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THE CROSSING will be screened at the 27th Schlingel International Film Festival on October 11, 2022. As part of the "Blickpunkt Deutschland" competition, our international co-production will be presented to school classes.

Together with TrickStudio Lutterbeck from Cologne and Studio FILM BILDER from Stuttgart we are currently producing the series "Fritzi & Sophie - Foundless Friendship" (WT). Based on our animation feature "Fritzi - A revolutionary Tale" the series tells in 8 episodes of 22 minutes each the life in the GDR, the escape of Sophie and her mother to the West and the beginning of a new life in the Federal Republic of Germany.

For the production in 3D, our artists slip into Xsens suits and we record their movements using motion capture. Three of four shooting blocks are done and the first scenes are already in animation cleanup.

Photos: Ina Rossow (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung)

Produced by Balance Film, TrickStudio Lutterbeck, Studio FILM BILDER in co-production with ARD, MDR, WDR, SWR.
Directors: Ralf Kukula, Matthias Bruhn, Thomas Meyer-Hermann
Funded by: BKM, MDM, Film- & Medienstiftung NRW, MFG Baden-Württemberg
World Sales: Global Screen

There are evenings that remain memory and are still worth telling about months later. So it is with the premieres of our animated film THE CROSSING. Regarding to the upcoming theatrical release on April 28th, 2022, we invited the Leipzig team to a preview.

In Dresden, we presented the oil-on-glass masterpiece during a premiere evening at Zentralkino.
During the film talk Ralf Kukula (co-producer), Philipp E. Kümpel (composer), Jan Mildner (compositing) and Thabet Azzawi (oud player) answered many questions, the evening was moderated by Andreas Körner (in the photo from left to right). Many thanks to Bernhard Reuther for the organization.

Fotos: Balance Film

On March 12, 2022 the Flemish Film and Television Award "De Ensors" went to the directors Ben Tesseur and Steven De Beul of Beast Animation. The award for Best Animation was given to our co-production MISTER PAPER. the cut-out-series will be broadcast on NDR from fall 2022.

On January 26 2022, THE CROSSING was nominated for the César Award as Best Animated Feature Film. The César is the national film award of France, which was created in 1976. Since 2011, the prize has also been awarded in the category Best Animated Film.

At the awards ceremony of the 64th DOK fest Leipzig, our oil-on-glass animated film THE CROSSING was awarded the "Gedanken-Aufschluss" price by a jury made up of prisoners from the Regis-Breitingen juvenile detention centre. The French director Florence Miailhe was a guest at DOK fest at the weekend and accepted the price.

Excerpt from the jury statement:
"Choosing the winner was very easy for us. In our opinion, the film was by far the most interesting and gripping... What we found particularly interesting about this film is that it can be very well associated with the current refugee situation, which prevails in many parts of the world and thus affects us all. With the help of the film you can put yourself in such a situation very well... We also liked the structure and style, as it is very artistic. The painting style is captivating and contributes to the tension of the film. In general, we can say that the theme of the story is exciting, believable and realistic... The film is insightful and thought-provoking..."

Photos: DOKfest Leipzig

Our co-production THE ODYSSEE started its festival tour with the world premiere in Annecy. At the "International Film Festival Zlín", the oil-on-glass animated film won the "Special Jury Prize - Feature Films" in the category Children and Youth on Sept 15th 2021. The film will be released in French cinemas at the end of September, in the Czech Republic at the end of November and in Germany on January 20th 2022.

(c)ZLIN IFF, MAUR film 2021
Martin Vandas - producer at MAUR Film recieving the award

We are thrilled by the voices of the French press after the world premiere of "La Traversée"/ THE CROSSING in Annecy:

LE FIGARO: La Traversée has inflamed the audience in Annecy" "An exceptional animated film".
LA CROIX "A great film in animated color".
LE PARISIEN "Sumptuous! A work worthy of a Chagall, of incredible artistic power".
TÉLÉRAMA "a magnificent cloak of humanism and poetry for all those displaced by history".

LE FIGARO "la Traversée a enflammé le public à Annecy" "un exceptionnel long-métrage animé"
LA CROIX "Un magnifique film en peinture animée"
LE PARISIEN "somptueux! Une œuvre digne de Chagall, d'une incroyable puissance artistique"
TÉLÉRAMA "un splendide manteau d'humanisme et de poésie pour tous les déplacés de l'Histoire"
 

In preparation for the series production "Fritzi & Sophie - Friendship without boarders" we test the motion capturing suits of the company Xsens together with the Dresden colleagues from Knitterfisch GbR. In the brand new studio near the Dresden fair we were able to tinker and measure and calibrate the whole day. In the meantime, we are evaluating the data and optimizing the technology in order to be best prepared for the start of production.

