- Home page
- News
- "Hola Frida" made U.S. debut last February at the New York International Children’s Film Festival
"Hola Frida" made U.S. debut last February at the New York International Children’s Film Festival
17 March 2025
The film’s directors André Kadi and Karine Vézina imagine the vibrant childhood of young Frida Kahlo in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City.
"Hola Frida" is a loose adaptation of Sophie Faucher and Cara Carmina's children's book "Frida, c'est moi", encouraging children to follow their love of creativity and the arts by utilizing Kahlo's fascination with the gods and the symbolism of her Coyoacán ancestors.
Prior to its spring release in French, Canadian, and Spanish theaters, the film has already been a featured animation title at a number of film festivals since the end of 2024.
Directors Kadi and Vézina discussed how they used "Frida, c’est moi" as a starting point to develop the overall look of the film while also expanding the story to sustain a feature-length film in an interview with Cartoon Brew prior to their appearance at the New York City film festival.
Said Kadi:"Cara’s illustrations are gorgeous, but the book is aimed at a fairly young audience, while the movie can be quite tough at times and is aimed more at children aged seven and up. Our artistic production and animation director, Marie-Michelle Laflamme, therefore undertook extensive stylistic research with our team at Du Coup Animation, in particular Jade Tam for the environments and Justine Prévost for the characters, in order to find a more mature artistic direction that retains the strengths of the original illustrations, but in a style adapted to animation."
The filmmakers stated that they deliberately chose to start the movie with Kahlo's 1954 still life, "Viva la Vida," rather than a variety of identical copies of her well-known paintings. Nonetheless, they provide symbolic representations of the majority of her work throughout the movie, including the landmark pieces "The Broken Column," "The Two Fridas," and numerous self-portraits, through character designs, backgrounds, and textures.
Read the complete Cartoon Brew article at this link.
An interesting review by Cinema Daily US at the link below, defining the film: "one film in the line-up that celebrates a legendary female artist, transforming her into an aspirational model for young girls: Frida Kahlo."
