World Premiering at Cannes before appearing at the Annecy and Toronto International Film Festivals, This Magnificent Cake is a surreal new stop-motion anthology film. Through intimate stories of interconnected characters–many of which rotate in and around a mysterious, luxury hotel in late 19th Century colonial Africa—a greater story about European colonialism emerges. At times wickedly humorous, and at others brutal, the film is a fascinating exploration of a world both firmly placed in history but feels completely alien. If Lars Von Trier or David Lynch had the impetus to work with delicate wooly puppets they may have produced a similar cinematic project but the acclaimed directing duo Marc James Roels and Emma De Swaef have created something unique and unforgettable.

Appearing with This Magnificent Cake:

This gorgeous film from Brazil uses a mix of oil painting, line drawing, and computer animation to tell an imaginative children’s tale with potent political undertones. Tito loves helping his father with his inventions. But Tito’s mom, always a skeptic, worries that something will go terribly wrong. Their latest experiment is a machine that can understand birds – but when the contraption starts smoking and sparking, Tito is injured, and his mom decides that for Tito’s safety, his father must leave. Years later, people start falling ill and an epidemic begins to spread: the cause, Tito determines, is fear. Recalling his father’s research, Tito suspects that the cure must lie in understanding birdsong, and along with his friends Sarah and Buiú – and some help from the city’s pigeon population – he sets out to find his father and complete the research before it’s too late.

A Shout! Studios release

One of two animated features selected for the 2018 Cannes lineup, Another Day of Life is a daringly ambitious dive into the chaos of war, based on the book by the journalist Ryszard “Ricardo” Kapuscinski, one of the world’s most compelling chroniclers of conflict. Intercutting a graphically bold animation style with interviews and archival footage, the visually striking film conveys a rare immediacy as it tells of the outbreak of civil war following Angola’s independence from Portugal in 1975. Kapuscinski is portrayed as a reckless and square jawed Indiana Jones type, who against all advice is intent on driving south into the heart of the bloody conflict to find the isolated rebel leader Farrusco (a legendary figure like Kurtz in Heart of Darkness). His animated trip through corpse-strewn roads conveys an undeniable urgency, while the documentary testimony reminds us that we are watching actual history.

The latest from acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda – whose The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children and Boy and the Beast are also playing the festival. Mirai is a daringly original story of love passed down through generations and brings together two of Hosoda’s most resonant themes: the importance of family and the ability to pass through time. When four-year-old Kun meets his new baby sister, his world is turned upside down. Named Mirai (meaning “future”), the baby quickly wins the hearts of Kun’s entire family. As his mother returns to work and his father struggles to Run the household, Kun becomes increasingly jealous of baby Mirai… until one day he storms off into the garden, where he encounters strange guests from the past and future – including his sister Mirai, as a teenager. Together, Kun and teenage Mirai go on a journey through time and space, uncovering their family’s incredible story. But why did Mirai come from the future?

An official selection at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, and the epic capstone of director Mamoru Hosoda’s career, Mirai is a sumptuous, magical, and emotionally soaring adventure about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are.

A GKIDS release