Pictured:
Francie Liebschner - Compositing Supervisor Balance Film
Jan Mildner - Compositing Supervisor Balance Film
Anselm Mende - Intern BF
Edgar Plonski - Intern BF
Tess Tischer - Intern BF
Tobias Kramer - Postproduction Supervisor
Jens Fehrmann - GF Knitterfisch

Photos by Ralf Kukula

The internationally co-produced animated film "The Crossing" is the world's first feature-length animated film using the technique of oil painting on glass. Already completed since early 2020, the film, like so many others, has been put on a long hold by the Covid19 pandemic before its theatrical release.

Artist and director Florence Miailhe and writer Marie Desplechin, both from France, tell the dramatic as well as adventurous journey of siblings Kyona and Adriel. When their village is devastated and set on fire by paramilitary gangs one summer day, the children have to flee with their parents. But they are separated from their parents. What they don't know at the time - a separation forever. Haunted by hatred, 13-year-old Kyona and her 12-year-old brother start for an odyssey through a fictional Europe. Their escape lasts a whole year and means the end of their childhood.

"The Crossing" wins the 2021 German Hearing Film Award in the category Children and Youth as its first prize. The slogan "To love films, you don't have to see them!" could hardly fit this previously unreleased film better.

Since 2002, the German Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired has been awarding the "ADele" to outstanding versions of hearing films. In the meantime, the award ceremony has developed into an event with high media attention. Under the patronage of Mario Adorf and from 2009 Christine Neubauer, numerous prominent guests from politics, film and business have been welcomed in recent years. This year's award ceremony took place digitally and was moderated by Steven Gätjen.

The award - the "ADele" - is a bronze sculpture by the blind artist Dario Malkowski (1926-2017) called "The Listener". The relief, weighing about 3 kilograms, shows a woman's face. "One hand is behind the ear to make listening clear, the other hand thoughtfully covers the eyes" the artist himself described the representation. It symbolizes how blind and highly visually impaired people "see" a hearing film.

Out of more than 850 submissions our animated feature film "Fritzi - A revolutionary Tale" has been chosen to be nominated for this year´s 57th Grimme Award.
Films were nominated in the categories Information & Culture, Fiction, Entertainment and Children & Youth. The respective juries will now decide on the 16 Grimme Awards which will be announced on May 11, 2021. The awards ceremony is scheduled for August 27, 2021.

FRITZI Grimme Award

When events and good news come thick and fast, sometimes it's hard to spread the word. So here's a little update on how FRITZI surprise everyone again at the end of the year.
At the end of November, it rained two more great prizes for "Fritzi - A revolutionary Tale". First, FRITZI was awarded for the best feature film by the children's jury of the Mexican festival "La Matatena" in Mexico City!
A few days later, the screenplay of "Fritzi - A revolutionary Tale" by Beate Völcker and Péter Palátsik received the Kindertiger Screenplay Award, probably the most important children's film screenplay award in Germany. The KiKA children's jury explained its decision as follows: "We were most impressed by the story of a self-confident girl who risks a lot for her friendship. The script of "Fritzi - A revolutionary Tale" made us think about the fact that we don't live in a divided country, nor are we separated from our friends and family." "For us, the award is a blast!" said the winning duo. "We are happy for all of the team who worked so many years on FRITZI. Especially with an animated film, teamwork is very important. A lot of heart and love went into this film. The fact that our script wins this screenplay award, which is only given by children, is a very special recognition."

Photo: KiKA

The German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe) and the Nonsmoking Action Alliance (ABNR) have awarded "Fritzi - A revolutionary Tale" the Smoke-free Seal 2020.

Extract from press release:
Smoke scenes are omnipresent in German film and television productions. In many cases this also applies to children's and youth productions, i.e. films without age limitations. The fact that it is also possible without smoke is proven by the multiple award-winning film "Fritzi - A revovulutionary Tale, which was also nominated for this year's German Film Award in the category "best children's film". The film deliberately refrains from using smoking characters and thus serves as a role model - especially for young people. "Smoke scenes in films signal to children and young people something completely wrong, namely that smoking is "cool" and part of everyday life (Dr. Martina Pötschke-Langer, Chairwoman of the ABNR). Together with the WHO, the ABNR is calling for an increase in the age rating for films in which actors smoke. However, this requires a change in the FSK criteria for voluntary self-control of the film industry, which are used to evaluate films. So far, smoking in films has not been a fixed criterion for FSK ratings in Germany.