Jordane Delahaye, Gleaner Writer

Promising event slowed by Sandy

The Alliance Française of Jamaica kicked off the inaugural staging of the French Animated Film Festival with a hilarious Cabbie Chronicles episode and the double Academy Awards nominee Les Triplettes de Belleville.

The event, which is hosted at the Alliance Française headquarters, was scheduled to be a four-day film festival set to run from October 22 to 25. The effects expected from the arrival of Sandy, which at press time was scheduled to hit the island as a Category One hurricane, put paid to those plans and the festival is now scheduled to continue next Tuesday and run until Thursday. The festival will feature two different animated films each night.

On Tuesday, Cabbie Chronicles, the Jamaica 50 episode, was well received and the creators of the popular Jamaican animated series, Alison and Anieph Latchman, told The Gleaner they were happy to come on board for the event. According to the husband and wife duo, the event gives them the chance to get real-time reactions to their work.

The dynamic duo said they were very excited about the festival as it bolsters the animated film industry in Jamaica and helps to expose the animated films and talent to a wider audience. For the couple, animated films give them the chance to offer a compelling story to the audience in a very creative way as there is no limit to what can be done in animation.

The other animated film, Les Triplettes de Belleville, is a visual spectacle which tells the story of a resourceful and determined grandmother who teams up with an aged singing trio - the sensational Belleville Sisters - to rescue her grandson after he is kidnapped during the Tour de France.

President of the Alliance Française of Jamaica, Françoise Cevaer, and executive director, Amandine Poret, told The Gleaner they decided to introduce the festival in Jamaica to promote cultural diversity and also to offer a little piece of France to the country.

Both Cevaer and Portet urge animation lovers and film aficionados to come out and support the event as it also promotes local talent.

The festival is also being staged in recognition of International Animation Day on October 28.