For the third year in a row, the nWave team boarded the Eurostar from Brussels to its now well-established annual Annecy Animation Festival journey. And this year, they’re bringing man’s best friend.
Opening the non-competitive section Annecy Presents, the latest nWave title “Yugly” makes its world premiere today at the Bonlieu, the festival’s main venue.
NWave’s twelth feature, “Yugly” is a heartwarming dog comedy following the ugliest mutt in the world, who dreams of achieving the impossible: competing in the prestigious Best in Dog Show. As Yugly sets off on his journey, he’ll meet fellow canines and quirky humans along the way, with the secret hope of ultimately finding his very own family.
Co-directed by Jérémie Degruson (“Bigfoot Family,” “The Inseparables”) and Yanis Belaid (“Les larmes de la Seine”) and written by “Stuart Little” scribe Greg Brooker, the CG animated feature is a Belgian-French co-production between nWave and Octopolis, produced by Matthieu Zeller.
“Matching those two directors from different generations (Jérémie, a nWave veteran and Yanis, an upcoming young filmmaker) was a bet for the studio,” recalls Zeller, “a bet that paid off handsomely. This film is the perfect illustration of what nWave has been aiming at for a long time: cutting-edge CG animation matching the standards of the global industry, along with a unique European way of telling stories with depth and heart, and bringing them on the big screen. ‘Yugly’ blends both, and I’m truly happy we manage to achieve this as a European studio.”
