(Self-portrait
by Vincent van Gogh)
Loving
Vincent, the world’s first fully hand-painted
feature film, nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Animated Feature,
releases in South Africa on February 23.
The ambitious film, an account of a young
man’s journey to Vincent van Gogh’s hometown, is told entirely through
intricately crafted oil paintings in the artist’s unique style. It will be
distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution.
“Oscar voters had 26 new features to
consider for a best animated feature nomination.” says Mayenzeke Baza of AAA
Entertainment, sales agent for Loving
Vincent in Africa.
“As remarkable as Vincent’s brilliant
paintings, is his passionate and ill-fated life, and mysterious death. The
feature brings his brilliance to life through a truly fascinating and visually
beautiful experience.” added Pascal Schmitz, head of acquisitions for AAA
Entertainment.
Written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and
Hugh Welchman, Loving Vincent was
produced by Poland’s BreakThru Films and UK’s Trademark Films. Every one of the
65,000 frames of the film is an oil-painting hand-painted by 125 professional
artists who travelled from all across the world to the Loving Vincent studios in Poland and Greece to be a part of the
production. Vincent himself said in his last letter: ‘We cannot speak other
than by our paintings’. The film takes him at his word and lets the paintings
tell the real story of his life and art.
Loving
Vincent was first shot as a live action film with
actors, and then hand-painted over frame-by-frame in oils. The final effect is
an interaction of the performance of the actors playing Vincent’s famous
portraits, and the performance of the painting animators, bringing these
characters alive through the medium of paint.
The 90th Academy Awards ceremony will take
place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on March 4, when the
winners will be announced.
“We are delighted to be bring a
ground-breaking film of this calibre to South African audiences.” added says
Helen Kuun, of Indigenous Film Distribution whom will be releasing the film in
South Africa.
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