French Animation: The Mirror Effect – The Longing of Michaël Dudok de Wit
A portrait of the talented Dutch filmmaker and animator Michaël Dudok de Wit, best known for his short "Father and Daughter" which won the 2002 Oscar for Best Animated Film, is on the programme this year.
Michaël Dudok de Wit will be taking centre stage this year in Annecy, as his latest film The Red Turtle is set to open the Festival. This documentary called The Longing of Michaël Dudok de Wit was made to explore the work of this relentless perfectionist.
Dudok de Wit has always hand-drawn his films, but for his first feature, he was assisted by almost 30 animators from all over the world.
While working with others, it was a real challenge for him to preserve his meticulous nature, his ability to subtly represent characters and his ingenious use of colours, light and shadows. In this documentary, the filmmaker admits how much energy it took him to pull off this achievement, in which he was very personally invested.
The documentary follows Michaël Dudok de Wit and his film crew throughout the creation process of the project that took over two years to complete.