Studio Anima Embarks on First French Partnership
Lille, 31 January 2025 – Prague studio Anima´s animators recently visited Lille and nearby localities to develop contacts with colleagues based there. And at the international short film festival in Lille one of the programme blocks was put at its disposal.
France is a sought-after partner for Czech producers. It´s said that whoever wants a dreamt-of premiere in Cannes needs a French producer. Another advantage is a strong distribution potential that the land of the Gallic rooster has. For example, Fimfarum – The Third Time Lucky 3D was seen in French cinemas by over 40% of the total audience.
The trip, made possible by financial support from the National Recovery Plan and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, enabled the deepening of Czech-French relations and bring Czech animation closer to one of the world ‘ superpowers in terms of animation.
The studio Have a Nice Day was the main point of call. Just now Anima is starting to co-operate with it. This year both companies will share in the filming of the Swedish co-production Anna Matzaris´ film Please. The studio´s co-owner, Denis Walgenwitz, took the trippers around the studio whose main mission is to seek opportunities to combine computer animation with the classical stop-motion technology. Now, for example, they are working on a project where classical puppets are developed ex-post in a computer using lip-sync.
The so-called ´artist status´ is now being introduced in the Czech Republic which will bring freelance artists greater financial stability. This tool has been used in France for some time now and Denis Walgenwitz explained another significance it carries. France is a country with the third largest output of animation in the world and indeed it is the ´artist status´ which helps productions retain experienced professionals in the field at a time when studios lack commissions.
The charismatic Eric Bézy introduced a totally different type of studio, his Mon Beau Studio, which is based in a former factory on the edge of Lille. His focus is mainly the making of puppets and decorations. In his workshop participants found “traces” of Daria Kascheeva’s film Electra. For this exceptional film, which had its premiere in Cannes last year, Eric made human-sized puppets. French colleagues are pretty well aware of Czech animation but often this is based on the past. Denis Walgenwitz, for example, showed himself to be a fan of Hermína Tyrlová´s work. But Daria Katscheeva´s film proves that they are also following contemporary productions originating from the Czech Republic – and even participate in them.
Tchack was the biggest studio we visited. It focuses mainly on computer animation and at the time of shooting manages dozens of animators. Smaller number, but all the more prestigious, are stop-motion projects for which they have built three stages. When the Czech animators visited they had “on the table” a project using the cut-out technique.
Part and parcel of the trip was the screening of a range of Czech films at the local Festival International du Court Métrage de Lille where the Anima Studio put on a special programme. Included amongst the screened works was the most recent film, Jan Cechl´s Lawrence of Moravia, which is now successfully touring various international festivals. The long debate showed that amongst the audience were primarily local animation artists who were interested in specific animation techniques. One of the voices in the debate, Lucas Verreman, introduced himself as composer of the music to the film Electra. A contributor also included animator Marek Jasaň who helped to animate the film in Prague. The saying “it´s a small world” counts in the world of animation twice over.
Inspirational was also the visit of a private school of animation (as well as acting and graphic design) called RUBICA which is located in Valenciennes, which isn’t far from Lille. The visitors from Prague were also shown there a studio where the shooting of a graduate film in 3D is being developed. RUBICA students present eight projects in total but the tutors only pick four. Their creators take on the role of directors and the others divide up the other posts within the crew. Thus the school nurtures universally qualified professionals who find it easier to find work in the future. It’s a very different approach to the “creative conception of the “alma mater” of the majority of Czech animators which is Prague’s FAMU.
The quality of Czech animation is known in France, so there is something to build on when developing co-operation. And this doesn’t just involve Electra. Indeed, with French co-producers feature films have been made recently such as Meme Le Sourir Vont Au Paradis nominated for the European Film Prize, or My Sun Mad which was even awarded a Caesar for the best French animated film. Last year´s Living Large is represented on the international stage by the French sales company Gebeka International and its premiere took place at the biggest festival of animated films in the world. Where else but in the French town of Annecy?
Article by Radim Procházka
