wrote Robbie Collin yesterday, film critic The Telegraph (article) about The Red Turtle, a French (Wild Bunch/Why Not Productions) Japanese animated dialogue-less film directed by the Dutch born Michael Dudok de Wit. It’s Studio Ghibli’s, a Japanese animation film studio first co-production that premiered to very strong reviews on Wednesday May 18th, in the Un Certain Regard (The 2016 Official Selection) section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It’s Michaël Dudok de Wit first animated feature (80 mins.) and got acquired the next day by Sony Pictures Classics for North & Latin America. On June 20th the film will premiere at the EYE in Amsterdam, The Film Museum in the Netherlands. Q&A with Director. Buy tickets here.
The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds. (imdb)
Few artistic collaborations yield the perfect synthesis of sensibilities found in “The Red Turtle,” a touching animated ode to the cycle of life directed by acclaimed Dutch animator Michaël Dudok de Wit with the assistance of Japan’s Studio Ghibli. writes Zack Sharf from Indiewire.
Michaël Dudok de Wit is most well-known for his short film Father and Daughter (2000) which won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and the Grand Prix at Annecy. This was followed by The Aroma of Tea (2006), an experimental film painted entirely with tea. Watch an intimate interview below, this to get to know Michaël Dudok de Wit a bit more. He explains his inspiration for his short Father and Daughter (2000):
Also in competition is Dutch Director Paul Verhoeven’s Elle. Paul is known for the 1987 instant classic RoboCop, and 1992 erotic thriller film Basic Instinct. Elle has been selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival this year, and will have it’s premiere on Friday. It’s Verhoeven’s first feature film in ten years. Elle (French: She or Her) is an upcoming French psychological thriller written by David Birke, based on the novel Oh… by Philippe Djian, starring Isabelle Huppert.
Watch Paul’s interview with Dutch journalist and television presenter Matthijs van Nieuwkerk from last tuesday here. (Dutch only)
VPRO Cinema reports from the Cannes Film Festival ( 11 / 22 May ). Watch the 10min daily video Cannes reports here. (Dutch, Interviews in english)
Photo credit: Studio Ghibli