Mila (2021 film)

Last updated

Mila
Directed by Cinzia Angelini
Written by Cinzia Angelini
Produced by Andrea Emmes
Music by Flavio Gargano
Production
companies
Release date
  • 2021 (2021)
Running time
19:58 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • Italy
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom

Mila is a 2021 CG animated short film written and directed by Cinzia Angelini and produced by Andrea Emmes. It follows the story of a little girl whose life takes an unexpected turn during World War II. The film is a volunteer-based project that features the largest independent virtual animation studio ever created consisting of 350 animation professionals from 35 countries. After the announcement of the new partnership with Cinesite Studios, the film was released in 2021. [1] As of May 2022, the short film has won more than 40 awards and has collected more than 50 nominations to festivals world-wide [2] besides qualifying to the Oscar 2022 in the category Best Animated Short Film.

Contents

Plot

Mila is a little girl who loses her family during the war. Thanks to a young woman who comes to her rescue, Mila survives a devastating bombardment. Her only possessions are a worn-out hat and a tattered carousel ticket. Mila and the woman manage to get through the war-torn night. Confronted with their losses and drawn together through their ordeal, they find salvation in each other and leave to build a new life together.

Background

Director Cinzia Angelini stated that her motivation to create Mila laid in the commitment to spread awareness over child war victims and take action to prevent it from happening to more children. ″Mila is set in my mother's hometown, Trento, Italy, and is the story of a girl and two women, caught in the bombing of Trento in 1943. I want to show the impact that conflict has on the innocent civilians, and especially, on their children. Most of all, I seek to celebrate their strength, resilience, and the hope that they cling to as they fight for their very survival. This girl, now a woman, who inspired me to create this movie, was a child of WWII. She is also my mother.″ [3] ″The Mila Family wants to prove that ‘cartoons’ can successfully enlighten all age groups on serious, real world issues.″ [4]

Production

Early development work on the Mila film started in 2010 [5] while the official production kicked off in 2011. [6] In 2012 the team behind Mila consisted of 140 volunteers from over 20 countries. The first production studio to come onboard with the project was Pixel Cartoon which helped secure the financial support of the Trento Film Commission and Fondazione Cassa Rurale in Trento, Italy. Afterwards the studio IbiscusMedia joined the team and contributed in promotion and media coverage. [7]

Over the years, the project gathered sponsors and partners including Autodesk, Toon Boom Animation, SideFX, [8] and Dog Head Animation which was responsible for the 2D end credits. [7]

Throughout the production of Mila, 350 artists from 35 countries volunteered for the project. The Mila team comprised four core groups – U.S.A, Italy, Mexico, and United Kingdom. Professional artists in Italy, Australia, India, France, Belgium, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Spain and more contributed in a variety of ways voluntarily. [7]

In September 2019 Cinesite announced their partnership with the project to complete the production of Mila. The film was projected to be released in 2020. [6] After a decade in the making, the film had its international premiere at the 16th edition of Animayo Festival [9] in 2021. [10] Mila was among the short films that qualified to the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2022. [11]

Music

The original score of the film is composed by Flavio Gargano [12] for which he earned the nomination to the Annie Awards in 2022. [13] The score was recorded live by the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, Italy. [14]

Related Research Articles

Modern animation in the United States from the late 1980s to the early 2000s is frequently referred to as the renaissance age of American animation. During this period, many large American entertainment companies reformed and reinvigorated their animation departments, following the dark age, and the United States had an overall profound effect on animation globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genndy Tartakovsky</span> Russian-American animator

Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky is a Russian-American animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, including Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, Primal, and Unicorn: Warriors Eternal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Bros. Animation</span> American animation studio owned by Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation division and label of Warner Bros.

<i>What a Cartoon!</i> American animated anthology series

What a Cartoon! is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by the end of the run, a Cartoon Network Studios production tag was added to some shorts to signal they were original to the network. The project consisted of 48 cartoons, intended to return creative power to animators and artists, by recreating the atmospheres that spawned the iconic cartoon characters of the mid-20th century. Each of the shorts mirrored the structure of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist or creator. Three of the cartoons were paired together into a half-hour episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Model sheet</span> Reference document for drawing a character

In visual arts, a model sheet, also known as a character board, character sheet, character study or simply a study, is a document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of a character in arts such as animation, comics, and video games.

Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Television Animation</span> American animation studio

Disney Television Animation (DTVA) is an American animation studio that serves as the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a division of Disney General Entertainment Content, which is a division of Disney Entertainment. The studio was originally established in 1984, by Gary Krisel during the reorganization and subsequent re-incorporation of Disney following the arrival of then CEO Michael Eisner that year.

<i>Last Days of Coney Island</i> 2015 American film

Last Days of Coney Island is a 2015 American adult animated short film written, produced, directed and animated by Ralph Bakshi. The story concerns a NYPD detective, the sex worker he alternately loves and arrests, and the seedy characters that haunt the streets of New York City's run-down amusement district. It is notable for being the last film that Bakshi directed and animated before he retired from animation.

Mike Milo is an American animator, director, storyboard artist, writer, and producer in the television industry. He is currently directing the new series Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? at Warner Bros. Animation. He was an animation director on Uncle Grandpa as well as Craig of the Creek, both for Cartoon Network. He was also a story artist on Curious George for Universal. In 2012, he worked as a storyboard artist for The Fairly OddParents, and developed a pilot with Butch Hartman. Before that, he directed the animated series Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja at Titmouse, Inc. for Disney XD. He is also known to have designed the characters for the Comedy Central series Brickleberry, although he is uncredited. Before that, he was a story artist on the show Phineas and Ferb for Disney Channel and co-wrote nine episodes for that series. Growing up in Old Tappan, New Jersey, he began his animation career in 1990 animating commercials for Broadcast Arts in New York City. Subsequently, he worked for Sierra On-Line and Warner Bros., again as an animator working on Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Tazmania, Pinky and the Brain and Histeria!. He has also worked for Disney Television Animation, Frederator Studios, Film Roman, Hanna-Barbera, Universal Animation Studios, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Studios, DIC Entertainment, Saban, Mike Young Productions, and other smaller studios.

Van Partible is a Filipino-born American cartoonist, writer, producer, director, and animator best known for creating the animated television series Johnny Bravo.

Augenblick Studios is an independent animation studio founded in 1999 by Aaron Augenblick, and located in Brooklyn, New York City. The company has created a wide array of animated shorts for television, film, and the Internet, with the target audience typically being adults. Their clients include Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Adult Swim, the TED conference, PBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinesite</span> Visual effects studio

Cinesite is an independent, multinational business which provides services to the media and entertainment industries. Its head office in London opened for business in 1994, initially offering services in visual effects for film and television, subsequently expanding to include animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon Network</span> American cable television channel

Cartoon Network, often abbreviated as CN, is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Cartoonito, Discovery Family, Adult Swim, and Toonami under its purview. The channel is headquartered at 1050 Techwood Drive NW in Atlanta, Georgia.

Filipino animation, also known as Pinoy animation, is a body of original cultural and artistic works and styles applied to conventional Filipino storytelling, combined with talent and the appropriate application of classic animation principles, methods, and techniques, which recognizes their relationship with Filipino culture, comics, and films. It also delves into relying on traditional and common Filipino "sense of going about things" or manner of coping with Filipino life and environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Animation Studios</span> American animation studio

Universal Animation Studios LLC is an American animation studio and a division of Universal Pictures, which is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. It has produced direct-to-video sequels to Universal-released feature films, such as The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Balto, and Curious George, as well as other films and television series.

Bangladeshi animation is a new form of visual arts experiencing a rapid growth. The animation industry employs about 12,000 people in Bangladesh. Most of the animations produced are for outsourced projects from western developed nations. Animation projects related to social awareness programs and TV advertisement purposes are another market, and a few animation studios produce animated shorts and feature films. There are some animation festivals that annually take place in Bangladesh, most prominently the International Animation and Cartoon Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aniventure</span> British entertainment company

Aniventure is a British content creation and intellectual property company based in London and set up in 2013 to produce family-oriented feature animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nitrogen Studios</span> Canadian animation company

Cinesite Vancouver is a Canadian animation company founded by husband and wife duo Greg Tiernan and Nicole Stinn. The company was founded in October 2003, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

L'Atelier Animation is a Canadian animation studio founded in 2014 by Laurent Zeitoun and Yann Zenou and is owned by Cinesite since 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "Cinzia Angelini's 'Mila' Gives an Animated Voice to Children of War".
  2. ↑ Angelini, Cinzia (30 June 2021), Mila (Animation, Short, Drama), IbiscusMedia, PixelCartoon, Aniventure, retrieved 14 May 2022
  3. ↑ "Help Crowdfund A Trento-Based Animated Short Film About War Through The Eyes of a Child". SAN FRANCISCO, ITALY.
  4. ↑ "Around the world with Mila: Writer (and Director) Cinzia Angelini – Animated Views".
  5. ↑ "Press release" (JPG). milafilm.com. 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Cinesite will complete production on Mila, a film made by volunteers in 35 countries". Cartoon Brew. October 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 "Cinzia Angelini on drawing attention to war's impact on children with Mila". Toon Boom.
  8. ↑ Stories, Local. "Meet Cinzia Angelini – Voyage LA Magazine | LA City Guide".
  9. ↑ "Animayo | Noticias | The art of resilience International presentation of the 16th Animayo edition at the first virtual press conference with personalized avatars in the world". www.animayo.com. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  10. ↑ "Cinzia Angelini's 'Mila' Gives an Animated Voice to Children of War". Animation World Network. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Amidi, Amid (1 November 2021). "Oscars 2022 Best Animated Short Film: At Least 84 Films Qualify (Exclusive)". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "The MILA Story is Personal to Me Because it Was Inspired by What My Mother Went Through During WW2 in Italy by Animator Cinzia Angelini". 3 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "Annie Awards 2022: in lizza anche Flavio Gargano con le musiche di "MILA"!". afNews (in Italian). 11 March 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  14. ↑ ""Mila", an anti-war anthem". Trentino Cultura. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.