Watercolor, Paper Cut-Outs, And Mehndi-Inspired Hand-Drawn Animation Feature In ‘Sultana’s Dream’ Trailer
Austria-based sales agent Square Eyes has released the English-language trailer for Isabel Herguera’s Sultana’s Dream, about to screen in the main competition at this year’s San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Herguera is a San Sebastián native, so having her debut feature premiere at Spain’s top festival is a special honor. The filmmaker is best known for her 2005 short La gallina ciega, which screened in competition at Annecy and was nominated for a Spanish Academy Goya Award.
Sultana’s Dream follows a Spanish artist living in India who discovers a book about a land where women rule and men live in seclusion. Having just split from her lover, she decides to seek out Ladyland, the one place where women can live in peace.
Film details:
- The film features several artistic techniques, including watercolor, paper cut-outs, and a 2d drawing style adapted from the temporary tattoo technique of mehndi.
- In addition to writing and directing, Herguera teamed with Angel Peris to paint all the film’s backgrounds. Indian artist Upamanyu Bhattacharyya drew the animatic. The film’s watercolor sequences were handled by Glow Animation Studio in Extremadura; Manero Muro handled all the puppet animation for the cut-out scenes; and Mumbai-based Blackbird Studio animated the mehndi-inspired sequences.
- Sultana Films, El Gatoverde Producciones, Abano Producións, and Uniko in Spain, and Fabian&Fred in Germany produced the film.
- Sultana’s English-language voice cast includes Mary Beard, Miren Arrieta, Mireia Gabilondo, Maurizio Faraoni, Manu Khurana, Arunima Bhattacharya, Ranjitha Rajeevan, and Paul B. Preciado.
