third quarter of 2014.
Beofore that, it is due to premiere in China at the Shanghai International Film Festival today (June 19).
Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud’s hybrid 3D work combines real-life backdrops shot in the Mercantour National Park in southern France with animated insects.
The format – which does not involve dialogue but rather “expressive buzzing” - is already well-known with young viewers around the world through a popular TV series, which has been broadcast by the BBC, Nhk and the...
French hybrid children’s bug picture Minuscule: The Valley of the Lost Ants (Minuscule: La Vallée des Fourmis Perdues) is to be released on 1,200 screens in China, the film’s producers and sales agents Futurikon have announced.
Under a deal with Alexander Ma of Beijing-based Ifilmfilm, the picture will be released by state run distributor China Film Group in the third quarter of 2014.
Beofore that, it is due to premiere in China at the Shanghai International Film Festival today (June 19).
Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud’s hybrid 3D work combines real-life backdrops shot in the Mercantour National Park in southern France with animated insects.
The format – which does not involve dialogue but rather “expressive buzzing” - is already well-known with young viewers around the world through a popular TV series, which has been broadcast by the BBC, Nhk and the...
- 6/19/2014
- ScreenDaily
Hybrid children’s 3D hit was made using green shooting practices.
As well as securing critical acclaim, French bug picture Minuscule: The Valley of the Lost Ants (Minuscule: La Vallée des Fourmis Perdues) is also winning praise from local ecologists.
Figures unveiled at the Ile de France Film Commission’s Location Expo in Paris revealed the production had reduced its potential carbon footprint sevenfold by employing green shooting practices.
Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud’s hybrid 3D work combines real-life backdrops with animated insects.
The Minuscule format is already known to millions of young viewers around the world through a popular TV series shown on channels such as BBC Four in the UK, Nhk in Japan and the Disney Channel and ABC in the Us.
The feature version hit cinema screens in France at the end of January, drawing some 650,000 spectators in the first two weeks on release. It will head to several other international territories...
As well as securing critical acclaim, French bug picture Minuscule: The Valley of the Lost Ants (Minuscule: La Vallée des Fourmis Perdues) is also winning praise from local ecologists.
Figures unveiled at the Ile de France Film Commission’s Location Expo in Paris revealed the production had reduced its potential carbon footprint sevenfold by employing green shooting practices.
Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud’s hybrid 3D work combines real-life backdrops with animated insects.
The Minuscule format is already known to millions of young viewers around the world through a popular TV series shown on channels such as BBC Four in the UK, Nhk in Japan and the Disney Channel and ABC in the Us.
The feature version hit cinema screens in France at the end of January, drawing some 650,000 spectators in the first two weeks on release. It will head to several other international territories...
- 2/18/2014
- ScreenDaily
The 15th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff) presented by Reliance Entertainment and organized by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) scheduled between 17th-24th October is all set to showcase the best of contemporary French cinema and welcome artists for the 6th edition of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema co-organized with The French Embassy in India, Institut Français en Inde and Unifrance films.
As part of the festival highlights, Costa Gavras will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during the opening ceremony in the presence of His Excellency Mr François Richier, Ambassador of France to India who will grace us with his presence especially for this occasion. Among others, Nathalie Baye, jury member of the international section, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, director of the film “Grigris”, Guillaume Brac, director of the film “Tonnerre” (Competition) and Leos Carax, well known film maker who will be conducting a masters class.
The special section “Rendez-vous...
As part of the festival highlights, Costa Gavras will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during the opening ceremony in the presence of His Excellency Mr François Richier, Ambassador of France to India who will grace us with his presence especially for this occasion. Among others, Nathalie Baye, jury member of the international section, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, director of the film “Grigris”, Guillaume Brac, director of the film “Tonnerre” (Competition) and Leos Carax, well known film maker who will be conducting a masters class.
The special section “Rendez-vous...
- 10/18/2013
- by Pooja Rao
- Bollyspice
Includes world premieres of five Spanish productions and Oliver Stone’s documentary series The Untold History of the United States.Scroll down for full line-up
The Zabaltegi section at the 61st edition of the San Sebastian Festival (Sept 20-28) has been announced.
Along with the world premiere of five Spanish productions, other titles have also been programmed from countries such as Poland, South Korea and Kazakhstan, plus a 3D animated film and two documentaries to have competed at the Sundance Festival.
In addition, documentary series The Untold History of the United States, directed by Oliver Stone, will be presented in Spain for the first time as well as the new 206-minute epic Alexander: The Ultimate Cut, shot by the director in 2004.
Two Basque shorts will premiered within the section: Hotzanak, For Your Own Safety, by Izibene Oñederra, and Zela Trovke (Cutting Grass), by Asier Altuna.
Lav Diaz from the Philippines will also see the world premiere...
The Zabaltegi section at the 61st edition of the San Sebastian Festival (Sept 20-28) has been announced.
Along with the world premiere of five Spanish productions, other titles have also been programmed from countries such as Poland, South Korea and Kazakhstan, plus a 3D animated film and two documentaries to have competed at the Sundance Festival.
In addition, documentary series The Untold History of the United States, directed by Oliver Stone, will be presented in Spain for the first time as well as the new 206-minute epic Alexander: The Ultimate Cut, shot by the director in 2004.
Two Basque shorts will premiered within the section: Hotzanak, For Your Own Safety, by Izibene Oñederra, and Zela Trovke (Cutting Grass), by Asier Altuna.
Lav Diaz from the Philippines will also see the world premiere...
- 8/28/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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