The animated film "Croc-Blanc" makes its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival

Luxembourg director Alexandre Espigares, winner of the Oscar in 2014 for " Mr Hublot "received a warm welcome at the world premiere of her first feature film, entitled " Croc-Blanc "This Sunday 21 January at the Sundance Film Festival, the leading American independent film festival. The film, based on Jack London's famous work "Croc-Blanc", is in official competition in the "Kids" section.

"Croc-Blanc" is the story of a wolfhound who grew up in the wilderness alongside his mother, then an Indian tribe. He is endowed with extraordinary courage and intelligence, but falls victim to the cruelty of greedy bullies before being saved by a fair and kind man and woman who offer him a new life. Loved and respected, the wild animal masters his instincts and becomes their friend.

It is a co-production between Luxembourg (Bidibul Productions - Lilian Eche and Christel Henon), France (Superprod) and the United States (Big Beach), with Luxembourg's share representing 40.4% of the total funding, the Film Fund Luxembourg having supported the development and production of the work.

Made entirely of 3D, This feature-length film - adapted for the first time as an animated film - combines the techniques of motion capture and key frame (*).
 
"Luxembourg animation is once again centre stage with this cinematic masterpiece, which confirms the great talent of Alexandre Espigares. I'm very proud of the work of our animation professionals, who have once again demonstrated the excellence of Luxembourg cinema!
Guy Daleiden, director of Filmfong, told Sundance, accompanied by Luxembourg director Alexandre Espigares, who added: " While "Croc-Blanc" was still being finalised, the film was selected for the Sundance Film Festival on presentation of a working copy. For the artists who have worked on the film over the last three years, this selection is tantamount to a reward, as Sundance is one of the most prestigious international festivals for independent cinema. The world premiere at Sundance puts 'Croc Blanc' in the big league and gives the film international recognition it might not otherwise have received. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to see the film on the big screen for the first time with a real audience. ! ".

A preview of the film will be shown in Luxembourg on 9 March at the Philharmonie in live-cinema with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gast Waltzing. Tarantula Distribution is distributing the film in Luxembourg from 28 March. 

(*) The principle of this process is based on capturing the movements of real actors and then applying them to the virtual model. The actors wear suits covered in reflective markers, whose movements are then captured by infrared cameras and transposed onto the 3D characters in the computer. The resulting animations are then reworked by animators, who complete and refine them.

In the photos: Joshua Cohen (Big Beach), Peter Saraf (Big Beach), Christel Henon (Bidibul Productions), Alexandre Espigares (director), Patrick Hubley (Utah Film Center), Stephen Kramer Glickman (actor), Eddie Spears (actor), Stéphane Gallard (Artistic Director) and Guy Daleiden (Filmfong Director).