Santiago, Chile-based Punkrobot, which won the 2016 Academy Award for its animated short Bear Story, has released a teaser for its first feature production, Brave Cat.
Since winning the Oscar, the studio has worked on various high-profile projects, including the Latin American feature Nahuel and the Magic Book and the “In the Stars” episode of Star Wars: Visions.
The new cg film, which is currently in production, follows Kona, a teenage forest cat who decides to face her fears and search for her missing mother, who was kidnapped by the circus long ago. She is joined on her journey by Colin, an abandoned guard dog pup, and Bernard, a runaway old circus bear, who are also searching for their own families.
The film is directed by Gabriel Osorio, who also directed Bear Story. He is one of the co-founders of Punkrobot alongside Antonia Herrera, Mari Soto-Aguilar, and Pato Escala.
“Brave Cat is not a sequel to Bear Story. It’s a successor to Bear Story in a way,” Osorio told Variety. “While Bear Story told a story from the point of view of someone exiled, Brave Cat tells the story of someone searching for their missing loved one.”
But similar to Bear Story, the film is inspired by contemporary Chilean history and the dictatorship of Pinochet during the 1970s and ’80s, during which many Chileans were placed in concentration camps and executed. “There are still people missing to this day,” Osorio said. “Ultimately, the film will try to explore forgiveness of the unforgivable.”
The filmmakers will be in Annecy next week to look for production partners.
