“Baptism,” directed by Oscar-nominated Hugo Covarrubias, “Carmín,” from Mexican mural and animation artists Los Calladitos and Brazil’s “Pipa and Snail,” an ode to imagination will all be highlighted at this year’s La Liga Focus, Annecy-MIFA’s popular Latin American spotlight.
Selecting many of the most exciting and highest-quality titles from Latin America, the Focus will underscore the breadth and vibrancy of the region’s animation output, plus current artistic and market trends.
Unspooling Thursday at the Imperial Palace, home to Annecy’s MIFA market, La Liga yokes the energies of MIFA, Ventana Sur’s Animation!, May’s Quirino Awards in Canary Island Tenerife and September’s Pixelatl, Mexico’s major animation fest.
“Baptism” marks the feature film debut of Chile’s Covarrubias whose scored an Academy Award-nomination for best animated short in 2022 for “Beast,” winning a Quirino Award as well. The stop-motion feature explores the same sense of disavowed disconnect between daily life under Augusto Pinochet and the ghastly deeds carried out by his regime.
A short film sourced from Pixelatl’s Shortway strand, “Carmín” marks the latest from Los Calladitos, who have painted another mural in Annecy, a 15 meter x 15 meter work in a prime festival location, on the façade of Annecy’s central Pathé Cinema. This is the first mural in a series of murals that they plan to create in the future, notes Silvina Cornillón, director of the Ibero-American Quirino Awards who had coordinated Annecy’s La Liga Focus.
From Brazil’s Mesinha Amarela, (“PiOinc”), “Pipa and Snail” proved one of the standouts at last December’s Animation! in Uruguay, with three other titles – “Superchance,” “Baptism,” “Hua Awakes” – also winning MIFA Annecy Awards to take part in La Liga Focus.
Another La Liga Focus title, “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way” is tapped from the 2025 Animation! Mentoring Program for Female Creators.
“La Liga Focus showcases the extraordinary talent and creativity of Latin American animation, combining universal themes with our region’s unique history and culture – from Chile’s dictatorship memories in stop-motion to Colombian feminist stories in mixed media to Peruvian-Chinese identity in CGI – all with diverse visual styles and strong creative identity,” said Cornillón.
Here’s a closer look at this year’s lineup:
“Baptism,” (“Bautizo”) (Hugo Covarrubias, Chile)
After losing a VHS tape of his baptism, Héctor attempts to fill in the gaps of his memories from his childhood, which ran parallel to Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship. Produced by Lucas Engel at Chile’s Pista B and France’s Vivement Lundi!, written by Covarrubias and Alejandra Moffat and targeting 14+ spectators, the project “questions the subjectivity of memory, whether the truths we cling to are shields fabricated to guard us from trauma,” Covarrubias told Variety.
“Carmín,” (Ariadna Galaz, Mexico)
A 2D short film prized at Pixelatl, directed by Ariadna Galaz – one half with Jorge Peralta of producers Los Calladitos – “Carmín” explores characters based on legends, myths or real characters representing communities. Here, Carmín, a half-human, half-coyote girl, lives alone on an island of giant cactus, encounters a giant coyota, wounded and forgotten by its pack. The title mixes adventure, coming of age, migration and fantasy, La Liga notes.
“Hua Awakens,” (“El despertar de Hua,”) ( Daniel R. Chang Acat, Peru)
Peruvian-born Chinese teen Cheng struggles with his dual identity. After arguing with his father, he’s transported to an ancient Chinese village where he battles a dark spirit to reconcile with his roots. The CGI title “brings the rarely depicted experience of the Chinese-Latin American diaspora to life, highlighting the Asian minority experience in Latin America,” producer Saul Anampa explains.
“Pipa and Snail,” (“Pipa e Caracol,” Alex Ribondi & Ricardo Makoto, Brazil)
A 2D cutout animation series from Brazil’s award-winning Mesinha Amarela follows twins Pipa and Snail as they embark on adventures in a magical forest where a flying whale marks the passage of time, stones have feelings and stars appear as butterflies. Ribondi comments: “It’s a series where fun and philosophy go side by side.” Presented at Rio2C, Animacoaching, SAPI and Brasilia Film Fest in 2018.
“Superchance,” (Juan Gallo, Uruguay)
Produced by Cine HHH, a reality show in which contestants repress their desires are expelled. What they don’t know is that by losing they find the freedom to live true to their desires. A multi-prize winner at December’s Animation! billed as a dark comedy made with 2D, 3D and grease pencil techniques, the series producers are Micaela Tcherkassky & Itatí Romero who are looking to structure the title as an international co-production.
“Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way,”(“El Que Quiere Besar Busca la Boca,” Sandra Obando Morales/Tatiana Pinzon Salavarrieta Colombia)
Yolanda is born with wings, which are clipped by her family. She spends her life trapped in a house that literally feeds on female sacrifice. Luckily, her daughters come back for her, and after a lifetime of servitude, Yolanda finally gets to fly—no metaphor this time. Gender dynamics depicted through the prism of allegory and magic realism. A black comedy step-up for Colombia’s Malpraxis Studio, using 2D, 3D and stop-motion.
Baptism
variety.com
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