Title of the project: The Girl Who Was Not Afraid of Bears

Estimated budget: 40,000.00 €

Logline:

A feminist western about a fearless girl who must face a monster she didn’t expect.

Description of the main story and poetics:

Behind the hills and valleys stands a hut where a father lives with his three daughters. The eldest two venture into the world despite the warnings from their father against the black beast that stalks the forest. The two sisters return scared, for there really is something haunting the woods. The youngest is fearless and an epic battle unfolds with the beast. After defeating it, she discovers that the beast was her father in disguise. She rides into the world, saying that no fear will stop her.

Concept:

The Girl Who Was Nott Afraid of Bears is a 5-minute short film the story of which is based on an old Albanian folk tale about a young girl, who, despite her father’s wishes, decides to leave her home and travel the world. The film is led by a distinct feminist theme intertwined with an archaic folk tale. The counterpoint to this is the use of the film genre typical of the male world; the western, which further bridges the gap between the exclusion of female protagonists in certain film genres. The themes of women’s representation and social determination of gender are socially relevant again. In animation at the moment, to a large extent, in response to these themes, we get either stories about women as victims of the system or affirmative tales about heroines. The relevance and progressiveness of the theme of our film lies precisely in its holistic presentation of the contradictions, paradoxes, and problems of these social themes, which reflect real life and the state of society.

The dynamic directing using fast cuts, extreme perspectives and dramatic music based on modern, stylized illustration will appeal to teenagers and festival audiences.

Director’s biography:

Lea Vučko, illustrator by education and animator by profession, has animated on Prince Ki-Ki-do, Weasel, Špela Čadež’s OITNB Netflix commission and Somewhere Else, a contemporary puppet play. She is the co-creator of two site-specific projects that were selected for Animafests’ Animation goes MSU (Petris, Spring Cleaning) and cofounder of OCTOPICS production studio.

 

Presentation of the production company:

Since 2011, animation studio Invida has successfully released eight independent animated films. We focus on producing animated content for a younger audience and are developing animated TV series and short films for children of all ages. As content creators, we’re conscious of the responsibilities that come with producing children’s entertainment.

 

List of partners on the project so far/ Amounts already negotiated:

Slovenian Film Center: 10.000 EUR funding for development 

lea.vucko@gmail.com

lunacekizar@gmail.com

maja@invida.tv