The animated film "The Lion Boy" caused controversy because of its character image.
Chinese the Internet circulated that "the three protagonists in it, A Cat, Dog and Ah Juan, were promoted by the Annecy Film Festival in France as a model of oriental character image."
After verification, "The Lion Boy" was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the 2021 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, and there was no public evidence that the film festival called the film a "model of oriental character image".
Chinese some netizens on the Internet recently expressed their dissatisfaction with the character image of "Lion Boy", saying that the three protagonists, A Cat, A Dog and Ah Juan, "have a wide eye distance, squinting eyes, a fat belly, a thin hemp pole hand, and no health points."
Some netizens also said: "The three protagonists, A cat and dog and Ah Juan, are promoted by the Annecy Film Festival in France as a model of oriental character image", which proves that the film caters to Western tastes and prejudices.
The above claims are based on a widely circulated screenshot:
The Annecy Film Festival, commonly translated as the Annecy Festival, is the world's largest animated film event, founded in 1960 and held in Annecy, France. The Animation Festival and its affiliated International Animated Film Fair (MIFA) bring together the world's newest animated film productions, bringing together industry leaders and emerging talents.
1, "The Lion Boy" was selected for the Annecy Film Festival?
Affected by the epidemic, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021 will be held from June 14 to 19 in a combination of offline and online.
According to Animation Magazine, "The Lion Boy" was selected for feature films in Competetion, but only on June 9.
The official Twitter of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival also released the news on June 10: "The 12th feature film joined the official selection, and the Chinese film "Lion Boy" directed by Hamilton-S. ”
At that time, the English title of "Lion Boy" was Lion Dance Boy, not the current I Am What I Am.
Marcel Jean, artistic director of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, revealed in an interview with Le Film fran ais magazine that due to the epidemic, it was originally planned to choose only 8 feature films for official competitions, and later chose 10 feature films at one point. Until June 9, five days before the opening of the festival, two more films were selected for the competition section, bringing the total number to 12 films.
One of them is "The Lion Boy", and the other is "La Traversée" directed by French director Florence Miailhe, which tells the story of two children who face exile and many dangers during the journey of adolescence.
"Lion Boy" is not the only Chinese film selected for the main competition section of this year's film festival, "Jiang Ziya" was selected in May, when the media called "Jiang Ziya" "the only Chinese animation selected".
2. How does the film festival evaluate "The Lion Boy"?
According to Animation Magazine, Marcel Jean, artistic director of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, said in announcing the selection of "Lion Boy": "We had a really good surprise. Hamilton M. S. (Sun Haipeng) directed "The Lion Boy" depicts contemporary China in a form that is both humorous and touching, completely original and produced with first-class craftsmanship. This will be one of the ultimate films not to be missed in the judging! ”
The English version of "Lion Boy" on the official website of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival is:
By a fortunate coincidence, Juan was inspired and encouraged by a girl of the same name. Therefore, he decided to form a lion dance troupe with his friends Ah Cat and Ah Dog to break the shackles of reality and fight for a chance for himself. It's a hilarious coming-of-age story about how they supported each other in all kinds of hardships and tribulations to finally achieve their dreams. ”
The French version is introduced as:
A pleasant coincidence is that Juan was inspired by a girl of the same name. With her encouragement, he decided to form a lion dance troupe with his friends Ah Cat and Ah Dog to get rid of the shackles of reality and finally successfully overcome the difficulties to complete the task. It's a hilarious coming-of-age story. Through friendship, difficulties are overcome and dreams finally come true. ”
The Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which has not been publicly queried, calls "The Lion Boy" a "model of oriental character image.".
"The Lion Boy" was shortlisted for the main competition section of the 2021 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France, and there is no public evidence that the film called the film a "model of oriental character image".
Inspector: Song Qi
Sources
http://www.lefilmfrancais.com/cinema/152189/annecy-2021-marcel-jean-une-selection-qui-prend-le-pouls-de-nos-societes
https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/annecy-2021--trois-nouveaux-films-ajoutes-a-la-selection_1478788
https://www.abusdecine.com/article_festival/annecy-2021-films-en-selection-pour-la-competition-officielle/
https://www.annecy.org/programme:en/index:film-20212902
https://twitter.com/annecyfestival/status/1402669913744023553
https://www.animationmagazine.net/events/three-new-films-join-annecy-2021-program/