Leading Belgian producer Hanne Phlypo of Clin d’Oeil Films has revealed further details of her hugely ambitious new project Draw For Change!, a Forum selection in IDFA this week.
The anthology series, about female cartoonists around the globe who fight for gender equality, is set to start production in earnest in Spring 2021. However, footage for the Egyptian episode, featuring outspoken cartoonist Doaa El-Adl, was shot last month.
Leading female documentary makers already abroad the project include Laura Nix, Kim Longinotto, Nada Riyadh, Karen Vazquez Guadarrama, Sama Pana and Anna Moiseenko. Vincent Coen and Guillaume Vandenberghe are the show runners on the series (sold internationally by Autlook).
“It has actually been quite easy to convince the directors of the importance of making this series because of the topic and also because most of the directors really like to work with the cartoonists,” Phlypo said.
The real challenge, the producer added, was to “find a good match between the directors and the cartoonists.”
Phlypo has raised the possibility that individual episodes of the series, being presented at the Forum as 8 x 52 mins, could potentially also be spun off as self-contained films if they are strong enough.
More directors are still to be confirmed. The aim is also to have an episode set in Brazil and one in Kenya – directors and cartoonists still need to confirmed for these two countries.
“The way we finance it is as a series, but there is also a possibility for some broadcasters to go and cherry pick episodes. For most broadcasters, it is difficult to place a series. Some broadcasters prefer to have 3 to 4 episodes and we think we can facilitate that.”
Phylpo is promising the directors considerable creative freedom. “The advantage of working with such high profile directors is that they have their own style and own signature. We chose them for that. It would be very crazy if we imposed a very generic style,” she commented. “If any of these films would be so strong they would also have the possibility of being developed at feature length, we would probably do that.”
Draw For Change! Is just one of several new projects on the current slate of Clin d’Oeil Films.
Intriguingly, Phylpo is plotting the company’s first foray into dramatic feature films with Fuga, the next feature from Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jiménez. Set in the Amazon, this is the story of Saor, a young androgynous Indian, who has come to the funeral of his mistress in his native village. The story touches on the “dirty war” in Peru and the homophobic violence unleashed during the years when terrorists were most active in the country.
“It started out as a documentary. Their previous film was also a hybrid but here we are emphasising the fiction elements so we are financing it as a fiction film.”
The French co-producer is Tu Vas Voir while the Peruvian partner is Perpetua Films.
The company is also on post-production on Pieter Van Eecke’s The Falling Sky, about a Brazilian shaman (Davi) fighting to protect the rain forest and his people. The project recently received Eurimages backing.
