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José Miguel Ribeiro’s feature debut “Nayola,” one of two Portuguese full-length animation pics screening at Annecy Animation Film Festival, portrays the fate of a grandmother, a mother and her daughter – Lelena, Nayola and Yara – in the aftermath of the Angolan civil war.

Nayola searches for her husband, Ekumbi, who went missing during the war. She abandons her daughter, Yara, at the age of only two, who is then brought up by her grandmother, Lelena. By 2011, she has become a rebellious teenage rapper.

The pic jumps back and forth between 1995 and 2011, moving between richly saturated images of the Angolan landscape and grim, gray-toned images of wartime destruction and urban decay, weaving together real-life settings and dreamscapes.

Based on the stage play “A Caixa Preta” (The Black Box), by Angolan playwright José Eduardo Agualusa and Mozambican novelist Mia Couto, the script was penned by Ribeiro’s long-time collaborator Virgilio Almeida.

The...

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the leading global get-together for all things animation, has unveiled the lineup for this year’s Work in Progress section, among the most highly anticipated events of the world’s animation calendar. When a physical event is possible, lines begin to form early in the morning as fans of the high-profile projects hope to get into the limited seating available at the Salle Pierre Lamy.

A barometer for future standout awards and/or box office success, recent high-profile projects featured at Annecy’s Work in Progress include Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Oscar-winner “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” and Oscar nominees in Netflix’s “Klaus” and “Over the Moon,” Cartoon Saloon’s “Wolfwalkers,” Claude Barras’ “My Life as a Zucchini,” Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s “Ernest & Celestine,” Michael Dudok de Wit’s “The Red Turtle” and Dean DeBlois’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir’s Gaza-set drama “The Oblivion Theory” has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

Presented by Paris-based Incognito Films and Berlin’s One Two Films, the film is based on José Eduardo Agualusa’s novel “A General Theory of Oblivion,” although the book’s story has been moved from Angola to Palestine during the First Intifada, the sustained protests by Palestinians against Israel occupation that lasted from 1987 to 1993.

The film centers on an American woman who accidentally gets stuck in an apartment in Gaza at the outbreak of the protests, becoming an unlikely witness and survivor in a country in the midst of massive upheaval.

“Forever etched in my psyche, the First Intifada marked my life and changed me forever,” said Jacir, who last year served on the Berlinale Competition jury. “‘The Oblivion Theory’ describes a very different experience of that time in my country’s story.

Further prizes awarded to Isabel Sandoval and Marcelo Martinessi projects.

Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to develop her upcoming feature The Oblivion Theory.

The Eurimages co-production development award of €20,000 went to the project, which was presented at the market by France’s Incognito Films and Germany’s One Two Films.

Adapted from José Eduardo Agualusa’ novel A General Theory Of Oblivion, the film relocates the drama to Gaza City in 1987, during the first Palestinian Intifada. Jacir is known for directing When I Saw You, which won the Netpac award when it...

Further prizes awarded to Isabel Sandoval and Marcelo Martinessi projects.

Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to develop her upcoming feature The Oblivion Theory.

The Eurimages co-production development award of €20,000 went to the project, which was presented at the market by France’s Incognito Films and Germany’s One Two Films.

Adapted from José Eduardo Agualusa’ novel A General Theory Of Oblivion, the film relocates the drama to Gaza City in 1987, during the first Palestinian Intifada. Jacir is known for directing When I Saw You, which won the Netpac award when it...