The Festival will open with the world premiere of Playmobil: The Movie!

Playmobil: The Movie, was presented at the Work in Progress during the 2018 Festival. Directed by Lino DiSalvo, who worked almost 17 years at Disney, known especially for his role as Head of Animation for the Oscar winning feature length film: Frozen. Playmobil tells the story of Marla, who goes in search of her little brother Charlie when he disappears into the Playmobil® universe.

The film is produced by the studio ON Animation Studios (Montréal), part of the ON Kids & Family group, based in Paris and managed by Aton Soumache, who is recognised for producing the feature film The Little Prince.

Synopsis

When her younger brother Charlie (Gabriel Bateman) unexpectedly disappears into the magical, animated universe of PLAYMOBIL®, unprepared Marla (Anya Taylor Joy) must go on a quest of a lifetime to bring him home.
As she sets off on a fantastic journey across stunning new worlds, Marla teams up with some unlikely and heroic new friends - the smooth-talking food truck driver Del (Jim Gaffigan), the dashing and charismatic secret agent Rex Dasher (Daniel Radcliffe), a wholehearted misfit robot, an extravagant fairy-godmother (Meghan Trainor) and many more.
Through their vibrant adventure, Marla and Charlie realize that no matter how life plays out, you can achieve anything when you believe in yourself!

Lino DiSalvo is an American film director and writer. After graduating from Vancouver Film School he fulfilled a lifelong ambition and became one of the youngest animators to join Disney’s coveted animation ranks.

DiSalvo spent almost 17 years at Disney Feature Animation and served as Head of Animation on Disney’s Frozen, which went on to earn over $1.2 billion at the global box office and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. His other credits include: Supervising Animator; Tangled and Bolt, Animator; Meet the Robinsons, Chicken Little, 102 Dalmatians and Reign of Fire.

DiSalvo served as Creative Director for Paramount Animation before joining Paris-based, ON Animation Studios (Producers of 2016’s The Little Prince) as Head of Creative. His directorial debut, Playmobil: The Movie is based on an original story of his and set for release in August, 2019.

DiSalvo is currently developing his next animated feature, The Badalisc, which is inspired by Italian folklore and draws heavily from his cultural heritage.