MAGAZINE

In cinemas October & November

Check Out www.ChildrensCinemaClub.co.uk

Interview withWriter & Director

Remi Bezancon

Enter our competition

to adopt a Giraffe

Based on historical events, this heart-warming tale recounts the voyage of the first giraffe to be transported to France, and his friendship with 10-year-old Maki.

Celebrating the beauty of traditional animation techniques and combining it with a story that celebrates the importance of friendship, Zarafa is the perfect film to open the Children’s Cinema Club.

The Children’s Cinema Club is part of a nationwide initiative. It aims to bring the best independent children’s films from around the world to UK family audiences, giving young people, children and families the chance to explore cinema from outside the mainstream.

UK distributor Soda Pictures leads The Children’s Cinema Club initiative. The club is created with support from the British Film Institute; a national institution which, through a variety of outreach programmes and informal and formal educational courses, encourages families, children and young people to engage with independent, archive and specialist cinema.

A wide array of partners made up of film specialists, cinema programmers, support agencies and staff at children’s film festivals also support the Children’s Cinema Club.

Inside this digital issue, you can discover more about Zarafa and the people that made this visually rich, independent, 2D animation.

MAGAZINE

WELCOMETO

This issue celebrates the first film to be presented by the Children’s Cinema Club - Zarafa. Directed by Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie, Zarafa is a visually stunning animated French feature film that takes place in the early 19th century.

If you want to find out more about the Children’s Cinema Club and the partners that made the initiative possible you can click on the link below, as well as a find a link to book tickets at a cinema near you.

Tumble Down the Rabbit Hole

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@ChildrensCinema

No.1

The stunning 2D French-Belgian animation has already been a box-office hit in its home territories and now, through Soda Pictures, U.K. audiences will have the chance to marvel at the children’s adventure.

The film follows a young boy Maki (Max Renaudin), who has been taken away from his village in Sudan to be sold into slavery. When he escapes the hands of evil trader Moreno (Theirry Fremont) he soon befriends an orphaned baby giraffe who is then captured by a kind-hearted Bedouin trader (Simon Abkarian) and named Zarafa (Arabic for “giraffe”). Stubborn and keen not to lose his new friend, Maki vows to stay with Zarafa and protect him from harm’s way. When the three arrive at Alexandria,

Egypt, they discover that it is under siege by Turkish invaders and their only hope is to travel to France with Zarafa and offer the animal as a gift to King Charles X in the hopes he will dispatch his Gallic army to the rescue.

French writer-director Remi Bezancon (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, A Happy Event) joins forces with director-character designer Jean-Christopher Lie (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Tarzan) to bring this kid-friendly tale with darkly historical elements to life on the big screen.

“I wanted to tell a story for children in an unsentimental way that was based on the true story of Zarafa, while not staying too close to the

One Boy & His Giraffe

By Diana Lodderhose

Loosely based on the true story of the first giraffe transported from Africa to Paris, Zarafa is a sweet and fascinating tale of a young boy’s escape from slave traders and his incredibly brave and dicey journey cross-continent with the orphaned mammal.

historical reality,” says Bezancon, who co-wrote the first draft of the story with Brit Alexander Abela in 2001. “I wanted to demonstrate that freedom is the most important thing in life. Some people are still fighting for theirs. Modern slavery was the hot topic not so long ago in France.

Zarafa is rich with sumptuous widescreen landscapes as the trio navigate their way from Sudan to Egypt and through France to the capital of Paris. The traditional two-dimensional animation

gives it an artisan, old-school quality that is so infrequently offered up to modern-day audiences.

Inspired by the real giraffe that was presented to French King Charles X in 1826 from Egyptian Sultan Muhammad Ali in a bid to improve French-Egyptian relations, the film has a book-like quality appealing to children and adults alike. Offering up everything from hot-air balloon rides, cows falling from the sky, pirate ships and Greek pirate queens, wolf pack encounters and hippopotamus mishaps, Zarafa is nothing if not a visually captivating adventure for the whole family.

Freedom is the most important thing in life

“

”- Alexander Bezancon

Zarafa’sJourney

The prize includes a special Adoption Certificate, Giraffe cuddly toy, a car sticker, stickers, a bookmark, a complimentary child admission ticket to Marwell Zoo, Animal fact sheet, so you’ll know all about the Giraffe Access to the online Adopters Zone and recognition on the adopter board at the Giraffe enclosure.

To enter all you have to do is answer this question:

You Can Save a Giraffe Like Zarafa by Entering Childrens Cinema Club Magazine’s Competition!

How long is a Giraffes Tongue? A) 55cm

B) 45cm

C) 35cm

Celebrating the Children’s Cinema Club debut feature, Zarafa, we are giving one lucky winner the chance to adopt a giraffe.

Email your answers to And visit

for full terms & conditionsto enter

info@sodapictures.com ChildrensCinemaClub.co.uk

Sennar

Khartoum

Alexandria

Marseille

Join today and get your exclusive Childrens Cinema Club mask, badge and pencil topper.

www.ChildrensCinemaClub.co.uk/join-the-club

Coming soon from Children’s Cinema Club

Join the Children’s Cinema Club and receive goodies through the post related to our films, special offers from our partners and be the first to hear about our special events and screenings.

Leo, an 11- year old boy from New York City, is a Phantom Boy! He can become invisible and fly through walls. He befriends Alex, a police officer temporarily stuck in a wheelchair. Together, they have 24 hours to save the city!

Directed by Academy Award™ nominated directors of A Cat In Paris. Jean-Loup Felicioli & Alain Gagnol

In Cinemas Soon.For updates on our latest films, visit

www.ChildrensCinemaClub.co.uk or ChildrensCinemaClub