‘Dragonkeeper’, an animated film directed by Salvador Simó and Li Jianping, will open the 27th Malaga Festival
The Spanish-Chinese co-production, based on the novel with the same title by Carole Wilkinson, will participate in the Official Section of the Competition
The animated film Dragonkeeper has been chosen by the Malaga Festival to open the 27th Edition of the Festival on the 1st of March. This Spanish-Chinese co-production, directed by Salvador Simó and Li Jianping, will participate in the Official Section of the Competition. With this film, Salvador Simó returns to the Malaga Festival, where he had already participated in the 22nd Edition with Buñel en el laberinto de las tortugas, an animated feature film that got the Biznaga de Plata Award for Best Music (Arturo Cardelús).
Dragonkeeper, produced by Guardián de Dragones AIE, Film Animation and China Film Corporation, Movistar Plus+ and Atresmedia Cine, is an adventure and fantasy film written by Carole Wilkinson, Pablo Castrillo, Ignacio Ferreras, Rosanna Checchini and Wang Xianping. It is based on the first out of six novels from the popular and award-winning book series of the same title by Wilkinson. It is expected to premiere on Spanish Cinema on the 19th of April, by the hand of A Contracorriente Films.
The film features the music by Arturo Cardelús and Jiale Yi, graphic design by Elizabeth Castro and Fu Yan, animated direction by Abraham López, and 3D-direction by Víctor Sauco.
In collaboration with Atresmedia, Movistar Plus+, Media Europa Creativa, Instituto de la Cinematografía y Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA), Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Empresa Nacional de Innovación (ENISA) and Audiovisual Finanzas (CREA).
Synopsis
These are dark times in Imperial China. Dragons, once the friends and wise allies of humans, have been haunted for years and imprisoned in dungeons. In a remote mountain fortress, a young girl helps the last of the dragons escape and joins him on an exciting mission to recover the most precious treasure: the last dragon egg, stolen by an evil wizard who wants to exploit its magical potential to achieve immortality.
Its directors
Salvador Simó returns to the Malaga Festival, where he had already participated in the 22nd Edition with Buñel en el laberinto de las tortugas. An animated feature film that got several awards, such as the Biznaga de Plata Award for Best Music (Arturo Cardelús), the Feroz Puerta Oscura Award for Best Feature Film of Official Section and Asecan Ópera Prima Award. With this film, he got four nominations at the 34th Edition of the Goya Awards and won for Best Animated Film; got the award for Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards in 2019, Jury Mention and Best OST at the Annecy Festival in the same year, and it was nominated for Best Independent Film at the Annie Awards.
Simó has also directed TV projects and worked on special effects departments of silms such as The Jungle Book or Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales, among others.
Li Jianping is professor at the Beijing Film Academy and dean at the Animation School. He worked as an animation director at the China Central Television from 1998 to 2007. He’s Secretary-General at the Animation Arts Committee of the China Artists Association, and Deputy Secretary-General at the China Animation Association, as well as president of the Beijing Film Association.
Share
