A new generation of heroines is preparing to arrive on the big screen. Ordinary heroines that animated cinema offers as references for the little ones and that take advantage of all the possibilities of this technique to get their message to sink in.
This is the case of Spanish films. a world of its own and Moonbeam or the French Suzannepresented in the current edition of the Cartoon Movie in Bordeauxthe main co-production platform for the European animation film industry, which opened on Tuesday and closes on Thursday.
a world of its own, directed by Carmen Cordoba, “It was born from the history of many women from Madrid in the 1920s, who were fighting to win a place in the arts, politics or education”, explains his co-writer, Marisa Simón-Moore, to EFE.
Emilia, the protagonist, arrives in the Spanish capital in 1929 to study at the Royal Academy of San Fernando and become a painter. She embodies all those women who refuse to be relegated to the margins of society.
The film, in development, was initially conceived as a real image project, until seeing that animation offered much more creative freedom.
“We were able to explore not only the historical period, but also get into Emilia’s mind. She gets to know the artistic avant-garde and forms her personality as an artist, and with animation we can visualize how she transforms reality through painting”, Cordoba says.
On Moonbeamdirected by Lorena Ares and Carlos F. de Vigo and still in concept, the protagonist is instead a Maasai girl born with albinism and rejected by her tribe, which she will end up helping.
“She spends the entire film looking for people who are physically similar to her, because she thinks that is where she is going to find her place, and yet in the end what we are explaining is the opposite: don’t try to look like anyone, be who you are”Ares points out.
New references
It is a celebration of difference through a little girl who in her opinion could be considered helpless, because she has been rejected, but who remains “super optimistic, positive, intelligent, curious”.
“There was a time when we had no references and suddenly we are having strong but not masculinized women. It is a joy because girls can see all kinds of women in animated films”says the director, who is looking for co-producers and investors in the Cartoon Movie who want to join this story.
the french Suzanne, directed by Anaïs Caura and Joëlle Oosterlinck and already in development, recovers the figure of Suzanne Noel (1878-1954), pioneer in the world of plastic surgery and feminist activist.
“In the past there are formidable women with crazy pasts and not talking about them gives the feeling that they didn’t exist. I think our role as directors and authors is to make them emerge. I want models, but models that are accessible, not superheroines like in action movies.” Caura emphasizes.
The current wave of feminism may be a trend, but “So much the better: let it talk and make noise, and the more the better. I hope it lasts and that it is not just a female job, but everyone’s, with the desire to have a more intelligent society”.
The Cartoon Movie facilitates the meeting between professionals to round out the budgets of the films, find distribution or sales agents. In total, there are 57 selected projects, with films from France (15) and Spain (8) in the lead.
“Pedro Almodóvar already said: cinema is our memory and there are stories that must be told so that they can be recovered for future generations”, holds Nicholas Matjiproducer of a world of its own and president of the Diboos federation of animation and visual effects producers. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
