São Paulo – The Lebanese-made animated film Samt (Silence) will be featured in the 24th Anima Mundi – International Animation Festival in Brazil, set to run from October 25 to 30 in Rio de Janeiro and from November 2 to 6 in São Paulo.
The 15-minute film by Chadi Aoun is the only Arab production in the festival this year. The plot is set in the fictional city of Ghabra, where silence reigns and any form of expression is punishable by death. The idea is to approach freedom of expression in the Arab world and the forces that oppose it.
According to Yelostudio – Afac, the studio that produced the film, “it touches on the wide-ranging reality of an Arab youth that inherited decadent political, social and economic systems and found a way to let its voice be heard in the recent protests that continue to shake up the region, in hopes of a better future.”
Samt (Silence) is part of Anima Mundi’s shortlist of 400-plus films from 45 countries. The festival will also feature productions from the United States, Turkey, Iran, Canada, Holland, Argentina, Mozambique, Portugal and Australia, among other countries.
Animated filmmakers from around the world will sit down for meetings, including Leo Matsuda, a Brazilian working with Walt Disney Animation Studios since 2008. Matsuda was involved in motion pictures including ‘Big Hero 6’ and ‘Wreck-It Ralph.’ His first short film ‘Trabalho Interno’ will be screened during the Anima Mundi.
The festival spans multiple venues. Click here for the full program: http://filmes.animamundi.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum