Sophisticated French Fare in the Limelight

Fans of bold, innovative and well-crafted international animated features recognize Gao Shan Pictures for producing acclaimed titles such as Zombillenium (2017), Funan (2018), I Lost My Body (2019), My Sunny Maad (2021) and last year’s Annecy Cristal Prize-winning Little Nicholas. Later this year, audiences will also see Gao Shan’s They Shot the Piano Player, a musical animated feature from the Oscar-nominated team behind Chico and Rita, co-produced with Les Films d’Ici Méditerranée.

The studio, which was founded by 2014 by French industry veteran Arnauld Boulard (Despicable Me) is bringing two of its eagerly anticipated arthouse features, Jérémie Périn’s Mars Express and Benoît Chieux’s Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds to Annecy this year. Mars Express had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May as an official selection. Later this year,

“This forthcoming Annecy Festival is a particularly busy event for us,” says Boulard. “Two features that we worked on are in competition, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Wind & Mars Express. These selections confirm our love affair with the Annecy Festival, where since 2017 our work has been awarded a Cristal or a Jury Prize every year — with the exception of the infamous 2020 online edition!”

In addition, The Forest of Miss Tang will also be screening at the festival as well. Directed by Denis Do (Funan), this 40-minute family chronicle takes viewers on an existential quest through several generations of a single family, all shaken by 200 years of history in China.

An Environmental Cautionary Tale

Gao Shan will present a Work in Progress session focusing on the Into the Wonderwoods (Dans la Forêt Sombre et Mystérieuse) which it is coproducing with Je Suis Bien Content. “Directed by Vincent Paronnaud (Persepolis) and Alexis Ducord (Zombillenium), this CG-animated movie really stands out thanks to its strong script and outstanding visual elements,” he notes. “It deals with serious subjects like death and the destruction of our natural environment with irresistible humor and a lot of tenderness. We have talking animals, but they’re not the cute little characters we usually see in animated films! On the technical side, it allowed us to start integrating Unreal 5 into our pipeline (thanks to an Epic MegaGrants).”

“We also have a short selected in the MIFA pitch session titled Pié dan lo, which is directed by Mauritian artist Kim Yip Tong,” he adds. “It’s a very sensitive animated documentary which looks at how people joined forces to save their environment after the

Wakashio oil spill in the Mauritian lagoon in 2020.”

At the Annecy market, Gao Shan will be looking for sales and distribution partners for two upcoming features in development.

“Based on a novel by Joseph Marshall III, Winter of the Holy Iron, is a powerful story set in the Dakotas during the mid-18th century, which provides an authentic portrayal of the Sioux and their encounters with white people,” says the producer. “We’re entering pre-production, and are experimenting with mo-cap, 3D scan of landscape and Unreal pipeline. The movie is directed by Francois de Riberolles, a successful documentary director, whose most recent project Magellan’s Incredible Journey was a bit hit in France.”

Another upcoming is The Fire Keeper, which is an adaptation of a novel by French writer and environmentalist Pierre Rabhi. “The movie was in the MIFA pitch last year,” says Boulard. “The director Jeanne Irzenski has been working with us as an animation supervisor for years, and this is her first return to directing since she left Gobelins School. We’ll be also looking for broadcasters for a 2D TV special, The Possum that Didn’t based on the book by Frank Tashlin on which we partner with Dog Ears in Northern Ireland. It is directed by Paul O’Muiris who has previously been in that role with Cartoon Saloon for Amazon Studios.”

Boulard says Gao Shan Pictures is focusing on its international development on the animation studio side, and on the development of its own IP on the production side. “Many quality and ambitious films are emerging, as you can see by the magnificent and competitive selection at the Annecy festival this year,” he notes. “Yet, we also see that financing is particularly difficult and time-consuming at the moment. Some very good films in development are having difficulty securing financing and getting into production. In addition, platforms (streamers) have particularly disengaged from independent productions in recent months. Let’s hope they will quickly come back to supporting productions that stand out from the offerings of major studios to reach a different audience worldwide.” ◆

For more info, visit www.gaoshanpictures.com