Autour de Minuit Brings Packed Slate to Unifrance Rendez-vous

The 30th edition of the Unifrance Rendez-vous in Le Havre is just around the corner. The French film market plays host to hundreds of buyers and a vast range of titles being sold across genres and mediums.

Autour de Minuit, the Oscar-nominated production company that recently turned heads co-producing 2022’s “Unicorn Wars” (granted the Best Distributor Award by Unifrance last year), is bringing plenty of animated titles to this year’s Rendez-vous, including an eclectic selection of TV series and specials.

“The Drifting Guitar”

This 31-minute, stop motion-animated TV special from director Sophie Roze should definitely be one to watch, having picked up the Cristal For a TV Production at this year’s Annecy Festival. Using a beautiful mixture of cut-outs and puppets, Roze’s film is a rather whimsical tale about a weasel who sells ties. Her reputation as a pest drives her toward the forest, where she befriends a hedgehog and a capybara, who has been uprooted from his home. France’s JPL Films and Switzerland’s Nadasdy Film are co-producing. The special is set to be distributed by Autour de Minuit worldwide except for Switzerland.

“The Impossible Future”

Animation and ecological warnings about humanity’s impact on the environment have long gone hand in hand. “The Impossible Future,” a TV series from directors Antonio Balseiro & Martin Haas, is more direct about such issues of the Anthropocene: a documentary that discusses climate change but also the different potential routes to halting and even perhaps reversing the effects of that worldwide existential crisis.

Its ten, 13-minute long episodes hybridize 2D hand-drawn animation with live-action footage, its animated people essentially appearing rotoscoped while moving through real-world backdrops. The directors purposefully seek a more hopeful approach to narrativizing this issue, saying, “if we want to motivate change, we must urgently create and share an optimistic vision of the world to come that inspires collective imagination.” The bright colors of the animated characters, which are presented as being harmonious with the real world, certainly lend to that optimism.

“Freaked Out” – Season 2

Along with co-director Mothy, Théo Grosjean adapts his own autobiographical comic, “The Most Freaked Out Man in the World,” a series of mundane encounters turned excruciating by the main character’s anxiety. The first season, a 2D animated, 20-episode series of two-minute shorts, is aimed at a teenage and adult audience with its exploration of “the merciless world of modern life.” 

Each rather relatable episode is a window into a different lane of neurosis, as Théo’s anxiety complicates things that should be straightforward, like parties, doctor’s appointments and getting on a plane. It’s drawn in the same style as the book – favoring a simple palette of yellow, black and white colors. The second season is set for another 20×2 episode order. Pre-bought by Canal+ in France (who aired the previous season), the TV series is currently in production, with a release date set for the beginning of 2025.

“Polo Sans Bobo”

Another Annecy Festival award winner – picking up the TitraFilm Prize from its slot in the MIFA Pitches at the festival’s 2022 edition – Sophie Castaignede’s “Polo Sans Bobo” is a mixed-method 2D/CG animated film aimed at young children aged between six and nine. The story is that of Polo, a kid who has to leave his home in the city to join his mother in the country after she was transferred to work in the hospital there (it should also be noted that Polo is a raccoon). Petulant over the move, Polo insists on wanting to leave. The special is currently in production, set to be finished in early 2025.

“Jean-Michel: Super Caribou” – Season 2

The sleepy country town of Vlalbonvent is watched over by an unexpected protector: a “Super Caribou” in a cape and tights, “like Superman over Metropolis.” Directed by Mathieu Auvray & Pauline Pinson, the second season of this French-Belgian co-production between Autour de Minuit and Panique! continues the ten-minute adventures of Jean-Michel, a series of gently comedic adventures starring the eponymous woodland animal and the other quirky non-human residents of the town.

Based on the books written and illustrated by Magali Le Huche, the very premise is adorably silly, with the various capers of the animal town involving everything from learning healthy eating to super-powered mustaches and cases about property destruction. Animated in 3D CG, the show seems designed to faintly resemble traditional puppets. The show is currently in production. Set to release at the end of 2024 in France and early 2025 in other territories.

“The Shrimps”

Claiming influences from cartoon staples such as “The Amazing World of Gumball,” “Spongebob Squarepants” and “The Simpsons,” as well as the 2000s live-action hit “Malcolm in the Middle,” “The Shrimps” is currently in production and will also be pitched at Cartoon Forum this September. Created by Fabrice Ravier and Sébastien Guerout and directed by Celine Gob­i­net, this 2D animated children’s series is a sitcom following Meredith Shrimp, a 9-year-old shrimp living in Bubble City with her family. The “Malcolm” influences emerge through the rather wild behavior of her family, which sometimes interferes with Meredith’s ambitions of becoming a chef. Meanwhile, the “Gumball” influences feel clear enough in the show’s art style, with bright and polished designs.