''Dilili in Paris'' (french: Dilili à Paris) is a 2018 French, German, and Belgian computer-animated

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

adventure film written and directed by Michel Ocelot, with

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...

by Studio O and animation production by

Mac Guff Mac Guff (also known as Mac Guff Ligne) is a French visual effects company based in both Los Angeles, United States and Paris, France, where it is headquartered. Mac Guff specializes in the creation of computer graphics for commercials, music vid ...

, about a

Kanak The Kanak (French spelling until 1984: Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. According to the 2019 census, the Kanak make up 41.2% of New Caledonia' ...

girl investigating a mystery in Paris in the ''Belle Époque''. It stars the voices of Prunelle Charles-Ambron, Enzo Ratsito, and

Natalie Dessay Natalie Dessay (; born 19 April 1965) is a French singer, known for her former career as an operatic soprano. She gained wide recognition after her portrayal of Olympia in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' in 1992, and then performing at leading stages, ...

Emma Calvé Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet (15 August 1858 – 6 January 1942) was a French operatic soprano. Calvé was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque. Hers was an international career, and she sang regularly ...

in the original, French-language version. The film had an invitation-only world premiere on 11 June 2018 as the opening ceremony feature, and its public premiere on June 12, at the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

before being released in cinemas on October 10 in France, on October 24 in Belgium and in 2019 in Germany. It won the César Award for Best Animated Feature at the 44th César Awards. It has been licensed for distribution in the United States and English-speaking Canada by

Samuel Goldwyn Films Samuel Goldwyn Films is an American film company that licenses, releases and distributes art-house, independent and foreign films. It was founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the Hollywood business magnate/mogul, Samuel Goldwyn. The curr ...

(having already been released in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

by Axia Films), who released it in cinemas in 2019.

Production

Development

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

Michel Ocelot has said that two starting points for the production were his desire to create a work set in Paris, and an originally separate desire to create one on the topic of male suppression and abuse of women and girls. He chose to combine these in a narrative which takes place in the ''Belle Époque'', roughly in the

1900s The 1900s may refer to: * 1900s (decade) File:1900s decademontage2.png, 420px, From left, clockwise: The Wright brothers achieve the first manned flight with a motorized airplane, in Kitty Hawk in 1903; A missionary points to the severed hand ...

, a decade in which several historical firsts for women in France were made. The film depicts some of the many notable historical figures who were often present in the city at the time, and features a fictionalized version of the opera singer Emma Calvé as a supporting character. However, it simultaneously intentionally diverges from real history (and, as the director readily admits, laws of science) in its metaphorical main plot and inclusion of retrofuturist technology influenced by various works of Jules Verne and ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'' by

Gaston Leroux Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, ...

Animation production

The

3D rendering 3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of converting 3D models into 2D images on a computer. 3D renders may include photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic styles. Rendering methods Rendering is the final process of creati ...

style continues in that used in '' Azur & Asmar'', in that the fabric, hair, and so on of the three-dimensional models is rendered as solid colours with no

shading Shading refers to the depiction of depth perception in 3D models (within the field of 3D computer graphics) or illustrations (in visual art) by varying the level of darkness. Shading tries to approximate local behavior of light on the ob ...

, though it differs in that the characters' bodies (which in ''Azur & Asmar'' were shaded from a fixed angle, in a style inspired by

late Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

medieval art) are defined with a tracing effect developed from that used in '' Kirikou and the Men and Women''. The scenery incorporates photographs, taken by Ocelot over four years, of structures which survive from the depicted era or earlier, including the Palais Garnier,

Bouillon Bouillon can refer to: Food * Bouillon (broth), a simple broth ** Court-bouillon, a quick broth * Bouillon (soup), a Haitian soup * Bouillon (restaurant), a traditional type of French restaurant **Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon restaurant foun ...

Racine,

Maxim's Maxim's is a restaurant in Paris, France, located at No. 3 rue Royale in the 8th . It is known for its Art Nouveau interior decor. In the mid 20th century Maxim's was regarded as the most famous restaurant in the world. History Early history ...

and the

Paris sewers The sewers of the French capital Paris date back to the year 1370 when the first underground system was constructed under Rue Montmartre. Consecutive French governments enlarged the system to cover the city's population, including expansions under ...

and objects from the collections of the Musée d'Orsay,

Musée de l'École de Nancy The Musée de l'École de Nancy is a museum devoted to the École de Nancy, an Art Nouveau movement founded in 1901 by Émile Gallé, Victor Prouvé, Louis Majorelle, Antonin Daum and Eugène Vallin in the city of Nancy in Lorraine, north-eas ...

Musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant wh ...

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin ( en, Rodin Museum) in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as ...

, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, and

Musée Marmottan Monet Musée Marmottan Monet ( en, Marmottan Museum of Monet) is an art museum in Paris, France, dedicated to artist Claude Monet. The collection features over three hundred Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, including his 1 ...

, which are used directly as two-dimensional elements or for

texture mapping Texture mapping is a method for mapping a texture on a computer-generated graphic. Texture here can be high frequency detail, surface texture, or color. History The original technique was pioneered by Edwin Catmull in 1974. Texture mappi ...

rather than as reference material. Others were recreated in three dimensions, including the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "' ...

, which was based directly on architectural drawings from

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...

's company. The digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica, was used for research and for two-dimensional empherea that were incorporated directly. Unlike Ocelot's two previous feature films, '' Tales of the Night'' and ''Kirikou and the Men and Women'', ''Dilili'' has not been released in

stereoscopic 3D Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

Release

In North America, the film was released in cinemas in

on 21 December 2018 by Axia Films and on

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

throughout Canada by them on 7 March 2019, in both instances in French with no English options. It was released in cinemas in the United States and English-speaking Canada on 4 October 2019 by

, with an English-language dub. In Australia, the film was played in cinemas as part of the 30th

Alliance Française French Film Festival L'Alliance Française French Film Festival is an annual French film festival in Australia organised by Alliance Française. With the intention of highlighting the richness and diversity of French cinema, the festival supports a selection of 35+ new ...

, which ran from 5 March to 18 April 2019 in 9 cities across the country, and it was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and video on demand in Australia and New Zealand on 10 July 2019 by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

, in both instances in French with English subtitles only. In China, the film was selected for competition at the 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival.

Accolades

At the 4th International Historical Fiction Film Festival, held in

Plaisance-du-Touch Plaisance-du-Touch (, literally ''Plaisance of the Touch''; oc, Plasença de Toish, Gascon: ''Plasença deu Toish'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department, southwestern France. It has a fine church with a notable organ by the Toulouse bu ...

in September 2018, ''Dilili'' won the Press Award for Best Feature Film. On 4 February 2019 at the 24th Lumières Awards it won Best Animated Film, and on 22 February 2019 at the 44th César Awards it won the César Award for Best Animated Feature.

References

External links

* at Wild Bunch International Sales * at Michel Ocelot's official website * at

* at Axia Films * * {{César Award for Best Animated Film 2010s French animated films 2018 films 2018 computer-animated films Animated adventure films French animated feature films Animated films about friendship Animation based on real people Belgian alternate history films Belgian animated science fiction films Belgian mystery films Cel-shaded animation César Award winners Films directed by Michel Ocelot Films scored by Gabriel Yared Films set in Paris Films set in the 1900s French adventure films French alternate history films French animated science fiction films French mystery films 2010s French-language films German alternate history films German animated science fiction films Mystery animation French historical films German historical films Belgian historical films French-language Belgian films 2010s German films Animated films set in Paris