Netflix has announced that writer-director Juan Antin’s César Award-nominated animated feature film Pachamama, a hybrid animation adventure film about a young boy living in a remote village in the Andes Mountains, will debut in June of 2019.
The film is produced by Academy-Award nominee Didier Brunner.
Additionally, Damien Brunner, Olivier de Bannes, Pierre Urbain and Brice Garnier served as producers with Blue Spirit Animation and Haut et Court as co-producers. Bannes, Patricia Valeix and Nathalie Hertzberg served as co-writers alongside Antin, with the participation of Christophe Poujol, Jean-Marc Pannetier, Christine Ponzevera and Isabelle Blanchard.
Pachamama is a 2019 César Award nominee for best animated feature, selected by The Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences in France. Winners will be announced at the fourty-fourth César Awards ceremony on 22 February 2019.
The film features an original score by Pierre Hamon, recorded with thousand-year old pre-Columbian instruments, and the song Somos la Nueva Tierra is written by Antin and arranged by Hamon and Marc Hazart. The graphic creation is by Antin and Maria Hellemeyer.
Pachamama follows Tepulpaï, a mischievous 10-year-old who dreams of becoming a shaman. As the villagers are gathering to make an offering to their great spirit Pachamama, the ceremony is disrupted by an Incan overlord who confiscates the town’s golden statue. Tepulpaï sees the chance to show his mettle and sets off to recapture the irreplaceable treasure, joined (whether he likes it or not) by his friend Naira and her smart-talking pet llama. Together they make a journey across uncharted lands, full of unknown obstacles and dangers.
“Pachamama has been, for me, a very long journey, guided by a message that came like an echo from ancient times — a message of love, respect and gratitude to our cherished Earth,” Antin commented. “Thanks to Netflix, I am thrilled to share this story with a global audience.”
“At Netflix, we look for passionate creators from around the world who have unique points of view and Juan Antin has done an exquisite job creating a broad and beautiful family animated feature film in a style all his own, to honor the cultural backdrop against which Pachamama is set,” said Netflix vice president of kids and family Melissa Cobb. “We are thrilled that our global family audience will have the chance to visit the highest peaks of the majestic Andes mountains as they embark on an ambitious rite of passage alongside the film’s young and ambitious hero.”
Pachamama is set to play in the Opening Spotlight at the twenty-second annual New York International Children’s Film Festival on 24 February 2019, ahead of its June launch on Netflix.