No, it’s not the latest commentary on Cleveland. It’s a lovely animated film at this year’s Cleveland International Film Festival. We liked it so much that we decided to become a Community Sponsor. What does A Town Called Panic have to do with Ingenuity? Do we really have to answer that question? Ingenuity is about bringing to light work that is rarely or never seen. This is a work by two animators that are very popular in Europe but are never screened here. Now’s your chance Cleveland!

We’ll be there on March 27th and 28th and you should be too! Read more about it here at the CIFF website.

Check out Kenneth Turan’s review of the film:

A Town Called Panic (Panique au village)

Parachuting cows, snowball-throwing penguin machines, tidal waves, exploding houses, and pilfering sea creatures. If that doesn’t intrigue you, what else will? Such is A TOWN CALLED PANIC, the imagination-come-to-life of creative masterminds Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar. A true adventure story of three improbable plastic friends — Horse, Cowboy, and Indian — this French film cleverly employs the use of stop-motion animation to create a visual playground for adults and children alike. This delightfully odd comedy begins as Cowboy and Indian devise a haphazard plan for Horse’s birthday, in which everything that can go wrong does just that. Inevitably, the three friends lose their house and must journey through a parallel universe to take it back from the sneaky undersea hellions that stole it. Along the way they are continuously met with hilarious obstacles in which both their bravery and resilience are put to the test. A TOWN CALLED PANIC is a film you won’t be able to look away from and its wacky amusement will leave you smiling well past leaving the theater. (In French with subtitles) – M.M.