'Lucy Lost' Premieres at Annecy After Cannes Screening
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- "Lucy Lost" marks French animator Olivier Clert's feature directing debut, adapting Michael Morpurgo's 2014 novel "Listen to the Moon" into a WWI-era animated drama set on the Isles of Scilly.
- Olivier Clert previously served as creative consultant on Netflix's "Klaus" and storyboard artist on "Little Amélie or the Character of Rain," bringing vintage Studio Ghibli visual influences reminiscent of "When Marnie Was There."
- The French-language film premiered as a Cannes special screening before landing a main competition slot at Annecy, the prestigious animation festival.
- The narrative takes structural liberties with Morpurgo's text — its timeline splits, flips, and realigns, incorporating the historical Lusitania sinking within a sub-90-minute runtime.
- Charlie Rosenzweig voices both 11-year-old protagonist Lucy and her imaginary American friend Milly, with Zach Valentin-Dattas, Jessica Monceau, and Quentin Faure in supporting roles.
- Anne-Sophie Versnaeyen's score ranges from sparse lilting strings to full orchestral sweep as the film expands from intimate village parable to broader historical fiction.
Why it matters: The review flags a distribution crossroads for this French-language, Ghibli-influenced film: English-language backers may push for star voice casting, but preserving the work's regional specificity — set on England's remote Isles of Scilly — may determine whether it resonates with global young audiences.
