Presented as a world premiere within the Annecy Presents section of the Annecy Animated Film Festival, Mary Anning [+lire aussi :
interview : Marcel Barelli
fiche film] - the first feature by Swiss director of Ticino origin Marcel Barelli - takes us to England in the early nineteenth century where we come across a remarkably extraordinary little girl. Her name is Mary Anning and she has a talent for unearthing fossils which only she can see, following her heart rather than her eyes. Her father is responsible for this all-consuming passion, a man who’s also fascinated by fossils, who pays no heed to the gender stereotypes characterising that particular era which expect little girls to be docile and obedient, and who takes her along to rain-soaked beaches below the towering cliffs of Dorset.

A curious and determined twelve-year-old, Mary spends her days with her best friend - her dog Tray - between boring lessons imparted by a teacher imbued with religious fervour and snatches of freedom characterised by fossil hunting. Until her father tragically dies in a storm. Deprived of her greatest supporter, the protagonist’s life completely changes. Not only are her cliff-bound adventures viewed negatively by her mother, her entire life is on the verge of collapse. Left alone to look after their children, Mary’s mum finds herself in great financial difficulty and decides, in spite of herself, to move the entire family to the city where job prospects are sunnier. The only hope Mary can cling onto for pulling together sufficient funds to help her mum so that she doesn’t have to leave her beloved cliffs behind, is a mysterious drawing her father left her shortly before he died. And as she’s trying to solve the enigma depicted in this drawing, the protagonist’s life continues to change, filling with new, important friendships and a chosen family in which she really feels alive.

Made in 2D animation, the film is based on the real-life story of Mary Anning, a self-taught British palaeontologist whose work helped to change mentalities in the world of science and specifically the history of humanity. A crucial yet little known figure among wider audiences, Mary Anning was an extraordinary woman who’s already inspired films along the lines of Ammonite [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]. Conceived of as a film for children, Mary Anning focuses on the British palaeontologist’s childhood, which was difficult in many ways. Accompanied by a score (by Shyle Zelewski) as anachronistic as it is poetic, and reminiscent of the deliciously awkward worlds of various independent American works, Barelli’s first feature film is a powerful rebellion against the sexism and social determinism which continues to suffocate (too) many voices.

With simplicity and sensitivity, the director homes in on his characters’ faces, on the nigh-on imperceptible expressions which inhabit them but which they don’t dare make visible. What these faces actually reveal are tempestuous personalities which will no longer be dominated, and which defy social conventions still in force today. Everything – humans, vegetables and animals (which are always present in Barelli’s films) - plays a part in creating this poignant utopian world, captained by Mary Anning. Designed for children, the film also encourages bigger kids to dream, reconnecting us with the spirit of freedom and revolt which society tries to take away from us when we enter the adult world. Mary Anning is a sensitive and poetic film which imposes itself without shouting and screaming, and that’s undoubtedly a wonderful thing.

Mary Anning was produced by Nadasdy Film, RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera, La Boîte… Productions and Versus Production. World sales are entrusted to Be For Films.