Hand-drawn feature animation from Brazil is gaining momentum on the international festival circuit. Last month the Brazilian feature The Boy and the World (O menino e o mundo) won the top feature prize at Annecy. A few days ago, the Ottawa International Animation Festival announced that one of the five features in competition this fall will be the hand-drawn film Até que a Sbórnia nos separe (Until Sbornia Do Us Part) co-directed by Brazilian animation veteran Otto Guerra (Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock’n’Roll) and longtime DreamWorks artist Ennio Torresan Jr. (Turbo head of story).

The film, which also screened out of competition at Annecy last month, is based on a long-running Brazilian musical called Tangos & Tragédias. According to the festival programmers at Ottawa, it “examines corporate dominance and environmental issues through the story of Sbornia, an eccentric and poetic country which is introduced to the modern world when a wall collapses.”

The other animated features in competition at Ottawa this year are:

  • Seth’s Dominion (Luc Chamberlain, Canada)
  • Truth Has Fallen (Sheila Sofian, USA)
  • Aunt Hilda (Jacques-Remy Girerd and Benoît Chieux, France)
  • Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange: a Rapid Love Story (Mait Laas, Estonia)

Latest News from Cartoon Brew