THE KINGDOM OF THE ABYSS

by Tian Xiaopeng / 2024 / China /
VF / 1h52 / animation / 3D / from 8 years old

Shenxiu, a 10-year-old girl, is drawn into the depths of the sea on a family cruise. She then plunges into a wonderful abyssal world and its curious Restaurant des Abysses run by Captain Nanhe. Hunted by the Red Ghost, their underwater odyssey begins, strewn with trials and mysteries.

Tian Xiaopeng spent seven years creating a unique visual style based on Chinese ink painting, far removed from the standards of Japanese and American animation. Using a special technique, he has succeeded in transposing the blurred forms of Chinese ink painting into 3D, creating a free, dazzling visual style that verges on the dreamlike.

Lighting is the soul of a film; Le Royaume des abysses uses lighting techniques from live-action films to show both the dream world and the real world. Similarly, for the acting, the characters’ expressions were created using real actors, so that the audience could feel real emotions.

It’s impossible not to be blown away by the ultra-spectacular visual frenzy of Kingdom of the Abyss, a Chinese animated blockbuster with a budget that pales in comparison to Disney’s, and which nonetheless blows away all its recent releases. (Wide Screen)

Selected for the Annecy 2023 Festival

Special preview of the film’s national release on February 21.

Prices: €6 full, €4 concessions
Free access for PIDS accredited visitors by reservation at the CDA reception desk.

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Centre des arts, Enghien-les-Bains – Ligne H – 10min de Gare du Nord

STAGE 5, WARNER’S SPECIAL EFFECTS DEPARTMENT CONFERENCE

At the turn of Hollywood’s “Golden Age”, from the 1930s to the 1950s, profound transformations structured the special effects world. New technologies and shifts in economic and aesthetic trends led to the creation of specific departments within the major studios, staffed by dedicated and increasingly specialized professionals. At Warner-First National, the Scientific Research Department, better known as “Stage 5”, quickly acquired a strong reputation for the excellence of its production, astonishing even its fiercest competitors of the time. How did the structuring and hierarchical structure of this creative team differ from operating methods elsewhere? How do the individuals who make up this “studio within a studio” position themselves within the framework of their collective organization, and what room for maneuver do they have? This analysis, in the form of a “travelling tour” of this specialized department, will ultimately put into perspective what the “Hollywood golden age” in general, and Warner Bros. in particular, owe their success to the special effects industry, at the crossroads of technical, economic and aesthetic issues.

Réjane Hamus-Vallée is a University Professor at the Université d’Evry Paris Saclay, Centre Pierre Naville, where she heads the “Image et société. Documentary and social sciences”. She is also the author of books on the history of special and visual effects.

Followed by the screening of :

THEM!
(Monsters attack the city)

by Gordon Douglas / 1954 / USA / VOSTFR / 1h34 /
with James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon

Atomic testing in New Mexico causes ants to mutate into giant monsters. A sci-fi classic from the 50s, rarely shown in cinemas!

Prices: €6 full, €4 concessions
Free access for PIDS accredited visitors by reservation at the CDA reception desk.

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Centre des arts, Enghien-les-Bains – Ligne H – 10min de Gare du Nord

ROALD DAHL x WES ANDERSON
THEATRICAL RELEASE + CONFERENCE

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

by Wes Anderson / 2023 / USA / 39min / VOSTFR /
with Ralph Fiennes, BenedictCumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel

After the adaptation of the children’s book Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009, Wes Anderson returned to Roald Dahl’s work, adapting his collection of short stories for adults (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and six other short stories) into 4 short films for Netflix.

Exclusive to PIDS, discover on the big screen of a movie theater The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, only available on Netflix.

Followed by a meeting with
Simon Weisse,
hosted by Julien Dumont

Simon Weisse, a German model builder, visual effects supervisor and props designer, is renowned for his work on the films of the Wachowski sisters (Le Parfum, Cloud Atlas, Matrix Resurrections) as well as on Wes Anderson’s films (Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City). He recently renewed his collaboration with Wes Anderson for two short films: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and The Swan.

Julien Dumont, a leading cinephile and collector, and director of Lyon’s Musée Cinéma et Miniature, recently opened a space dedicated to “The Art of Cinema through the Lens of Wes Anderson”, in collaboration with the director and his teams.

This meeting with Simon Weisse and Julien Dumont will provide an opportunity to look back at their work and Wes Anderson’s colorful cinema, with plenty of illustrations and film extracts.

Tarifs : 6 € plein, 4 € réduit

Free access for PIDS accredited visitors by reservation at the CDA reception desk.

> En savoir plus
Centre des arts, Enghien-les-Bains – Ligne H – 10min de Gare du Nord