Filfla Studio was awarded a new talent grant by the Malta Film Commission for the production of MR TEDDY IS ANGRY.
This is the second short animation produced by Filfla Studio after FILFLA.
MR TEDDY IS ANGRY follows the story of a Giant Teddy Bear who runs havoc in Valletta. The animation is expected to be finished by mid 2020 and go through a film festival cycle before being publicly released.
Story, art and animation by Fabrizio Ellul. MR TEDDY IS ANGRY is a digital hand drawn frame by frame animation.
Filfla Studio has been granted a ‘Research Support Grant’ by Arts Council Malta to explore further the world of Filfla by focusing on the mysterious creature in the animation – The Sarangu (the sack man).
The grant will permit to conduct research on the backstory of this creature – a mythological creature in Maltese folk. Set in 1813 Malta, during an outbreak of Bubonic plague, which left a death toll of 4,500 corpses, the grant will provide the opportunity to re-create the environment, context and research documentation of the period through traditional methods of Fine Arts and methodology.
World Building is an important aspect of any storytelling. It needs to provide a sense of immersive realism to create depth and richness to draw the public into it. The research grant will precisely achieve the scope of creating a world where the Sarangu lives and where the public can navigate into.
The research will lead to the eventual development of a graphic novel around the Sarangu – the sack man.
A story revolving around facts, fiction and myth, ‘The Sarangu’s World’ is set as an opportunity to explore further the darker side of Maltese folk and fairytale.
This project is supported by Arts Council Malta – Malta Arts Fund
FILFLA – a short animation by Fabrizio Ellul – will be screened at the EU Film Festival in Accra and Kumasi in Ghana in the first week of February.
This is screening is possible with the support of the High Commission of Malta in Ghana.
Filfla is an award winning short animation by Fabrizio Ellul released in 2019. Done in an illustration/comic style inspired from the cell animation tradition, Filfla is a self-funded project. It is not funded by government funds, grants or private sponsorship.
The animation is inspired by the Maltese legends of il Maqluba and Filfla.
2019 was quite a year for FILFLA, with winning the Audience Award at the Kinemastik International Short Film Festival, being an Official Selection in various international film festival, including the Valletta Film Festival and a Finalist at the French Riviera Film Festival.
But it’s now time to move on to other projects and develop further Filfla Studio as an independent art house studio.
Two interesting projects are already lined up for which there will be an announcement very soon.
You can now watch the short film Filfla online as it is being hosted on theRetrospective of Jupiter.
‘FILFLA‘ is an Official Selection at the ICONA 19 – ANIMATION FESTIVAL in Corfu, Greece.
The aim of the first Ionian Contemporary Animation Festival ICONA 2019, which is organized by the Department of Audio and Visual Arts of the Ionian University (within the framework of the CIAK Intereg program) is to present the best from the field of animation from all around the world.
The festival also aims to preserve and help develop the cultural heritage of short animated film, contribute to creation of new films, provide ground for potential international co-productions and encourage dialogue between professionals, filmmakers and the public.
ICONA 2019 will take place in Corfu from November 29th to December 1st 2019.
Filfla – a short animation by Fabrizio Ellul – has been awarded a “special mention” by the jury of the ‘Asia South East Short Film Festival’.
‘Filfla’ follows the story of a woman who goes to look for a boy on the mystical island of Filfla, where a terrifying creature is lurking in its midst. The short animation explores Maltese myth and folk in a story of love, grief, perseverance and hope.
Done in an illustration/comic style inspired from the cell animation tradition, Filfla is a self-funded work, done (Art, animation and editing) all by visual artist Fabrizio Ellul.
‘Filfla’ is turned into the ‘Isle of the Dead’ where spirits are trapped inside the Island by an evil creature. A woman fights her own grief in pursue of a boy, who holds the key to defeat this evil creature.
Filfla just like the spirits trapped within it, also seeks to be released.
Filfla has won the audience award at the Kinemastik Short Film Festival and has been selected in various festivals throughout 2019
French Riviera Film Festival – Finalist (2019, Cannes, France)
Valletta Film Festival – Official Selection (2019, Valletta, Malta)
JellyFEST Film Festival – Semi – Finalist (2019, LA, California)
Encounters Film Festival – Out of Competition (2019, Bristol, UK)
CineXjenza (part of the Science in the City festival) – screening (2019, Valletta, Malta)
End of Summer special screening (VFF and the Malta Airport Foundation) – screening (2019, Zurrieq, Malta)
European ArtHouse Cinema Day – screening (2019, Valletta)
Filfla is now part of the European ArtHouse Cinema that will take place on the 13th October.
On October 13th 2019 the fourth edition of the European Arthouse Cinema Day will take place in hundreds of cinemas from all over the world.
Spazju Kreattiv Cinema is proud to be part of this cinematic celebration. A selection of documentary, fiction and animation films from Italy, France, Spain and Ireland will feature in this year’s edition.
