Cartoon Movie, the European animation forum in Bordeaux, is about to open. This year it is going to have its the first Ukrainian project, Mavka. The Forest Song (produced by FILM.UA and Animagrad).
On March 8-10 in Bordeaux, one of the biggest European events for animation industry professionals will take place, and it is Cartoon Movie, the European animation forum. Mavka. The Forest Song became the first ever Ukrainian project to be selected by the organizational committee for participation in the forum pitching.
Traditionally, Cartoon Movie gathers about a thousand leading professionals from all over the world; in the course of two days they will present the best animation projects of the year.
Mavka. The Forest Song will be presented to producers, broadcasters, distributors and investors from world over who come to the forum every year in search of new fascinating ideas and promising projects.
On March 9, during the project’s presentation its producers Iryna Kostyuk, Anna Yeliseeva and Egor Olesov, as well as costume designer Olga Navrotska will show the cartoon’s working materials to the international audience. They will also tell about the mission, philosophy and unique dimension of the film. Olga Navrotska has developed looks specifically for the pitching team, i.e. clothes and accessories (wreaths made by Patoka Studio), combining the ornaments to be used in the outfits of Mavka, the film’s protagonist. A unique visual component of the presentation will emphasize the beauty and authentic nature of the cartoon based on Ukrainian culture and nature. The project’s uniqueness will also be reflected in the music by DakhaBrakha – a spring ritual song in contemporary arrangement, recorded with a string orchestra and a sopilka solo.
During the whole time of Cartoon Movie existence, 262 animation strips received financing for the total sum of over 1.8 billion euro. It is at this forum that some of the most known European cartoons started their way to the cinemas, such as The Triplets of Belleville (2003, César winner, two Academy Awards nominations), A Cat in Paris (2010, Academy Awards and César nominations), Chico & Rita (2010, Goya prize, Academy Awards nomination), Ernest & Celestine (2012, César winner, Academy Awards nomination), Shaun the Sheep (2015, Academy Awards and Golden Globe nominations, BAFTA prize), My Life as a Zucchini (2016, Cannes Film Festival nomination), and others.
Mavka. The Forest Song is a feature animation strip made by Ukrainian animation studio Animagrad (FILM.UA Group), now in its creative development stage. The cartoon is based on a play with the same title by Lesya Ukrainka as well as on Ukrainian myths and cultural traditions. The experts of leading ethnography institutions in Ukraine – Department of Folklore Studies in Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Ivan Honchar Museum, and Ukrainian Fashion History Museum – are working with the film crew on the interpretations of Ukrainian myths, legends, customs, rituals and visual culture in a unique animated world of Mavka. DakhaBrakha, a globally known Ukrainian folk band, has joined in to create the cartoon’s soundtrack. Mavka. The Forest Song won the 9th competition of Ukrainian State Film Agency in September 2016 and received state funding amounting to 30 per cent of its total budget.
Preliminarily, the premiere of Mavka. The Forest Song in Ukrainian cinemas is to take place between late 2018 and early 2019.
