Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2020 – I, Barnabé
Confronted with doubt and feelings of emptiness, drunk with unhappiness and seeking to drown his sorrow, Barnabé experiences a curious metaphysical visitation; lightning strikes the spire of his church and a mysterious bird appears, forcing him to reconsider his life. What is his truth pointing him towards? What is the deeper meaning of his life on earth? In I, Barnabé, director Jean-François Lévesque deploys a spectacular arsenal of animation techniques to bring the character to life and illustrate his spiritual quest, achieving an extraordinary level of visual refinement in both the puppets and the settings. Perhaps Barnabé will have to be as light as a feather in order to move confidently toward still-unknown horizons …
Interview with Writer/Director/Animator Jean-François Lévesque
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made the film after coming to a number of personal realizations about life and death. The production was in development at a time when I was interested in re-examining the beliefs that I had inherited from my family.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I think the film should be watched because I was attempting, under cover of the sometimes cartoon-like imagery, to subtly create an experience of transcendence for the audience. I dare to hope that the powerful symbols I use will gently guide viewers' minds toward questions about their own lives.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The questions posed in the film are deeply personal and also, of necessity, universal. The details of the context are drawn from my personal history of growing up in a small village, in a family that was still profoundly attached to a religious life.
At the same time, the film touches on themes of spirituality, the ego, and physical death: subjects that one day or another we will all have to face.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
No matter what the project is and the level of preparation, it seems that the script of a film is bound to change in the course of production, especially when the making of a film is drawn out over a period of several years.
Even after the animatic was created, the script was modified again and again. It only assumed its more or less final form in the midst of production. The changes made at that point meant that some of the sets we had worked so hard to create don't appear in the final film at all.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
So far there's been very little opportunity for me to receive any feedback because the life of this film is just beginning. Its world premiere will be at the Annecy festival.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Experience has taught me that the public is always free to discover its own messages and draw its own conclusions when they see a film. The director can never impose a point of view.
With that in mind, I fully expect the feedback to be a surprise.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
The launch of the film coincided with the outbreak of the pandemic, which has made it impossible for people to physically attend festivals. So this online presence is essential. It will help to give the film a life and a chance to be seen.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
The NFB team is looking after distributing the film and submitting it to festivals. I have a whole team behind me to ensure that it will find an audience.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Since it's a film that is open to multiple interpretations, my greatest wish is that it will spark an impulse toward self-questioning in viewers, and also help them to understand the place of the ego and how it affects every one of us.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The film highlights the idea that we think we know ourselves, when in fact our personality is shaped around our beliefs. And so we should ask ourselves this simple question: What are we really? Are we anything more than a physical body?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
With the film recently completed, I'm now in the preliminary stages of developing some future projects. And at the same time, I'm working on developing my skills in 3D computer animation.
Interview: June 2020
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I, Barnabé
Confronted with doubt and feelings of emptiness, drunk with unhappiness and seeking to drown his sorrow, Barnabé experiences a curious metaphysical visitation; lightning strikes the spire of his church and a mysterious bird appears, forcing him to reconsider his life. What is his truth pointing him towards? What is the deeper meaning of his life on earth? In I, Barnabé, director Jean-François Lévesque deploys a spectacular arsenal of animation techniques to bring the character to life and illustrate his spiritual quest, achieving an extraordinary level of visual refinement in both the puppets and the settings. Perhaps Barnabé will have to be as light as a feather in order to move confidently toward still-unknown horizons …
Length: 15:00
Director: Jean-François Lévesque
Producer: Julie Roy
Writer: Jean-François Lévesque
About the writer, director and producer:
JEAN-FRANÇOIS LÉVESQUE won the NFB French Animation Studio’s 17th Cinéaste recherché(e) competition. The resulting creative residency allowed him to complete The Necktie (2008), which went on to win some 15 awards in Canada and abroad. In I, Barnabé, he continues the exploration of hybrid animation techniques that he began with his initial collaboration with the NFB.
As the Executive Producer of the National Film Board of Canada’s French Animation Studio, JULIE ROY has produced some 40 animated short films. She holds a master’s degree in cinema studies from Université de Montréal and has published numerous articles about women and animated films. In 2019, she co-produced Regina Pessoa’s Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days (Ciclope Filmes/NFB/Les Armateurs), which won two awards at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, including the Jury Award in the short film category. She was also the executive producer for Theodore Ushev’s new film, The Physics of Sorrow. Other recent productions include Patrick Bouchard’s The Subject and Matthew Rankin’s The Tesla World Light, both of which screened at Cannes, at the 2018 Directors’ Fortnight and the 2017 Semaine de la Critique, respectively. In 2016, she co-produced Franck Dion’s The Head Vanishes (Papy 3D/NFB), which won the Cristal Award at Annecy. Among the many other artists whose work she has guided are Claude Cloutier and Michèle Lemieux.
Key cast: Valérie Dupras (Props Fabrication, Illustrations, Set Finishing), Stephan Ballard (Director of Photography, Motion Control Operator), Annie Jean (Editing), Olivier Calvert (Sound Design), Robert Marcel Lepage (Music Score)
Looking for: journalists, film festival directors
Facebook: NFB
Twitter: @thenfb
Instagram: @onf_nfb
Hashtags used: #MoiBarnabe #IBarnabe
Website: www.nfb.ca
Other: Vimeo
Made in association with: © 2020 National Film Board of Canada With the participation of ARTE France Cinema Department Short Film Program Manager: Hélène Vayssières, ARTE With the cooperation of ARTV
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Annecy International Animation Film Festival/Annecy, France (2020) - June 15 to 20; Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) / Seoul, South Korea (2020) - July 10-12.