LUCY LOST © 2026 - XILAM FILMS - XILAM ANIMATION
Olivier Clert: “The world is a harsh place and we need works that can talk about that to children.”
Is Cannes 2026 the year of the animated movie? After Tangles, Le corset (Iron Boy) and Jim Queen, we take a look at a last animated feature film, Lucy Lost, adapted from the novel “Listen to the Moon” by Michael Morpurgo. Interview with its director Olivier Clert, and its producer, Marc du Pontavice.
Lucy and her family live in a village on a remote island. Her extraordinary gifts make her an outsider in this small community. Until one day she meets Milly, a little girl only she can see, which propels her on a great adventure to unravel the secret of her mysterious powers.
What was the first image that came to your mind for this film?
Olivier Clert: In the book, there are two parallel stories and the two characters from each story never meet. For Lucy Lost, I wanted them to meet and that’s the first image I saw, the relationship between the two little girls in the film.
What subject matter from the book resonated with you?
Marc du Pontavice: The subject of intolerance permeates the book, and perhaps the movie even more so. But acceptance, of yourself and your own differences is also very prominent. It can be felt through Lucy, in her village, at school, with the other children, but it’s also present in a broader context of war and fear of strangers. Children’s power of imagination and their ability to use that to overcome their anxiety is something that moves me deeply.
From the opening scene, we can sense a Japanese influence in the drawings…
Marc du Pontavice: Japanese cinema is not afraid of slow poetic motion, which creates a particular interplay of image and narrative. This lyrical environment is vital for this story, we were inspired by the Japanese style, but it remained an inspiration, we forged our own identity.
Olivier Clert: The animation style had been suggested by the narrative and the tone. We wanted something rather sweet and delicate, where elements like wind and water interact. We wanted subtlety with a hint of comedy.
What were the greatest challenges for the animation of this film?
Marc du Pontavice: This rather contemplative film contains 1,800 shots, which is enormous for an animated film. It was a great paradox, with poetry on the one hand and a very tightly sustained staging rhythm on the other. Our choice of drawing instead of using computer-assisted images, allowed a certain fragility, which enhanced the characters’ expressiveness. This story is driven by what’s left unsaid, by an interior world as perceived through these drawings and this grain. It’s a difficult course to navigate and Olivier was incredible at the helm.
How did you handle the violence in Lucy’s story?
Olivier Clert: We’ve all known animated works that weren’t afraid of addressing very difficult topics and we haven’t been traumatized. When I was a child, it helped me to watch examples of resilience, courage, and seeing people help each other in the face of adversity. I wanted to make a movie like the ones that moved me as a child. The world is a difficult, complicated, harsh and violent place, and we need works that can talk about these issues to children.
Marc du Pontavice: It would be wrong to think that we go to the movies to escape that world. It’s part of a child’s building blocks to view these mechanisms of violence through a tale. We can provide them with an interpretation and a possible path through this violence and this could stimulate the dialogue between children and parents.
