On June 12, a most unique feature film will premiere on Netflix. Its name is I Am Frankelda and it is a Mexican animated film that has captivated everyone who has seen it. And there are multiple reasons for this.
To begin with, it is the first stop motion animated feature film made in Mexico, but also because it is backed by a great name in cinema not only in Mexico but internationally: Guillermo del Toro.
A very interesting animation
With more than a hundred handcrafted puppets, this film produced by the Mexican studio Cinema Fantasma, founded by brothers Arturo and Roy Ambriz, will introduce us to Francisca Imelda, a 19th-century horror story writer who has been overlooked.
At least until, after adopting the pseudonym Frankelda, she meets a prince with a supernatural appearance named Herneval, who takes her on a fantastic journey where reality and fiction will intertwine.
Del Toro, upon seeing a provisional cut of the film, congratulated the creators and sponsored the project. Deciding to act as a creative advisor for it. Although this did not come out of nowhere. They all know each other from the previous project of the Ambriz, the series The Hidden Scares of Frankelda, an anthology miniseries also made in stop motion but this time produced for HBO Max.
Since Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio was a tremendously successful film both among critics, the public, and the awards circuit, it seems logical that Netflix has decided to invest in this film. And it also might end up being one of the surprises of the year. Moreover, we won’t have to wait to find out how it performs, with an imminent release and to discover what this Soy Frankelda and this fascinating blossoming of Mexican animation cinema has in store for us.