Lunanime

Lunanime is currently in post-production on the animated feature Allah is not Obliged, an adaptation of the novel Allah n'est pas obligé by Ahmadou Kourouma. This tells the story of a young Guinean boy who is forced to become a child soldier.

“We did the 3D animation in Wallonia, sending some animators from Flanders to work in the studio with their French-speaking colleagues, and we did all the backgrounds in Flanders,” says producer and Lunanime co-founder Annemie Degryse.

The co-production brings together Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Canada, with Belgium accounting for around 17 per cent of the budget. Support came from cultural funds and the regional funds Screen Flanders and Wallimage, along with the Belgian tax shelter, organised by Lumière’s in-house intermediary LumInvest.

“We focus on animation for adults and young adults, but that does not mean that we do nothing for children. We are also looking for high-end children’s content,” Degryse says. This can be seen in up-coming projects such as the feature film Big Bang Parade, an anthology for small children, and Fluffy Four, a stop-motion feature film and TV series.

In addition to top-quality animation projects, Lunanime is interested in high-end drama series and feature films. “That matches the company’s DNA on many levels,” says Bruyneel. In return, it contributes to multiple aspects of a co-production.