The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily, feature film, with live narration by Rok Kušlan (6+)

Slavna medvedja zasedba Sicilije / La fameuse invasion des ours en Sicile / The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily

In French with Slovenian and English subtitles, live narration in Slovenian

For those who like laughter, tears, legends and adventures, here are the storyteller and entertainer, commedia dell’arte prince Gedeone, and his young assistant Almerina, to tell you a story: Once upon a time, when bears still roamed the mountains of Sicily, Léonce, the King of Bears, was playing in the river with his son Tonio. Suddenly, Tonio was kidnapped by hunters. In the hope of finding his son, the Bear King decides to invade the land of men. Thanks to his powerful army and the help of a wizard, he succeeds at both quests, but soon finds out that bears are not meant to live in the land of men.

Directed by: Lorenzo Mattotti 

Based on a book by Dino Buzzati

Written by: Thomas Bidegain, Jean-Luc Fromental, Lorenzo Mattotti

Graphic creation: Lorenzo Mattotti

Music: René Aubry

Editing: Nassim Gordji Tehrani, Sophie Reine

Voices: Leila Bekhti, Thomas Bidegain, Jean-Claude Carrière, Beppe Chierichi, Arthur Dupont, Thierry Hancisse de la Comédie Française 

Producers: Valérie Schermann, Christophe Janković

Production: Prima Linea Productions, France 3 Cinéma, Pathé, Indigo Film with Rai Cinema

Distribution in Slovenia: FIVIA – Vojnik

Made by the acclaimed Italian illustrator, comics artist and animator Lorenzo Mattotti, the film is based on the legendary 1940’s book by Dino Buzzati. Enhancing the original graphic style of the book through novel aesthetics, it is an outstanding experience when watched on the big screen.

We started out really enthusiastically. In the beginning, it could have been a minor, very simple film that was less cinematographic. But little by little we realized that the story was strong, that there were lots of spectacular things and so we aligned with this vision. The final imagery was very tricky to produce with this degree of richness and spectacularity. We proceeded step by step. For a whole year we tried to make the film in 3D and had two teasers made in 3D with two different teams, but we finally realized that it was too expensive with that quality and with all those sets, all that detail. We wouldn’t have had enough money.

I find that creative people are very afraid of colours. Not many people take pleasure in using colour. I have always had fun using them. I asked my chief decorator to use bold colours, not to be afraid, and also to use touches of light. Colours are light. Images always have to be brought out using lighting effects. But you shouldn’t be afraid of this red, or that yellow. Colours are energy. They convey positive energy to us. What I hate about some animated films is that they don’t know what colours to use, so yellowy-brown wins the day.

- Lorenzo Mattotti 

Awards (selection):

- Nominated for Un Certain Regard Award, Cannes Film Festival 2019

- Nominated for Best Feature Film, Annecy International Animated Film Festival, 2019

- Nominated for Best Animated Feature, Locarno Film Festival 2019

- Nominated for Best Animated Feature, Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival 2019

- Nominated for Golden Giraldillo, Seville European Film Festival 2019