Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest

Azur is a nobleman's son, blond and blue-eyed; Asmar is the son of Jenane, the nurse who raises them both. They grow up in the same house on the same stories. Then Azur's father separates them. Years later, each unaware of the other, both set out on the same road: to find and free the legendary Djinn-fairy. When they meet they have to hold a broken friendship and a shared goal at the same time. Michel Ocelot directed. It is his first work in 3D animation, and the method is unusual: computer animation combined with two-dimensional hand-painted backgrounds and non-photorealistic rendering. The most striking decision is about language: Ocelot deliberately left the Arabic dialogue untranslated. He explained why himself: one of the problems of the immigrant is also not understanding or being understood. Ocelot described the film as a celebration of the Maghreb and of Islamic civilisation in the Middle Ages, drawing on his travels in Algeria and Morocco, including Timgad. It premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Distribution in North America ran into trouble over a nursing scene; it eventually received a PG rating and opened through GKIDS. Who it is for: viewers who like hand-painted imagery, storytelling in the manner of a fairy tale, and cultures meeting. Who it is not for: anyone wanting fast animation. The film moves calmly and puts its design ahead of its plot.