Whether they are on the beach, on drifting ice, or on the shore of a pond, children just want to play. To do so with utmost seriousness or lightness, they need to have accomplices with whom they can share their fantasies and roleplaying. Exploring the Earth through mysterious tunnels, saving a sea monster, or even standing up to a very powerful and very bad genie: nothing is impossible for young players, and marvel shall be on time when playtime calls!
LE TUNNEL DE LA NUIT / BY ANNECHIEN STROUVEN, FR, BE, 2024 — 9’
LE MONSTRE MARIN / BY FRITS STANDAERT, FR, BE, 2024 — 9’
LE GÉNIE DANS LA BOUTEILLE / BY THOMAS LECLERCQ, FR, BE, 2024 — 9’
LA CARPE ET L’ENFANT / BY MORGANE SIMON, ARNAUD DEMUYNCK, FR, BE, 2024 — 7’
Label Europa Cinemas as best European film, Berlin International Film Festival, 2014, de
Annechien STROUVEN
Annechien Strouven is a Belgian artist, designer, animator and film director who studied media and animation at the Royal Academy of Fine Art and at the Media, Arts & Design Faculty in Ghent.
In her work, Annechien Strouven creates dreamy atmospheres, and her illustration and animation are mostly based on her own life experience that she enhances with a touch of absurdity.
As an animator, she worked on several international films such as La Sirène or Le Parfum d’Irak, as well as on many shorts (Spin & Ella, Mosaic, Carrousel…). In 2024, she directed her short, Le Tunnel de la nuit.
Thomas Leclercq is an illustrator and animated film director who lives in Brussels who divides his time between animation and comics.
He joined the Cambre workshop in 2013 where he directs absurd comedy films such as Sesame (2016) and The Amazing Space Doggo (2017), and his graduation film, Playmobils Generation, is an animation that smells of friends, knee injuries and Chocomiam biscuits.
Morgane Simon comes to Belgium in 2015 to study animation at the Haute École Albert Jacquard in Namur and the École nationale supérieure des arts visuels de La Cambre in Brussels.
In 2020, she enters the Brussels animation studio L’Enclume to work on Yuku and the Flower of the Himalayas directed by Rémi Durin and Arnaud Demuynck.
Music and cartoons hold a special place in Morgane Simon’s life and personal work, as well as observational drawings, the human figure and background colors.
Frits Standaert graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Art of Ghent in 1986.
He shares his time between directing, animation, production, and teaching at RITCS School of Art (Bruxelles) where he is also head of the animation department.
He has been directing animated films for young audiences, such as Rumours, Counting Sheep, with which he won the 2015 Best Flemish Short Award in Animation at Leuven International Short Film Festival, or Paso a paso, since 2011.
