New Zealand International Film Festival to screen Ethel and Ernest

Ethel and Ernest is to be screened in the World Strand section of the upcoming New Zealand International Film Festival. (Wellington, 28th July – 13th August)

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/wellington/ethel-ernest/

From Wellington Scoop:

World Strand films are selected throughout the year by NZIFF’s programmers. The 10 films announced today range from Irish comedy A Date for Mad Mary, Inuit drama Maliglutit (Searchers), French drama The Midwife, to Sofia Coppola’s US drama The Beguiled, direct from Cannes and starring Nicole Kidman.

“21 countries are represented in the largest section in the catalogue. France, the UK and the US are strong as always, but Catalan cinema has delivered one of the year’s unexpected gems in Summer 1993. Our selections always pays close attention to films lavished with praise or box office success from their countries of origin, as well as films that premiered at Cannes only four weeks ago,” says NZIFF Director Bill Gosden.

Plus…

12 FILMS PLAYING AT NZIFF THAT WE’VE BEEN DYING TO SEE

Raymond Briggs awarded CBE

It has been announced that Raymond Briggs has been awarded the CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2017.

Sir Paul McCartney, knighted 20 years ago, has now become a Companion of Honour in the same list. Sir Paul McCartney wrote and performed the song In The Blink Of An Eye which is played over the end credits of Ethel and Ernest.

Raymond Briggs examining a mural of his work when he visited the Komedia cinema in Brighton. He was there for a Q&A and screening of Ethel and Ernest. The mural was made by cinema staff member Nina Cornwall.

Snowman author among Brighton and Hove names in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

Ethel and Ernest and Animation UK at Annecy 2017

The Annecy International Animation Festival is over for another year. Ethel and Ernest was one of nine feature length films in competition. The main presentation of our film was on the first night of the festival and it received a very warm reaction from the festival audience.

Fifteen producers from Animation UK were at Annecy to fly the flag for British animation at MIFA, the event that runs alongside the main festival. The UK stand, supported by the Department for International Trade, featured Ethel and Ernest as a backdrop.

Lupus Films’ Camilla Deakin, the producer of Ethel and Ernest, at the Animation UK stand. She is pictured with Eugene Kim from the Bucheon Animated Film Festival which is held in South Korea in October.

Some reviews of Ethel and Ernest after the first of six showings at the festival:

“An animated hug. So much kindness, love and tenderness emanate from this film, that it becomes impossible not to live it fully.” – L’info Tout Court

“…what Ken Loach could have done if he could draw.” – Telerama France

“Ethel and Ernest are alive, sensitive without falling into sentimentality. A real tour de force that is worth seeing.” – focusonanimation.com

The festival audience at Le centre culturel de Bonlieu queue up for the French premiere of Ethel and Ernest.

Rehearsing for the Ethel and Ernest press conference. L to R Richard Overall (editor), Roger Mainwood (Director), Camilla Deakin (Producer).

Ethel and Ernest co-production partners Studio 352 were at Annecy too. The Luxembourg studio was celebrating its 20th anniversary. Here is Pascal Gerard, head of backgrounds on the Ethel and Ernest film.

The festival takes place on the shores of Lake Annecy. The perfect venue for the biggest animation festival in the world. This year we had sunshine all week !

The 2017 Annecy Crystal for a Feature Film went to the Japanese film Lu Over the Wall. Reviewed by Japan Times here L’info Tout Court here and by Anime News Network here.

Ethel and Ernest in Slovakia

ETHEL & ERNEST has been invited to screen at the 25th edition of International Film Festival ART FILM FEST  Košice which will take place from June 16th – 24th, 2017 in Bratislava, Slovakia.  It will be shown with Slovak subtitles

The Artfilm Film Festival was first held in 1993, the year the Slovak Republic was established. It is the longest continuously running international film festival in Slovakia. While 1993’s Artfilm was attended by a modest 300 viewers, by 2009 attendance levels had reached 25,000 film fans, and in recent years this number has approached 30,000.

Ethel and Ernest will be screened on the 23rd and 24th of June.

Ethel and Ernest heading to Long Island in July

The 22nd Stony Brook Film Festival will be showing Ethel and Ernest in July. The festival is held at Stony Brook University, the State University of New York. The producer of Ethel and Ernest, Camilla Deakin from Lupus Films, will be introducing the film at the festival.

Ethel and Ernest will be one of 36 films that were chosen out of over 2,000 entries for this year’s festival. The Stony Brook Film Festival is a sought-after venue for filmmakers, sales agents, and distributors from around the world, who enjoy having their films shown on one of the region’s largest screens to audiences of up to 1,000 viewers.

“The festival’s recent turn toward international films will continue with screenings of “The King’s Choice,” a Norwegian drama set during the Nazi occupation of Oslo; the Finnish coming-of-age story “Little Wing,” about a 12-year-old girl searching for the father she has never met; and “Ethel & Ernest,” a British animated film based on Raymond Briggs’ graphic novel about his parents’ relationship from the 1920s through the 1970s.” – Rafer Guzman, Newsday.

“The story is not the only appealing aspect here; this beautifully animated film is also visually captivating.” – Long Island Pulse Magazine