Marine Blin: Last News

Ben Croll Urban Sales and KMBO have boarded the 2D family film “The Hermit and the Bear,” with the Paris-based exporter handling international sales for the animated title as Gallic distributor KMBO covers the domestic release. This joint distributor/sales agent deal marks a dual show of faith for a development title that recently pitched to substantial buyer interest at the Cartoon Movie pitch and co-production forum in Bordeaux — where KMBO was voted distributor of the year. Adapted from a 1990s tome, the film follows the long apprenticeship between a lonely bear and an irascible hermit. Beginning as an awkward pupil and a rusty teacher, the pair’s bond soon develops into an unusual and life-affirming fellowship. The duo then set off into the forest, singing the benefits of friendship to all the woodland critters.

Ben Croll Speaking at a Monday morning panel dedicated to emerging female talent in the French animation sphere, filmmakers Marine Blin (“What Resonates in Silence”), Mélanie Robert-Tourneur (“Hold Me Tight,” pictured above), and Kajika Aki Ferrazzini (“MOM”) spoke candidly about pet obsessions and shared approaches while breaking news of future projects.The Belgium-based Robert-Tourneur (who uses they/them pronouns) will build on their previous film’s visually symbolic and narratively oblique 2D animated style in a film that will recontextualize the biblical myth of Lilith — Adam’s first wife, cast out of the garden for disobedience – in a more contemporary form.“My storytelling doesn’t correspond to a feature format,” they explained.