Photo Courtesy: GKIDS
Following a unique path in order to fulfill their own destiny is a powerful journey for anyone who treasures their independence in the world. Much like the determined protagonist in his new hand-painted animated movie, ‘The Girl Without Hands,’ first-time French feature film director Sébastien Laudenbach was driven to take whatever means necessary to achieve his goal, which involved bringing his distinct story to the screen. The movie, which features the voices of Anaïs Demoustier and Jérémie Elkaïm, faced several obstacles that initially prevented it from starting its development. But the acclaimed short filmmaker wasn’t afraid of pursuing his dream of sharing his resilient heroine, who wouldn’t allow anyone to tell her how to live, with the world.
GKIDS is set to distribute ‘The Girl Without Hands’ this Friday at the IFC Center in New York City, and then on August 4 at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills. The movie will also expand to other theaters across the U.S. and Canada, including in Minneapolis, Atlanta, San Diego and Vancouver, through September. The animated film will be released in North America in French with English subtitles.
The theatrical release comes after the movie premiered in the ACID section at Cannes, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the César Awards. It also won both the Jury Prize and the award for Best French Film at last year’s Annecy Animation Festival. It was awarded the André-Martin Award for Best French Feature Film special prize at the Annecy 2017 Intl. Animation Film Festival last month, as well.
‘The Girl Without Hands,’ which is based on a fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, follows a struggling miller who has inadvertently been tricked into selling his daughter to the Devil. Protected by her purity, she eventually escapes from the Devil, who, in revenge, deprives her of her hands. She then begins her long journey towards the light, and with the help of her resilience, she finds protection on a prince’s estate. Desperate not to allow the girl to deceive him, the Devil devises a plan of his own to get her back. But he’s shocked to discover her strong-will to retain her new-found freedom.
Laudenbach generously took the time recently to talk about writing, directing, editing and working as the cinematographer on ‘The Girl Without Hands’ during an exclusive interview. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed how he was so drawn to bring the fairy tale’s message of girl determined to gain her independence in a man’s world that he decided to make the movie on his own, after his initial producing efforts faltered. The filmmaker also mentioned how he showed the voice actors the pictures he had created, in order to assist them with their recordings. But he also encouraged them find their own rhythm while they were creating their roles.
ShockYa (SY): You wrote the screenplay for the new animated film, ‘The Girl Without Hands,’ which is based on the fairy tale of the same name by The Brothers Grimm. What inspired you to turn this story into a movie? What was the writing process while you were working on the script?
Sébastien Laudenbach (SL): Actually there is no screenplay for ‘The Girl Without Hands.’ I worked for several years on a script that’s based on a French play named ‘The Girl, The Devil and The Mill,’ which itself is based on a fairy tale. We didn’t raise enough money to produce this first project, so it was totally abandoned in 2008.
Then in 2012, I decided to make it, but in a different way. I had no producer at this time, and I was alone. I also didn’t have a studio and any money, so I made it by myself, alone.
I didn’t use the previous script nor the previous storyboard. So ‘The Girl Without Hands’ was improvised from the beginning to the end, as I didn’t use a script. It has been written with ink drawings on paper.
When I read the play and the tale, I am touched by its modernity. It is a tale with a prince and a princess, but it shows that that it is not an accomplishment; it is better to be a woman and a man, than a princess and a prince. The destiny of the girl is to leave a man’s world (the miller and then the prince) to find her own house, to grow up and become an entire, complete person before coming back to the world. It is told in a very beautiful, a universal way; it made me think about my own path when I was younger.
SY: In addition to co-writing the initial screenplay, you also made your feature film directorial debut on the movie, after you directed several short films. Was it always your intention to helm the animated movie while you were creating the story? How did working on the script influence your directorial duties once principal photography began?
SL: As mentioned before, the film was written directly in animated pictures. I made all my shorts by myself or with a tiny team. I didn’t want to make a feature; I wanted to close this part of my life’s chapter. I had this old project, and I found a way to do it!
The circumstances helped me. My wife had the opportunity to go to Rome, and participate in the Villa Medici artistic residency, for one year. She received a grant to help us live. So, I had one year in front of me, which is why I decided to launch this project in a very particular way.
There is no difference between this movie and my other ones. It is a short film, but longer than the others.
SY: ‘The Girl Without Hands’ features a strong and meaningful message that anyone can create the life they truly want, and can overcome any obstacle to find their happiness. Why was that idea something you wanted to focus on in your first feature film?
SL: When I look at the production story of this film, I can notice something weird: the story of the film’s development is very close the girl’s story in the film. After seven years of development of the first project, they decided to cut off my hands (figuratively). It was like they told me, “No, this child (the movie) can’t exist.”
