Programme 2008

France, 2006, 35 mm, 99'
In French language with English and Slovenian subtitles.
Suitable for children.

Directed by: Michel Ocelot
Assistant Director: Eric Serre
Screenplay: Michel Ocelot
Dialogues and Graphic Design: Michel Ocelot
Background Design: Anne-Lise Lourdelet-Koehler
Voices: Cyril Mourali (Azur adult), Karim M'Ribah (Asmar adult), Hiam Abbass (Jenane), Patrick Timsit (Crapoux), Fatma Ben Khell (Princess Chamsous Sabah), Rayan Mahjoub (child), Abdelsselem Ben Amar (child)
Music: Gabriel Yared
Sound: Thomas Desjonqueres, Cyril Holtz
Produced by: Christophe Rossignon
Production: Nord-Ouest Production, Mac Guff Ligne, Studio O, France 3 Cinéma, Rhône Alpes Cinéma, Artemis Productions, Lucky Red, Zahorimedia, Intuition Films

Azur & Asmar Pedagogical Materials: Irena Weber

Azur and Asmar were brought up as brothers in a beautiful castle in the midst of the desert. Yet they were not of the same blood. Azur was the son of a noble man, Asmar the son of the castle nurse. They enjoyed nothing more than the nurse's long and brilliantly vivid stories. Among these their favourite was the story of the Djinn fairy - a magical princess imprisoned inside a mountain awaiting a brave prince to come and save her.
But one day, Azur's father brought this friendship to an abrupt end. He sent his son off to the city to learn from a proper tutor. The years pass, but destiny brings these parted friends back together. And when they are reunited their rivalry comes to the fore. They set off on a quest to determine who will be the first to find and rescue the good fairy. Yet many surprises await them on their journey.

Michel Ocelot was born on the French Riviera and spent his childhood in Guinea and his adolescence in the Anjou region of France. After studying art in France (the Beaux Arts in Angers, the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris) and in the USA (California Institute of the Arts), he devoted his professional life to animated films. He has made about thirty shorts and series, both for television and cinema, which have won numerous awards at leading international festivals, among others, a CESAR in Paris, a BAFTA in London, first prizes at festivals in Zagreb, Odense, Annecy, Kiev, Ottawa... Michel Ocelot was also President of the ASIFA (International Animated Film Association) from 1994 to 2000.

Since his first professional short film, Les Trois Inventeurs (1979), Michel Ocelot has written the screenplays and done the artwork of all his creations. In 1998, the general public became aware of Michel Ocelot, thanks to the huge box-office and critical success of his first feature film Kirikou and the Sorceress (Kirikou et la sorcière). The film's popularity was so great that it led Michel Ocelot to relate more of his little hero's adventures in Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages, 2005) which he co-directed with Bénédicte Galup. Azur & Asmar, minutely prepared from 2001 on, is a project full of new experiences: Michel Ocelot worked with a live-action producer (Christophe Rossignon, of Nord Ouest), chose to combine 3D and 2D, and brought together his production and animation team in Paris, his home city, the entire film being made in Paris, unlike most other French animation productions.

Director's Notes

"People have often asked me how I make children's films. My secret is that I never make children's films, because children are not interested in films designed purely for them! Children need to learn about the world and discover new things. They don't need to stay in familiar territory or understand everything instantly. There are things which I do not say crudely, because there are children in the audience, but I still say everything. I cannot make a film which wouldn't interest me today. I'm the first viewer of my work, both as an adult and a child, because I have all ages inside me!"

"Making an animated feature film means devoting six years of your life to a subject. So it has to be worth it. The subject which was closest to my heart? On the one hand, all those people who hate one another — since that is how they were raised — who wage war on one another, and on the other hand, the individuals on both sides who do not toe the line, who respect and love one another despite the barbed wire fence which keeps them apart.

I considered inventing an enemy country, with a fake language. What a sad idea to invent an enemy country! What a bad idea to invent an artificial language — you can spot it, and a real language is so much more interesting! And I thought about everyday life in France and around the world. I no longer wanted to treat a real war that had been declared, but ordinary animosity between indigenous and immigrant citizens, and to push it further, at the same time, between the West and the Middle East. I had found my subject matter! A highly topical issue to be treated like a marvelous fairy tale."

Michel Ocelot

Film Comments
"Beguiling animated fable with real charm." (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian)

"With its delicate, fairy-tale bones and layer of politically conscious muscle, Azur and Asmar is a sleek and yet slightly unwieldy animal." (Michelle Orange, The Village Voice)

"Production design, credited to Anne-Lise Lourdelet-Koehler, goes nuts with the intricately patterned, arabesque architecture and highly stylized and detailed landscapes to craft a world like a lavishly printed children's book brought to life."
(Leslie Felperin, Variety)