WFAC - Waterloo Festival For Animated Cinema 2004 - October 27 - 30, 2004

Kaena: la Prophétie

Kaena: the Prophecy

2003 - France - 90 mins
French language dialogue with English subtitles
Rated PG (Parental Guidance)
© 2003 Xilam Films / StudioCanal / Groupe TVA
Official Kaena website (Flash): French English
Movie trailers (QuickTime): French English

Director

Chris Delaporte

Production

Xilam Films

Synopsis

Axis, the world-tree, is in mortal danger. Its sap has run dry, and it is in vain that the people pray to the gods. Struck by strange visions, Kaena becomes convinced that Axis is calling to her for help. A rebel at heart, she disregards the taboos of her tribe and the authority of the High Priest, and begins a perilous journey to the roots of Axis, helped by a mysterious creature from another world. The alarming truth that Kaena will discover at the end of her search will change all of their destinies.

Special notes

Kaena was the first completely computer-generated film from Europe. Appleseed is the first completely computer-generated film from Japan. Both follow the great successes of the American computer-generated film maker, Pixar - and both borrow nothing at all from its storytelling tradition or styles.


Profile: Director Chris Delaporte

Chris Delaporte, 32 years of age, was a painter. A great fan of H. R. Giger, Otomo and Miyazaki, he is a former pupil of the Université d'Arts Plastiques of Paris and held many exhibitions. The emergence of computation in the artistic realm grabbed Delaporte's interest, and he quickly transitioned to join the production of video games. It was while he was working with the graphic design of the game Heart of Darkness that he met Patrick Daher, and in 1995, they set out to create the design for Kaena. It was the beginning of the production of the first totally 3DCG film from Europe - a film that Delaporte acknowledges as owing a heritage less to cartoons, less to Disney than to Japanese animation.

World Sales Agent

Xilam Films