PRINCESS Trailer

Here’s the TRAILER for PRINCESS, a new hand-drawn animation/live-action feature from Denmark directed by Anders Morgenthaler. The film is playing at Cannes this month. The synopsis, from the film’s official website, makes it clear that this is a very different type of animated film:

The 32-year-old clergyman August returns home from years of missionary work abroad because of the death of his sister Christina, who – after going from greatness to the gutter as the famous porno star “The Princess” – has finally died of drug abuse. She has left her five-year-old daughter Mia with Karen, a prostitute. August pays them a visit to bring Mia home with him and become her guardian. Burdened by sorrow and guilt, he decides to avenge Christina’s death and brings Mia along on a crusade to clear his sister’s name of pornographic connotations. The mission escalates into a brutal and violent rout as August attempts desperately to protect the only thing he holds dear – namely Mia – forcing him to make a fateful decision.

While in the US, audiences have resigned themselves to accepting one ‘farting animal’ CG film after another, there is a mini-renaissance of mature, intelligent feature animation currently being produced in Europe, including PRINCESS, as well as Norway’s FREE JIMMY, and France’s PEUR[S] DU NOIR and RENAISSANCE.