3 Luxembourg co-productions in the official selection at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival!

Le Annecy International Animation Film Festival (11 to 17 June 2023) unveils its official selection, including 3 Luxembourg co-productions: KENSUKE'S KINGDOM and LA SIRENE in Official Competition, and NINA AND THE SECRET OF THE HERISSON in Out of Competition.

The Film Fund will be present at the Marché International du Film d'Animation (MIFA) for the 22nd time with a promotional stand hosting some fifteen Luxembourg animation companies (production, studios and service providers) and will be celebrating Luxembourg animation at this major annual meeting for all professionals in the global animation sector.

KENSUKE'S KINGDOM co-produced by Stéphan Roelants (Melusine Productions) and directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, is an adaptation of the best-selling book of the same name by Michael Morpurgo.

The film is a co-production between the United Kingdom, France and Luxembourg. The Luxembourg studio was involved from the development phase of the project and worked on the production of the film, in particular on the design, the 3D elements used as a basis for the 2D drawings, the storyboard, the sets and the animation. 55 artists worked on this animated film for almost two and a half years at Studio 352 in Contern. The team leaders are Nicolas Debray (assistant director), Denis Lambert (head of storyboard), Cédric Gervais (head of design/modelling), Stéphane Nedez (head of layout), Pascal Gérard (head of sets), Gilles Rudziak (head of animation), Anaëlle Brême (head of shading and colouring), David Feraille (studio manager) and Fabien Renelli (production manager).

LA SIRENE co-produced by Luxembourg (BAC Cinéma - David Grumbach), France, Germany and Belgium, and directed by Iranian Sepideh Farsi.

The design, layout, sets, animation, compositing and special effects were produced in Luxembourg at the Fabrique d'Images' Picture Factory studio. Editing, sound effects and mixing were carried out by Philopon Studios, and colour-grading by Espera Productions.

NINA AND THE SECRET OF THE HERISSON co-produced by Pierre Urbain and David Mouraire (Doghouse Films) and directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli

The film is a co-production between France and Luxembourg. The Doughouse studio team carried out 100% of the film's colourisation and post-compositing, as well as some of the animation and set design, mobilising just over forty artists and technicians in the country, including François Spreutels (head set designer), David Degrande (head animator), Géraldine Rabin (head of colourisation), Jérôme Brack (head of post-compositing) and Anna Leterq (production manager). Sound post-production was carried out by Studios Philophon (Michel Schillings). The film's music was recorded in Luxembourg at Unison (Differdange) for the Jazz Band part, conducted by Pierre Cocq Amann, and at Cape (Ettelbruck) for the classical part with the Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jeannot Sanavia, involving a total of 45 musicians.

In addition to the official selections, 3 projects will be presented in the "WORK IN PROGRESS" category, allowing viewers to experience the stages of 2 feature-length films and an animated XR work in production. These are :

SLOCUM by Jean-Françoise Laguionie - Melusine Productions

IN THE DARK AND MYSTERIOUS FOREST by Vincent Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord - Zeilt productions

THIS IS MY HEART by Nicolas Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies - a_BAHN

Finally, the short film MR HUBLOTOscar winner in 2014, will be screened to raise awareness of the special theme of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD).