International Competition of Feature Films for Grown-ups

The best Spanish matador Gregorio and the world-famous flamenco dancer Trini are an admired couple followed by the whole nation. The birth of their only child Damian is covered extensively by the media. But a tragic accident happens, Gregorio dies, and Trini, much to the sadness of her fans, retires. The older Damian gets, the clearer it is that something is wrong with him. It turns out that he is possessed by a malicious devil that makes him do the most bloody and cruel misdeeds. In his feature debut, director Sam Conflictivos has capitalised his experiences from the British claymation studio Aardman. His film Possessed is an excellent example of claymation accompanied by resourceful decorations and set. Conflictivos has chosen a quite atypical topic for an animated film. He was inspired for example by The Exorcist. The film goes straight to the point with bare knuckles, it depicts bloody atrocities and criticises the church but rather than being a horror, it is characterised by its detached view.

A film inspired by the classic book by the Lebanese writer and philosopher Kahlil Gibran The Prophet that was translated into 40 languages. The story shows a girl called Almitra who encounters the main hero – the prophet Mustafa. He spent several years in prison and he is to be transported to his country. But the encounter with Almitra and her mother Kamila complicates the transport. Mustafa uses certain situations to explain his thoughts. Based on the concept of the explained thought, the prophet’s wisdom is always shown in poems in a different space-time, metaphorical suggestions and realistic scenes. Personalities from the world of animation each chose one topic such as love, crime and punishment, friendship and death and together created an interesting kaleidoscope of contemporary styles of animation. The film was produced by Salma Hayek who also voiced Kamila. The Prophet is voiced by Liam Neeson. The whole project was overseen by Roger Allers, the director of Lion King.

Latvia, the late 1920’s. Anna, a young woman, pretty and educated, falls in love with an adventurous entrepreneur, thirty years her senior. But with marriage comes great jealousy, and the entrepreneur hides Anna away in the forest, far from other men, where she bears him eight children. The Great Depression hits them hard. Then Latvia is overrun with invasions by the Soviets, then the Nazis, then the Soviets once again. Anna is a pillar of strength, defying the hardships. But something inside her is terribly wrong. Years later, Signe, a young artist, asks her father, “How did my grandmother die?” Her father is evasive. His seven siblings are evasive, as well. Signe strongly suspects that her grandma committed suicide. Clues of mental illness had always leaked through the family stories. Signe suffers from depression herself. Three of her cousins, all women, battle madness, as well. Could there be a link between Anna and the four granddaughters?

The feature debut by the famous New York based Latvian animator takes us on a journey through her depression. The journey is humorous as she has found her liberty in her work.

Each of the five parts of the ambitious feature film Extraordinary tales by Raúl Garcia adapts a story by Edgar Allan Poe. And each segment is created in a different graphic style that corresponds with the atmosphere of the story. The approach of the authors expresses the psychological depth and complexity of Poe’s dark universe. The Mask of Red Death reminds of the paintings by Egon Schiele. The Tell-Tale Heart resembles the comic book style of Alberto Breccia. The film was produced by the successful producer Stephan Roelants (A Town Called Panic, Ernest & Celestine, Aunt Hilda and another film from this year’s competition Song of the Sea) who spent 8 years with his dream project. Some of the voice acting was done by e.g. Guillermo del Toro and the classics of the genre Roger Corman and Béla Lugosi.