France’s major Annecy fest to screen Georgian director’s animation

A still from the animated short 'Fisherman and the Girl'. Photo: 20 Steps Productions.
Agenda.ge, 16 Mar 2018 - 17:06, Tbilisi,Georgia

One of Europe’s major animated film festivals will introduce its viewers to a new work by Georgian director Mamuka Tkeshelashvili, with Fisherman and the Girl selected for the Annecy Festival’s official competition this summer.

The French cinema event, promoted as "the place of reference for animation in the world”, will screen the short among hundreds of films in the program in the middle of June.

Tkeshelashvili’s 15-minute work narrates about two protagonists through its usage of puppets and cut-outs in production.

See a teaser for ‘Fisherman and the Girl’ below:

 

[The film presents a] story about a five-year-old girl and her fisherman father and the parallel lives they lead while he goes fishing in the sea and she is busy at home”, says a preview from the festival.

The elder character of the plot comes home after fishing to tell stories to his daughter, transformed into "unbelievable [...] tales” by her imagination, said a summary from producers of the animation.

The colour production was created at Tbilisi-based 20 Steps Productions by a small team and supported by the Georgian National Film Centre.

A behind-the-scenes production photo of the film. Photo: 20 Steps Productions.

Fisherman and the Girl will be screened within the Annecy Festival’s Perspectives section, where 18 other works will also be introduced to the audience.

Premiering Dato Kiknavelidzei’s short Geno last year, the Annecy event also involved six Georgian cinema professionals at its 2016 edition.

Established in 1960, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival sold 115,000 tickets and screened over 500 films during its 2017 edition.