The Mexican stop motion film “Soy Frankelda” (I Am Frankelda), directed by brothers Arturo and Roy Ambriz, will have its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which will take place in France from June 9 to 15.
This production marks a milestone for Mexican animation, as it is the first stop motion feature film to be shot from start to finish in the country. It was shot at the independent studio Cinema Fantasma in Mexico City.
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Short films and some scenes for feature-length stop motion films had previously been produced in Mexico. Such is the case of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio,” which had support from Taller de Chucho in Jalisco, though the film was filmed in English and mostly produced in the United States.
“[Soy Frankelda] is our homage to the art of storytelling,” the Ambriz brothers said in a statement.
“As siblings, we’ve been captivated by fiction since childhood, starting with drawings and games and evolving into literature, theater, cinema and animation. Our passion for creating worlds led us to conceive Francisca Imelda, or Frankelda, a fictional Mexican horror writer from the 19th century. Like her, we have faced frustration from rejection, yet we remain determined to pursue our ambition for creative expression.”
In a statement on social media, the Ambriz brothers’ studio Cinema Fantasma expressed its excitement over this achievement: “It’s hard to put into words how we feel about reaching this moment.” They noted that this project was born “from the tenacity of dreaming big, of not giving up, and of trusting in the power of imagination.” They thanked their team, creative partner Warner Bros. Discovery LATAM and Guillermo del Toro, whom they acknowledged as their mentor in the film’s final stage.
They also thanked the Annecy Film Festival “for giving us the honor of showing this film to the world for the first time.”
Days before Annecy opens, “Soy Frankelda” will be the opening film at the Guadalajara International Festival (FICG), set to take place from June 6 to 14.
“Soy Frankelda” is the sequel to the Ambriz brothers’ miniseries “Frankelda’s Hidden Scares,” which tells the story of Francisca Imelda (Frankelda), a young writer in 19th-century Mexico who, tired of being overlooked for her writing, immerses herself in the world of her own scary stories.
The story, which is streaming on HBO Max, is inspired by Mary Shelly, author of Frankenstein. It consists of five episodes, each one telling a short, scary story narrated by “Frankelda.”
With reports from Latam.ign, Tribuna Fantasta and Cinema Fantasma
