Through Square Peg, Ari Aster and his producing partner Lars Knudsen have joined forces as executive producers on the forthcoming film “Hansel & Gretel,” starring Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña from Chile.
“The Hyperboreans,” a film by the Chilean pair, is a part of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
It is anticipated that the narrative would transform the fairy tale into unique forms. Cristóbal León told Variety, “It’s our very personal version of the classic fairy tale, with the main difference being that Hansel and Gretel are both boys in this version, at least at the beginning of the story.” “The story itself gets lost” in this recounting, León continued.
Working with Aster on “Beau is Afraid,” León and Cociña first caught his eye with their Annecy winning movie “The Wolf House,” which Variety called a “jaw-dropping marriage of various animation techniques.”
Among the real originals currently employed in animation are Copiña and León. Although their sensibility may be linked to a number of eerie artists, Aster told Variety that there isn’t a true comparison for the impact that their work has on the observer.
“Although I’ve previously stated that they seem to be Švankmajer and the Quays’ heirs, with clear influences dating back to Starevich, I get the impression that they have already begun to forge a distinctive legacy of their own.”
Because of their experimental methods, which include life-size stop-motion and pushing narrative structures to their limits, the pair exists in a hybrid space between the realms of contemporary art, animation, and film.
“We make a lot of effort to maintain experimentation and avoid coming across as bureaucrats of art, as it’s very simple to become a slave to past decisions in animation,” León remarked.
After receiving money for pre-production development in Chile, the project is currently looking for co-production partners.
