Showing posts with label awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awards. Show all posts

Thursday, July 20, 2017

'The Girl Without Hands' Multi-Award Winning Animated Film (Limited US Theatrical Release Begins July 21)

We've been meaning to bring this to readers attention for a while and are very glad to see this French animated, full length feature, drawing the attention of mainstream media such as The New York Times, this week as it becomes available to see in the US in selected indie theaters.

Note: the alternate posters shown throughout this post were created by Paul Jeffrey of Passage Design, all of which can be seen HERE.
Created by one man (!), the film, being hailed a masterpiece and 'guaranteed to be an animation classic', is based on the Grimm's version of the tale, and cleverly and sensitively uses a very expressive-impressionist style to convey both characters and emotion throughout.

Take a look:

As a fairy tale reader, you're probably aware of how dark and harsh this story is - and therefore how much it means to so many people - and will be glad to know that although the style is gentle and colorful, it doesn't shy away from the dark themes.

For those a little rusty on the synopsis here's a summary, courtesy of GKids:
In hard times, a miller sells his daughter to the Devil. Protected by her purity, she escapes from the Devil who, in revenge, deprives her of her hands. So begins her long journey towards the light… but in spite of her resilience and the new protection of a handsome prince’s estate, the Devil devises a plan of his own.
From the New York Times review:
Perhaps more striking than the adaptation of the harsh narrative is the movie’s animation style. Mr. Laudenbach’s drawing eschews clean ink lines for a minimalist and impressionist aesthetic. He allows the water color swatches that stand in for characters and landscapes to create a dreamlike world that appears poetically endless. When lines do appear, they are thick and textured, like those of a sumi-e painting from Asia.
The result is a dazzlingly imaginative movie about survival. Left on her own, the woman in the story proves capable of taking care of herself, and later her child, once the constraints of comfort and gender roles are cast off.
Indie Wire has an exclusive 1min13second clip of the sequence HERE where the father is tricked by the Devil. It's definitely worth watching! (We are not embedding out of respect for this clip just surfacing)

Distribution has been picked up by GKids, with the film having a limited US theatrical release, starting in New York at the IFC tomorrow (July 21st). More dates and locations are being added to the official page on the GKids website HERE, so check it out and see if you're lucky enough to have this appear locally for you. With GKids - who are doing an amazing job of bringing world class animation from all over the globe to larger audiences - as the distributor, hopefully the full length feature will be available to add to our fairy tale film libraries on DVD and/or Blu-ray soon.


Please note: with the subject matter and the film being distributed by GKids, it may be a little confusing as to whom is the best audience for the film. By all reports, it can be considered accessible to some children and has a dreamlike quality about it, as well as a very female empowering message. There is no doubt it tells the same story as the Brothers Grimm, however, so due to this and the representation of some very dark concepts, the style is probably best suited for teens and above. Please use discretion (and perhaps a pre-viewing) if you intend to share this with children.
To help in deciding, there's a good description of style and some of the story aspects and approaches to storytelling in the Variety review HERE.

There is also a French book that's been released, using the drawings created for the film, which is advertised as being from ages 7-77. We can't find any notice of an English version of this book in the works so if you're keen, we suggest hunting down a French copy. You can read about it HERE.
                             
The whole Fairy Tale News Room are all very much looking forward to seeing this film, and in many ways it feels as if the release of this film in the US this year, is rather fortuitous. We're very grateful to GKids for making the best animated storytelling from around the world available for us to see.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Multi-Award Winning "H&G" Available to View for Limited Time

We covered this film as it was being made, back in 2013 HERE, knowing with indie film director Danishka Esterhazy at the helm, that it would be a worthy addition to the Hansel and Gretel re-tellings out there when it was complete. Critics and film festivals have confirmed it is, plying the film with multiple awards.

For the coming two weeks - a limited time - you can rent the film online to see it (94 minutes, English and PG), via this website, celebrating excellence in Canadian film making HERE.

