| FIAF Announces 2021 Animation First REWIND Available Nationwide, Aug 3–30 Calamity Jane and Aya of Yop City are back online |
| New York, N.Y., July 30, 2021 — The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is proud to announce the return of favorites from the 2021 Animation First Festival, available online from Tuesday, August 3 to Tuesday, August 30.Featuring best-of selections from our curators, most of these films are only available in the US exclusively through FIAF.The program will highlight the work of talented animators exploring a wide range of stories. Additional content on social media and conversations with the filmmakers will allow audiences to immerse themselves (again) in the transporting and magical world of French animation. |
| FIAF Exclusive! Online: Tuesday, August 3–Monday, August 9, 2021Calamity Jane (Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary) Dir. Rémi Chayé, 2020, 85 min In French with English subtitles Ages 6 and upThis lush period piece centers on the young 19th-century American heroine who would become the icon, Calamity Jane. As she travels across the US frontier on a wagon train, young Martha Jane Cannary astonishes her fellow travelers when she breaks gender norms to lead her family’s covered wagon and take care of the horses. While she never felt freer, the brazen act brings scorn and anger from her community. Accused of stealing, Martha Jane strikes out on her own and tries to vindicate herself under a newly minted name, Calamity Jane. Her adventures, on the open frontier where men and women pioneers strive to build better lives, shape Calamity Jane into one of the legendary figures of the Wild West.Free Talk: Making of Calamity Jane with Rémi ChayéClick here for more information. |
| FIAF Exclusive! Online: Tuesday, August 10–Monday, August 16, 2021The Animated World of Paul Grimault In French with English subtitlesThese newly restored shorts, made between 1942 and 1973 and shown in chronological order, open a window into the imagination of Paul Grimault, an icon of French animation.The program includes the gem The Little Soldier, winner of the 1948 Venice International Film Festival’s International Award for Animated Film. While his shorts became increasingly political, they all retain his trademark poetic style, exquisite colors, and wry wit.Free Talk: Kristof Serrand’s Cabinet of CuriositiesClick here for more information. |
| FIAF Exclusive! Online: Tuesday, August 17–Monday, August 23, 2021Shooom’s Odyssey (L’Odyssée de Choum) Dir. Julien Bisaro, 2019, 26 min In French with English subtitlesBorn in the bayou in the midst of a storm, baby owl Shooom must fend for herself and her unhatched sibling before she even leaves her nest. Against all odds, she is determined to find her mother, be it an alligator or a squirrel. As she embarks on this dangerous journey through the mangroves, she encounters a series of wild animals before falling in with Walter and Rosie—two children determined to save her.Stinky Dog, Happy Life in Paris! (Chien pourri, la vie à Paris !) Dir. Davy Durand, Vincent Patar, & Stéphane Aubier, 2019, 60 min In French with English subtitlesThe creators of A Town Called Panic are back with a new film featuring Chien Pourri, a naïve and filthy dog who lives in a Parisian trash can with Chaplapla, his faithful feline friend. Though Chien Pourri suffers one misadventure after another, he always manages to land on his four paws. In this film, based upon the eponymous best-selling graphic novel, Chien Pourri finds himself in a series of sticky situations. Both adults and children will discover Paris anew from a dog’s eye level in this charming quadrupedal adventure.Free Talk: Making of Shooom’s Odyssey with Claire Paoletti and Julien BisaroClick here for more information. |
| Online: Tuesday, August 24–Monday, August 30, 2021Aya of Yop City (Aya de Yopougon) Dir. Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie, 2013, 84 min In French with English subtitles Ages 10 and upAdapting her best-selling graphic novel series to film, Marguerite Abouet along with co-director Clément Oubrerie have brought to life the colorful scene of 1970s Yop City in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. Aya, now 19, grew up in this tight-knit neighborhood and loves its lively open markets, bright fabrics, funky cafés, and omnipresent music. Her mom, Fanta, is the neighborhood’s most trusted healer. Her dad is a sales rep for a brewery, and certainly gets his fill of the product. While Aya dreams of becoming a doctor, her two best friends, Adjoua and Bintou, just like to hang out and spend their evenings dancing, drinking, and flirting with boys. However, their playful existence turns much darker when Adjoua becomes pregnant, and the baby’s father is the spoiled son of one of the richest and most feared men in the country. Click here for more information.
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| About Animation First Animation First, presented annually by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), is the only film festival in the United States dedicated to French animation.Today, France is Europe’s largest producer and the world’s third-largest exporter of animated film. Since its early beginnings in the late 19th century when Émile Reynaud projected his Pantomimes Lumineuses at the Musée Grévin in Paris, French animation has inspired filmmakers and artists. Their resulting experiments with puppets, cutouts, and stop motion, have been instrumental in inventing important techniques in cinema. Renowned for its stylistic innovation and an approach that integrates artisanal methods with technological ingenuity, French animation continues to garner awards worldwide and spans a diversity of genres. It is responsible for a variety of films from independent art-house successes such as Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville and Michaël Dudok de Wit’s The Red Turtle to those for mature audiences like Persepolis to big-budget blockbusters Ballerina to the Franco-American Despicable Me franchise.Since its first edition in 2018, Animation First has sought to bring the best of French animation to New York audiences. The Festival has featured the work of and hosted veteran filmmakers such as Anca Damian, Michaël Dudok de Wit, Jean-François Laguioni, and Michel Ocelot, while championing up-and-coming talents such as Charlotte Cambon, Denis Do, Jérémie Perin, and Mai Nguyen. The Festival is a place where audience members can engage with filmmakers, animation professionals, and personalities during behind-the-scene discussions, works in progress, and stimulating talks.Located in the heart of New York City, the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is the country’s leading French language and cultural center. FIAF’s mission is to create and offer innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. We seek to generate new ideas and promote cross-cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. |