Like the girl in the film, I had to wait a long time and grow up. I had to find my own house and grow my own garden with my own seeds and = hands.
So, it’s like everything was written in the stars. So, maybe that’s why I had to tell this story for my feature debut.
SY: What was the process of working on the unique visual look for the movie, including creating the animation, and also working as the cinematographer to help bring the animation to the screen?
SL: When you are alone and have one year to make a feature film, it is not possible to do the same things that a studio can do. I had to be resourceful.
First, as I wrote this movie, I didn’t use a storyboard. Rather, I just used an improvisation on the tale’s canvas. The animation is made in a traditional way; frame by frame, with 8 or 12 frames a second. But I had to draw 15 seconds a day, including backgrounds, when an animator makes something like 2 seconds a day.
So, I decided to make uncompleted drawings, which were, of course, were faster. I made enough of the drawings so that the audience’s brain could complete them.
I also decided to set one color for each character. I drew the entire movie with two tools: a black pencil and a grey pencil. Colors and compositing were made after the drawing process. Some people helped me for this step, but at the end, I had the control on the entire movie. Without any script, I wrote the dialogue lines at the end of the editing.
The work-in-progress was always open. In one day, I can choose colors, write dialogue, record it by myself on my cellphone, check if it works and turn back to the animation to change. It was very exciting to make the film like that. I felt very free!
SY: Like you previously mentioned, besides writing, directing and working on the animation and cinematography, you also co-edited the film with Santi Minasi. What was the process of editing the movie, and figuring out how you wanted the final version of the film to look like?
SL: After one year in Italy, I turned back to Paris with approximately 40 minutes of animation and 3/4 of the story. I completed three minutes, with colors and sounds to serve as a teaser.
Meanwhile, I found a producer, and we began to look for money to finish the film. Let me tell you, that was not easy! Thankfully, the French National Film gave us some money to finish the first 20 minutes. I started to work with Santi on that step. With these 20 minutes, we found a French distributor, who asked us to complete the production for the Cannes Film Festival.
I was in Italy in 2013 and 2014. After a year-and-a-half, during summer 2015, I restarted my work on the animation. I received a first edit of the film for Christmas 2015.
Then, with my editor, sound editor and the producer, we worked on the parts of the movie I thought were weaker than others. I had to re-animate and change or develop several parts, with new shots and new dialogue lines. We finished the movie just in time for the Cannes festival! May 2016.
SY: ‘The Girl Without Hands’ features a talented voice cast, including Anaïs Demoustier and Jérémie Elkaïm. What was the casting process like for the main actors?
SL: The girl’s voice was a very hard choice to make for me. It was difficult because I worked on developing the girl for 15 years, between the first and second versions. She was not only handless, but also voiceless. But I didn’t want to choose the wrong voice.
So I stole some French trailers on the internet that featured different actresses, and put the sound on my girl. From there, I had seven sequences with seven different sounds and voices.
Then, I showed it to my wife and my producer; they both told me that the third option was the best one. It was Demoustier’s voice! When I met her, she thought I was crazy with my one-man feature project. But, she liked the drawings! Instantly. I knew that she was definitely my girl’s voice. When she came to record for the first time, it was amazing. Finally, my girl had a voice, and what a voice she had! I wept.
SY: Once the actors were cast in their respective roles, what was the recording process like for them? Did you speak with the actors before, and during, their recording sessions, in order to discuss how you wanted each character to sound?
SL: It was very simple. We had three days to record the dialogues. The film was almost finished, so they had the pictures to assist them with their recordings. But I was sure to tell them not to follow the rhythm. They had to find their own rhythm, no matter if they were shorter or longer than the pictures. Once they did that, I adapted my shots on their voice.
SY: The movie has been awarded several accolades, including premiering in the ACID section at Cannes, being nominated for Best Animated Feature at the César Awards and winning both the Jury Prize and the award for Best French Film at the Annecy Animation Festival last year. What was the experience of bringing the film out on the festival circuit, and having it embraced by audiences?
SL: It is amazing! This film is an experiment, not just for me, but also for the audience. I know that there aren’t many films like that within animation history. I am now very proud of that!
But when I was in the midst of editing, and even when I firstfinished, I thought that there was no film and no story! I thought that only animation students could be interested in a movie like this.
Each time I meet people who like the film, it is such a good surprise! Having the opportunity to screen ‘The Girl Without Hands’ all over the world, including in Asia, America and East Europe, is a great gift that life has given me.
SY: GKIDS is set to release ‘The Girl Without Hands’ into select theaters across America this summer. How did decide to release the film with the help of the independent animation distributor?
SL: GKIDS watched the film at Cannes, and they were the first foreign distributor to buy the film. Having a one-man handcrafted feature released in the U.S. is incredible for me. I never thought this could be possible!