Annecy to World Premiere ‘Perlimps’ from ‘The Boy and the World’s’ Ale Abreu

Ale Abreu travels to Annecy to debut his resonant second feature ‘Perlimps,’ playing as a Special Event.

Acclaimed Brazilian writer-director Alê Abreu, director of the Oscar-nominated “The Boy and the World,” will world premiere his electric feature-length film “Perlimps” at the upcoming Annecy International Animation Film Festival after excerpts from the project were teased as part of the fest’s Works in Progress program last year.

“Perlimps” will screen at Annecy as a Special Event.

The film presents a mythical prism of hues splayed out to create a dense enchanted forest pictured in painterly tropical tones. Amidst the backdrop, two rivals, Claé and Bruó, reluctantly join forces in a bid to save their precious woodland and the Perlimps from giants surrounding the forest and regain peace.

The animated feature’s producers also shared in exclusivity with Variety a new still from the film, which introduces a third character, John Ovenbird, when he meets with Claé and Bruô

“The film is simply gorgeous. It’s both a story of secret agents and a pacifist and ecological fable, a film aimed at the whole family that leaves the audience in a state of wonder,” mused Marcel Jean, artistic director at Annecy.

He added: “It is a treat for the festival-goers who will have the privilege to see it before the rest of the world, and Annecy is proud to present it to the public. The film is a crowd-pleaser. It is a pure gem,” muses

Produced by Sao-Paolo based Buriti Filmes, the production house of film directors Lais Bodansky (“Just Like Our Parents”) and Luiz Bolognesi (“The Last Forest”), both films which made a splash at Berlin, “Perlimps” is co-produced by Sony Pictures International Productions and Globo Filmes

The “Perlimps” teaser trailer presents vivid, colorful ants marching before panning out to reveal the vast wilderness, where our protagonists glide through their respective spaces before colliding and marching through ever-more dystopian scenery to combat ominous threats to their innocence and sovereignty.

“Alê Abreu’s cinema unites utopia, fantasy and resistance. The handmade mode with all the backgrounds painted by hand, the animation also done in free stroke, the small team, everything works subtly to tell grandiose, universal stories that speak of cosmic beings and archetypal clashes,” Bolognesi told Variety.

“What delighted me about helping to produce the film is that this limitless fantasy connects to small affections and contemporary traumas. ‘Perlimps’ may be happening right now on the border between Ukraine and Russia,” he added.

Hand-drawn and 2D/3D computer techniques secured the striking and abstract detail that assists the feature in relaying the larger-than-life hopes of the smallest among us, exhibiting that with big dreams which bring innumerable rewards.

Abreu is no stranger to Annecy, having earned its top Cristal in 2014 for his feature film “The Boy and the World,” which would be nominated for best animated feature at the 2016 Academy Awards. Bolognesi won Annecy’s top Cristal a year before that with “Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury.”

On this year’s inclusion, Abreu commented, “Premiering in Annecy has always been our dream plan. I am very excited to have a world premiere in this great festival that is a reference for animation cinema. ‘Perlimps’ comes from the idea of creating an environment to portray childhood as a physical space. This led to the creation of the Enchanted Forest: a magical, lyrical place where all colors and sounds are possible.”

2022’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival runs June 13-18.