“Lucy Lost” Debuts at Cannes: Xilam’s Ambitious Blend of European Storytelling and Global Animation Trends

The animated feature “Lucy Lost” opened the Cannes Film Festival before its scheduled competition slot at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The film follows a young girl who awakens without memories on the Isles of Scilly during World War I and befriends an unseen companion, setting the stage for a dual-thread narrative.

Variety Magazine

Xilam founder Marc du Pontavice acquired the rights to Michael Morpurgo’s novel *Listen to the Moon* years before production. The source material’s bifurcated structure initially hindered adaptation. Director Olivier Clert resolved the issue by braiding the two parallel storylines, creating a single, progressive arc that emphasizes imagination and emotional resilience.

Variety Magazine

Du Pontavice, who has overseen Xilam’s catalogue since its inception, selected Clert—formerly a storyboard artist on the Oscar-winning film *Klaus*—to helm the project. Clert’s background in major English-language productions and his experience with both 2D and 3D pipelines informed the film’s hybrid aesthetic, while du Pontavice provided strategic oversight and championed the film’s thematic focus on children’s imagination.

Variety Magazine

Clert personally storyboarded 1,800 shots, integrating lighting cues to reinforce narrative beats. The production combined traditional 2D animation with After Effects for complex wind sequences, and built a 3D ocean rendered in a 2D style, mapping fluid dynamics onto its surface. Additional elements such as fire were animated using a similar hybrid approach to support the story’s emotional tone.

Variety Magazine

Du Pontavice noted that animation accounts for 27 % of global box-office revenue, equating to one in four cinema tickets worldwide. He argued that European studios should claim a larger share by offering emotionally driven family stories rather than relying solely on comedy. “Lucy Lost” is positioned as a dramatic alternative intended to broaden the perception of European animation.

Variety Magazine

In official remarks, du Pontavice emphasized the power of children’s imagination to foster resilience and called for a uniquely European visual identity that avoids mimicking American or Japanese styles. Clert described the film as a convergence of “the efficiency of American storytelling” with “the visual poetry and boldness of Japanese animation,” aiming to create a delicate yet epic narrative that resonates across markets.

Variety Magazine

• “MDP: What has interested me from the beginning is the power of children’s imagination and their ability to use it for resilience, as a way to overcome difficulty.” — Marc du Pontavice, Founder, Xilam

Variety Magazine

• “Here, we had space to introduce the characters slowly, to let the audience get to know them and grow attached to them.” — Olivier Clert, Director, *Lucy Lost*

Variety Magazine

• “We were trying to stand at the crossroads between the efficiency of American storytelling and the visual poetry and boldness of Japanese animation.” — Olivier Clert, Director, *Lucy Lost*

Variety Magazine

• “MDP: Animation is 27% of the global box office — one out of every four cinema tickets worldwide.” — Marc du Pontavice, Founder, Xilam

Variety Magazine

• “OC: The family animation market is extremely complicated when you’re European, and trying to imitate what Americans or Japanese studios do so well would be a mistake.” — Olivier Clert, Director, *Lucy Lost*

Variety Magazine

• “We animated some water in traditional 2D, but we also built a 3D ocean with a 2D rendering style and mapped FX animation onto its surface.” — Olivier Clert, Director, *Lucy Lost*

Variety Magazine

Following Cannes, “Lucy Lost” will compete at Annecy, where Xilam plans to leverage festival exposure to secure international distribution. The studio aims to position the film as a flagship example of European animation that balances artistic ambition with the commercial realities of a market dominated by American and Japanese productions.

Variety Magazine