Sunday at The Palm: “April and the Extraordinary World”

21 Sep Sunday at The Palm: “April and the Extraordinary World”

The Telluride Film Festival presents “Sunday at the Palm, “April and the Extraordinary World,” (2015). Sunday, September 25, 4 p.m. Michael D. Palm Theatre for the Performing Arts. Rated PG. FREE TO ALL. Running time 105 minutes.

“It feels somewhat clichéd to call an animated adventure film a ‘delight,’ but it’s the best word for the latest from GKids,” wrote Roger Ebert.com, “‘April and the Extraordinary World’ (is) a joyful, accomplished movie that echoes ‘The City of Lost Children’, ‘The Adventures of Tintin,’ ‘ Metropolis,’ ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and something unique into a, well, delightful piece of work.”

For another season, the Telluride Film Festival has partnered with the New York-based distributor, GKids, to bring some of the best and most current animated films from around the world to our own Telluride backyard.

With the voice talents of Paul Giamatti, Susan Sarandon, and J.K. Simmons, “April” takes us into a steampunk alternate universe version of 1930s and ’40s Paris, where all of the scientists have disappeared and the world is suffering from the loss of its resources – including energy reserves, technological innovation, clean air, and trees.

The young April is faced with the loss of her parents, both scientists, who have invented a serum with extraordinarily powerful properties. With the help of her trusty talking cat, Darwin, her ‘Pops,’ and an unlikely friend, Julius, April embarks on a thrilling adventure to find the secret of her parents’ fate.

The film is based on the works of one of Europe’s most celebrated graphic novelists, France’s Jacques Tardi. He also worked as a designer on the film, and in an interview with Variety said that the collaboration with directors Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci is, “a critique of the world we’re living in now,” calling it an “’entertaining scientific fantasy based on rigorous documentation.”

For a preview, watch the trailer for “April.”

Sunday at the Palm is presented by The Telluride Film Festival and the Telluride R1 School District.