Opening film

The 43rd edition will kick off on 23 February with the virtuoso science-fiction film Mars Express! Get ready for an exciting journey to the planet Mars during our opening ceremony. And you won’t be the only ones on board: Jérémie Périn and the film crew will be there!

Jérémie Périn, director of the successful animated series Lastman, will be making his feature film debut at the festival. Mars Express is based on an original idea, treated with scientific rigour and due respect for the conventions of the genre. Set in a fictionalized near future, his vision explores and critiques the constant evolution of science and technology in an increasingly artificial world. He questions humanity’s place in this changing reality through a graphic universe with eye-popping scenery.
 
Mars Express was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cinéma de la Plage programme, and at the prestigious Annecy Festival, where it was one of the feature films in official selection. The film was very well received by the general public, and French critics praised its plot and the quality of the animation.
Benelux rights handled by POM Anime, a Piece of Magic Entertainment company. More information here.

Friday 23 February - 20:00 - (sold out)
Monday 26 February - 15:00 - Tickets
Wednesday 28 February - 21:30 - Tickets

Synopsis

The year is 2200. Aline Ruby, a stubborn private detective, and her android partner Carlos Rivera are hired by a wealthy businessman to capture a notorious hacker on Earth. Back on Mars, a new case leads them to venture into the very heart of Noctis, the capital of Mars, in search of Jun Chow, a missing cybernetics student. Noctis is their city, a libertarian utopia made possible by advances in robotics, an emblem of a future turned towards the stars. In the course of their investigation, they come face to face with their city's darkest secrets: its corrupt institutions, its trafficking, its brain farms and the machinations of all-powerful corporations. But Jun Chow has also been targeted by cyber-enhanced killers. Aline and Carlos embark on a desperate race to save this young woman, who unknowingly holds a secret that could threaten the precarious balance on which their civilization rests.