After finding Ballad of a White Cow (2020-also reviewed) to be stunning,I took a look at the line-up online line-up from the final day of the Edinburgh International Film Festival for another gem. Taken by the off-beat trailer, I decided to look up at the skies of Lebanon.
View on the film:
Making short stop-motion animation shorts before reaching for the skies, co-writer (with Yacine Badday)/ director Chloe Mazlo unveils an exquisite feature film debut, with Mazlo & cinematographer Helene Louvart opening a sparkling, almost Musical atmosphere in 1950's Lebanon, with ultra-stylised warm, glossy pastel colours beaming in graceful tracking shots around Alice (played by a delightful Alba Rohrwacher.)
Expanding on her short film roots, Mazlo weaves surrealist stop-motion animation into Alice's life, with ambitious spilt-screen shots of Alice interacting with her stop-motion animated parents (!), crayon-coloured matte paintings drawing a kooky mood to Alice's bubbly romantic life, and a stark wall which comes face to face with the horrors of civil war.
Waving farewell to Switzerland as she heads to Lebanon, the screenplay by Badday and Mazlo plays with a pitch-perfect playful tone Alice's sincere love for the country and those who welcome her into their lives with open arms, which Alice struggles to retain a grip on, as the darkness of the civil war begins to cover the skies of Lebanon.
View on the film:
Making short stop-motion animation shorts before reaching for the skies, co-writer (with Yacine Badday)/ director Chloe Mazlo unveils an exquisite feature film debut, with Mazlo & cinematographer Helene Louvart opening a sparkling, almost Musical atmosphere in 1950's Lebanon, with ultra-stylised warm, glossy pastel colours beaming in graceful tracking shots around Alice (played by a delightful Alba Rohrwacher.)
Expanding on her short film roots, Mazlo weaves surrealist stop-motion animation into Alice's life, with ambitious spilt-screen shots of Alice interacting with her stop-motion animated parents (!), crayon-coloured matte paintings drawing a kooky mood to Alice's bubbly romantic life, and a stark wall which comes face to face with the horrors of civil war.
Waving farewell to Switzerland as she heads to Lebanon, the screenplay by Badday and Mazlo plays with a pitch-perfect playful tone Alice's sincere love for the country and those who welcome her into their lives with open arms, which Alice struggles to retain a grip on, as the darkness of the civil war begins to cover the skies of Lebanon.