"Black Butterflies" Wraps Oscar-Considered Tour in LA
Oscar-preselected animated film Black Butterflies, which highlights climate migration, concluded its acclaimed 18-month international tour with a special Los Angeles screening.
The film Black Butterflies is wrapping up its nearly 18-month international tour, which began in Annecy in June 2024. Its final stop is a special one in Los Angeles, Hollywood. Filmmaker David Baute, from Tenerife, presented his animated movie at the Santa Monica Film Center and the Instituto Cervantes. He was joined by Panamanian musician, actor, and activist Rubén Blades, who wrote the film's original song, and María Pulido, the art director.
This showing in Los Angeles comes after Black Butterflies was pre-selected for an Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It was one of 35 international animated films considered, alongside titles like KPop Demon Hunters, Arco, Elio, Zootopia 2, Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes, In your dreams, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle.
This recent attention, especially given the film's focus on climate migration, will help Black Butterflies reach more cinemas worldwide. Its successful run at film festivals and awards ceremonies is now ending, having won prizes such as the Platino Award for Best Ibero-American Animated Film and the Goya Award for Best Spanish Animated Film. This means the team behind the film, a project that took 13 years and involved Ikiru Films, Tinglado Film, Anangu Grup, Tunche Films, and Mogambo, can now successfully complete its distribution.
Black Butterflies, also a winner of the Gaudí, Forqué, and Quirino awards, highlights the stories of people affected by today's climate disasters. Using animation, the film takes audiences on a journey from the Caribbean, India, and the Horn of Africa's deserts to big cities like Paris, Dubai, and Nairobi.
The movie shows how climate change affects Tanit, Valeria, and Shaila. These three women come from different parts of the world, but they share a common experience: they lose everything because of global warming and have to move to survive.
David Baute has been making documentaries for more than 20 years. His first film, Children of the Clouds (2000), started a series of brave documentaries that tackle difficult subjects head-on.