"My Grandfather's Demons," Nuno Beato's first stop motion animated film, has been acquired by Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks Int'l for worldwide distribution.
Guido Rud, the CEO of FilmSharks, claims that the company was successful in outbidding rivals for the animated film, which had its international premiere in Annecy.
"Finding a great animation jewel, not just in terms of aesthetics but also in terms of storytelling, where the employment of various animation styles makes the story fly even higher, is one of the hardest tasks for my acquisition team, managed by Santiago Migdal," said Rud.
Migdal remarked, "We finally won this auction and we are extremely thrilled. It was a hard jewel to win since many sales agents were hunting it.
According to Rud, discussions with China, Brazil, Benelux, and the U.S. are well under way.
The well-reviewed hybrid cartoon combines 2D, 3D, and stop-motion animation, with the first two methods being used in the opening sequence where we first meet Rosa, the protagonist character, a successful designer working in a cutting-edge office. In contrast to her otherwise prosperous profession, she toils unwillingly, and the colours are frigid, flat, and clinical.
She returns abruptly to her rural family home after learning of the passing of her somewhat estranged grandfather. As the movie switches to stop motion animation and rich, textured colours to convey her return to her roots and her connection with the land, she enters a realm full with clay creatures—her grandfather's demons—and wild animals.
She discovers a nasty neighbourhood where people harbour grudges against her grandfather. She uses her IT skills to address the water shortage problems they attribute to him in an effort to disprove their assertion that she is similar to him.
Beato claims that the late ceramic artist Rosa Ramalho's traditional work served as an inspiration for the devil figurines. The clay sculptures, known as "caretos," are frequently utilised at winter solstice celebrations that have Celtic roots in northern Portugal.
"With this film, I intend to generate an identification with a way of life that so often consumes us, makes us withdraw from our most profound selves, and pushes us into automatic actions that isolate us from the other," says Beato in his statement as the film's director.
"Taking solace in the embrace of others, the yearning for friendship bonds, sharing, and mutual aid are all intimately related to Rosa's pursuit. We all require the company of people and the relationships that develop beyond the desire of financial independence and the illusion that it fosters for us, the speaker continued.
The screenplay was co-written by Cristina Pinheiro ("Menina") and Possidónio Cachapa ("Adeus à Brsa").
Sardinha em Lata (Portugal), Caretos Film (Portugal), Midralgar (France), and Basque Film are the producers of "My Grandfather's Demons" (Spain).
It received the benefit of pitching at Ventana Sur's Animation! sidebar when it won the La Liga Feature Project Award at Segovia's 3D Wire, which has since been rebranded Weird Market. Along with numerous other funds, it is also supported by a $100,000 grant from the Ibermedia fund.
