"Elsewhere" by Gints Zilbalodis -

Seventh Factory

  • “Elsewhere” was produced independently by a 25-year-old Latvian filmmaker.

  • A real man-orchestra, Gints Zilbalodis, who held all the positions, took three and a half years to complete this feature film.

Quality animation cinema can see the light of day other than in large studios employing hundreds of designers.

This is brilliantly demonstrated by

Ailleurs

by Gints Zilbalodis, winner of the Contrechamp prize at the Annecy Festival.

View this post on Instagram

Piękne to było!

👣🐾 #away #gintszilbalodis # łotwa # odległakraina #fantastyczna #animacja #extraordinary #animatedmovie # 🎬

A post shared by @ charlotte.vegan on Jun 1, 2020 at 11:35 am PDT

The Latvian artist of 25 Spring is the full author of this tale about a young man who is the victim of a plane crash who is then chased after a disturbing creature.

“I told myself that making my first film alone was also an opportunity to explore all the different positions and the different stages on my own,” he explains in the press kit.

Find our articles on Annecy here

A journey full of surprises

From writing to editing, including music, animation and production, this man-orchestra created everything himself.

“Sometimes it's easier to do things yourself than to explain them to someone else,” admits Gints Zilbalodis.

It took him three and a half years to come to the end of this poem without dialogue.

The director cut his teeth on several short films such as

Oasis

(2017) of which

Ailleurs

is a development.

The spectator lets himself be carried away in the footsteps of his hero in a mysterious world rich in dangers as in wonders.

Under influence

This very personal work combines different inspirations to give a poem to the images of astonishing purity and the soaring soundtrack.

Animation and live shots nourished the director's cinephilia before being brilliantly recycled in

Ailleurs

.

“My biggest inspiration was the work of Alfonso Cuarón, known for his long shots and the use of the handheld camera,” admits Gints Zilbalodis.

But I was also influenced by

Conan, the son of the future

, a series directed by Hayao Miyazaki in the late 1970s. ”Independent video games such as

Journey

and

Shadow of the Colossus

have also marked him.

View this post on Instagram

🎮 A big fan of video games, the filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis drew on the video game imagination for his film AILLEURS.

👉 From the masterpiece of contemplation Journey to the gigantic colossi of Shadow of the Colossus, via Ico and The Last Guardian of the genius Fumito Ueda, the director wanted to break down the borders to make his first feature film.

Discover ELSEWHERE, September 23 at the cinema.

With the family, from 9 years old.

#ailleurs #ailleurslefilm #away #gintszilbalodis #cinema #film #animation #anime #cinemadanimation #filmdanimation #gaming #video games #journey #shadowofthecolossus #ico #fumitoueda #evasion #experienceimmersive #festivaldufilmdanimationdesignecy #character

A post shared by Septieme Factory Distribution (@septiemefactory) on Sep 16, 2020 at 12:45 am PDT

Touched by grace

Without scenario or storyboard, Gints Zilbalodis let himself be carried away by his imagination.

He had divided the protagonist's journey into four parts to facilitate the transition between a feature film and a short film.

This minimalist tale stirs up deep emotions on the trail of the hero and the little canary who accompanies him in his tribulations.

If we can say that some films seem touched by grace, this is clearly the case for

Ailleurs

, which makes you want to follow its author very closely.

Cinema

"Annecy online" Festival: We unearthed the best animated images without setting the lake on fire

Cinema

The Annecy Festival comes to life "online", always opening up to the world and the public

  • Annecy festival

  • Latvia

  • Animation Film

  • Cinema outings

  • Cinema