Producer Atom Art and director Edmunds Jansons are a solid guarantee of high-quality Latvian animation for young audiences, including the cross-media project for pre-schoolers SHAMMIES and the feature-length JACOB, MIMMI AND THE TALKING DOGS. The list is now being expanded with an appealing new title: BORN IN THE JUNGLE. However, given the story’s origins, there is also a dark side to the project.
BORN IN THE JUNGLE recently premiered in Annecy; it is an exciting story about nine-year-old Elisabeth, who joins her family in the rainforest where they live. When mom and dad are away on an emergency mission, Elisabeth must take care of her four-year-old brother Leo. But instead, she spends her time with her nose buried in books. When Elisabeth finally looks up, she discovers that Leo has disappeared. All indications are that the boy has wandered off towards the jungle. Now Elisabeth must swap her books for bravery not only to find her brother but also to rescue a mystical furry animal from captivity. The film is set to premiere in Latvia on 18 August, and according to the Giffoni Film Festival, it tells of “the freedom of nature and the courage to embrace adventure”.
Producer Sabine Andersone is delighted with the result, but also mentions a sad downside to the story. “BORN IN THE JUNGLE is set in Venezuela, and the situation there is tragic. On the day of the international premiere, Venezuela was hit by a massive earthquake. We started from the real-life story of a Latvian family who lived in Venezuela in the 1950s. We were unable to do any on-site research because travelling there wasn’t an option, but we had always hoped to visit one day. And now this… While we are campaigning for the premiere, my thoughts are with the people there.”