In addition to its good portion of the living dead and paranormal stories bathed in blood, the Sitges Festival is also a showcase of the best animation currently being cooked. And not only internationally, with The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki at the helm in an edition that once again has a powerful Anima't section.
Up to this point, the Spanish Pablo Berger has presented himself in his debut in the genre with Robot dreams, a moving story of friendship between a lonely dog (Dog) and a robot that adapts the graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varon, published in 2007. After receiving A warm reception at the last Cannes festival and winning the Grand Prix in the Contrechamp section at Annecy, this silent film has already received applause at the fantasy film competition. And all without its protagonists uttering a single word.
Robot dreams is silent, following in the footsteps of the award-winning Snow White (2012). Berger came across Varon's comic in 2010 and bought it as a collector of books without words: "I laughed, I was surprised, it seems childish but the point of view is adult and above all it moved me and I was clear that I wanted to make a film" , he explains to this newspaper. "In all my films I seek to excite."
"I realized that there are few animated films that want to excite. Normally they are humorous or action," he says about a work that has taken him five years to materialize. "I feel that my previous films prepared me to make this one," comments the director of Abracadabra regarding a "simple story in which some protagonists live a great adventure" and that is intended for all audiences, "children, movie buffs or the retired couple who go to the movies once a week. Robot dreams will land in theaters on December 6.
Although it was not clear in the novel that the plot took place in New York, Berger placed it there because it was where he lived for a decade between the 80s and 90s. "It is a love letter to a city that was the center of the world and that has changed a lot, but it marked a fundamental moment in my life. For Sara Varon, who is visiting the Sitges festival for the first time, the film is "amazing" because "Pablo has maintained the feeling of the book and the appearance of the characters" and she confesses that at first she did not have much hope because previous attempts at collaboration with other directors they had not come to fruition.
"I loved meeting him and starting this project, in which I collaborated with some first designs, but I didn't know what was going to happen. For me it has been an honor and I am very happy, especially that Pablo has included New York, a city that I adore. and which I arrived in 2000. Now I have moved to Chicago and I miss it a lot," says the American illustrator, who emphasizes that the director has added many comedic details.
Robot dreams was his first book. "At that time I had a friend who was working on a robot anthology and I thought it would be fun to draw robots and make a longer story. At first I thought that each chapter would be a month but I had no idea how I was going to end it" . The film, like the book, portrays a story of friendship, loneliness and loss. "It seemed like something fun to draw and I think that if it has impacted the public it is because it deals with universal themes. Since the book has no words it forces people to bring their own experiences. I have always liked to draw animals because I think that it's much easier to universally identify with an animal."
Although Varon is known for her work in children's literature, the author states that she did not think about an audience of that age when she created the characters. "I actually thought about myself and that it would be fun for me. I don't usually think about who is going to read it, but I wanted it to cover all ages, something that is present in my other books," admits Varon, who admires The Simpsons and drawings like Bugs Bunny. Currently, the author is immersed in a book in which her dog 'pea' - which she has tattooed on her arm - stars in a series of detective stories "that is more oriented towards children." She is not a fan of the horror genre at all, although she is fascinated by being in Sitges and "seeing so many people dressed up and the enthusiasm they have."
