VMI EFM
VANTAGE MEDIA INTERNATIONAL / VISION MUSIC, INC TRAILER AVAILABLE
The Cloth IFTA Pavilion
Suite B1 EXECUTIVES ATTENDING:
ANDRE RELIS, PRESIDENT
ARELIS@VMIWORLDWIDE.COM
BRITTANY MULLIKIN, VICE PRESIDENT
BMULLIKIN@VMIWORLDWIDE.COM
PREMIERES 2012
REVIEWS
GENERATION
Fr-Bel. 2012. 78mins Directors Rémi Bezancon, Jean-Christophe Lie Production companies Prima Linea Productions, Pathé Production, France 3 Cinéma, Chaocorp, Scope Pictures, Le Parti International sales Pathé International, www.
patheinternational.com Producers Valerie Schermann, Christophe Jankovic, Vivien Aslanian Screenplay Rémi Bezancon, Alexander Abela, Jean-Francois Halin, Vanessa Portal Storyboard Rémi Bezancon, Jean- Christophe Lie Animation director Yoshimichi Tamura Editor Sophie Reine Music Laurent Perez Del Mar Voice cast Max Renaudin, Vernon Dobtcheff, Thierry Frémont, Simon Abkarian, Ronit Elkabetz, Francois- Xavier Demaison, Mohamed Fellag, Roger Dumas, Déborah Francois
Zarafa REVIEWED BY LISA NESSELSON
A visually splendid and emotionally satisfying animated adven- ture for all ages, Zarafa boasts all the ingredients for interna- tional success, starting with a terrific fact-inspired story, simply yet beautifully told. Live-action director Rémi Bezancon (A Happy Event, The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life) does a fine job — with animator Jean-Christophe Lie co-directing — of recounting the lively tale of the first giraffe to reach France, in 1826: a gift from Egypt to the King of France. In addition to being consistently entertaining, the film is
instructive without preaching. Instances of friendship, courage and ingenuity in the face of adversity are winningly dosed, as people of different races and customs mingle in convincing ways. The French-language voice talent is top-notch, but the nar- rative should lend itself to easy adaptation into other tongues. A rapt gathering of youngsters by a baobab tree in an African
village listens as a wise old man (Dobtcheff) narrates the story, using wooden effigies of the characters as visual aids. It is a smart device to help young viewers follow the various strands, at least one of which slyly introduces the spiritual implications of reincarnation. The bulk of what is on screen is set in the 1820s. Ten-year-old African boy Maki (Renaudin) makes a dramatic
escape from ruthless slave trader and tomb raider Moreno (Fré- mont). When baby giraffe Zarafa is orphaned, Maki makes a solemn promise to watch out for her. So, when taciturn Bedouin Hassan (voiced by Simon Abkarian and modelled on Maurice Béjart and Han Solo, per Bezancon) sets out to deliver the giraffe as a gift to France, doggedly intrepid Maki finds a way to tag along. Zarafa is a diplomatic offering intended to inspire the King to come to the aid of Alexandria, under siege by the Turks. From the Sudanese desert to Alexandria, across the Mediter-
ranean to Marseilles and by foot (and hoof) the rest of the way to Paris — including a dramatic passage in the Alps — Maki, Zarafa, Hassan, two cows and hot-air ballooning French explorer Mala- terre (Demaison) share adventures that sometimes embroider the historical facts but do so in the service of solid storytelling. When projectile dung from a hippopotamus sprays young
Maki, it is not only a funny moment but also the set-up for a key incident almost one hour and thousands of miles later. Suspense abounds, while the story treats the occasional death
with finesse, plus the widescreen backdrops convey much of the grandeur Jean-Jacques Annaud was aiming for in Black Gold. Lie has worked with Sylvain Chomet (on The Triplets Of Belle-
ville), which is pleasingly evident in the caricatural renderings of not-overly-bright King Charles X and his retinue. The anima- tors have fun with the ‘giraffe mania’ that spread through French society and fashion once Zarafa arrived. The appealing score is never overbearing and, like the tale
itself, deftly avoids the facile and saccharine elements that mar so much kiddie fare. Two years in the making, with talent from eight animation studios, Zarafa eschews 3D and heavy CGI for the solid pleasures of a more traditional 2D approach. Finally, one has to admire how well the film-makers incorporate a very vertical creature into the widescreen frame.
n 20 Screen International at the Berlinale February 9, 2012
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