Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks Int’l has acquired the worldwide rights to Portugal’s first animated film “My Grandfather’s Demons,” the first motion picture of Nuno Beto.
According to Guido Rud, CEO of FilmSharks, it was able to outbid other competitors on the toon, which had its world premiere at Annecy.
“One of the most difficult tasks for my acquisition team, directed by Santiago Migdal, is to find a true animation gem, not only aesthetically but also narratively as using different animation techniques makes the story fly to a higher level,” Rudd said.
“It was hard to get many of the sales agents chasing after her, but we finally won this show and we are very happy,” said Magdal.
Rudd said talks were in full swing with Brazil, Benelux, China and the United States.
Featuring a mix of 2D, 3D, and stop motion animation, the well-reviewed Hybrid Toon uses the first two technologies in Part One where we meet her lead character, Rosa, a high-performance designer in a highly modern office setting. The colors are cool, flat, clinical as she toiled in her successful career.
The news that her somewhat estranged grandfather has passed away makes her suddenly return to her family’s home in the country. There you enter a world inhabited by clay creatures – her grandfather’s demons – and wild animals as the film turns to stop the animated animation and the rich, woven colors give a sense of her returning to her roots, connecting with the earth.
She finds a hostile society conveys its discontent with her grandfather. Eager to show that she’s not like him, she uses her technical skills to solve water scarcity issues they blame him for.
According to Peto, the Satanic figurines are inspired by the traditional work of the late ceramic artist Rosa Ramalho. Clay figures called “caretos” are commonly used in winter solstice celebrations dating back to the Celtic past in northern Portugal.
In his director’s statement, Beato explains: “With this film I mean to create identification with a lifestyle that consumes us many times over, makes us retreat from the depths of our being and pushes us into automatic actions that distance us from another.”
“Rosa’s research is directly related to the comfort of embracing others, the need for friendship, sharing and mutual assistance. We all need the existence of others and the human connections that grow beyond the pursuit of economic independence and the illusion it creates for us.”
The script was co-written by Possidónio Cachapa (“Adeus à Brísa”) and Cristina Pinheiro (“Menina”).
Jedi Demons are produced by Sardinha Em Lata (Portugal), Caritos Film (Portugal), Medalgar (France) and Basque Film (Spain).
In development, it won a La Liga Feature Project Award in 3D Wire in Segovia – now renamed Weird Market – which included a promotion feature in Ventana Sur’s Animation! Sidebar. It is also backed by a $100,000 grant from the Ibermedia Fund, among several other funds.
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