From Esterhazy's Instagram account:
My film H&G is featured this week in the Canada Screens VIFF celebration. You can rent H&G for only $1.99 during the sale. There are some great films in this promotion! Visit canadascreens.ca
(Note for US folk: It's also available on Amazon Prime.)

Might be a good fairy tale film for the coming weekend, don't you think?

Here's the quick synopsis and the trailer below is a must-see:
A girl and boy. Brother and sister. Living in poverty and neglect. Lost in the woods. They see a house, rush toward it… it is magical. Full of good food, soft sheets, love and care. But in this house, danger lurks. And all they have is each other. The Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel takes a modern neorealist twist in H&G.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

NBC's "Grimm" Nominated for Saturn Award: 'Best Network Television Series'

Saturn Award: "Honoring Genre Entertainment and Everything With An Edge" also known as The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Awards.

Congratulations Grimm crew!

This is a huge achievement, especially for a fairy tale based (and to some extent driven) series that's in it's fourth season. The competition is pretty serious so it's great to see something that's bringing myth, legend and fairy tales into people's homes each week to be recognized.

Best Network Television Series:
The Blacklist
The Following
Grimm
Hannibal
Person of Interest
Sleepy Hollow


You can see Sleepy Hollow is in there too. Myths, legends and folklore is still pretty popular mainstream (and geek-stream).

You can see the full nominations and read more about what  Saturn Award is HERE.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Fairy Tale & Folklore Oscar Watch 2015 (Summary)

The three biggies this year were all in the Best Animated Feature category:

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - the oldest recorded Japanese fairy tale

Song of the Sea - selkie tale based on Celtic folklore

The Boxtrolls - Jungle Book related tale of a boy raised by 'monsters' finding his way (based on Here Be Monsters)

These three were up against industry giants Big Hero 6 (Disney) and How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Dreamworks).
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BIG HERO 6 won for Best Animated Feature
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Nominated in other categories:

Into The Woods - Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep lost to Patricia Arquette for Boyhood)
                           - Best Production Design (lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel)
                           - Best Costume Design (lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Maleficent          - Best Costume Design (lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel)

The Lego Movie - Best Song "Everything Is Awesome" (lost to Selma's "Glory")

It should also be noted, mythic storyteller and master animator Hayao Miyazaki, known for My Neighbor Totoro, The Tale Of Princess Mononoke and the Oscar winning Spirited Away, was also awarded an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award (finally!).
I'm completely tickled that the audience were hanging onto their Lego Oscar statues as a tribute to The Lego Movie which deserved to be nominated but wasn't. (That's the Jack-like story, complete with giants of many kinds, that I think is more fairy tale than most people realize.)

Friday, January 16, 2015

"The Tale of The Princess Kaguya" and "Song of the Sea" Are Going to the Oscars!

The nominations are in for the Oscars and two animated films are fairy tales!

Here's what they're competing against:
Animated Feature Film Nominations for 2014 Oscars  
“Big Hero 6”  
“The Boxtrolls”  
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”  
“Song of the Sea”  
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (source)
Notably missing is The Lego Movie, and it appears everyone is surprised since it's been considered THE film to beat - all year. (The Lego Movie has been considered one of the best movies of 2014, not just a good animated film, and I'd have to agree. It, too, has classic fairy tale elements, [anyone up to doing a fairy tale elements in The Lego Movie guest post?], though they're far less obvious shown in lego form, but that's part of it's genius. It's one of the reasons I think it resonated so well.)

But Song of the Sea and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya nominations are both well deserved nominations and are to be enthusiastically congratulated, especially since they are essentially quiet achievers without big marketing machines behind them to make people take notice. (Distributor GKids - who represents both - must be tickled pink at the news.)

In other The Tale of The Princess Kaguya news, a Blu-ray and DVD are on the way! Coming February 17, 2015, the movie will be released in English with this cover:
    
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear we'll be able to watch it in the original Japanese with English subtitles, but people everywhere are hailing this as a classic. I even saw the quote: "One of the most important films ever made.." I haven't had time to research the translation and English dubbing to see people's thoughts on those but I'm really pleased we're going to be able to see it and have the option to get a copy to keep.