The small and seemingly unremarkable town of Bectoile hides many secrets. Raised in the area, Lucie’s mother Caroline, together with her friend Pierrot, takes care of one of them: an abandoned castle. Her resourceful daughter Lucie refuses to stay on the sidelines and sets out to solve the mystery of her grandfather’s disappearance. Could this story be connected to the infamous fire from years ago and the mysterious healer who cures animals and lives in the forest? To uncover the truth, it’s not enough to simply keep one’s eyes open. Lucie must join forces with her teenage neighbor Yann, listen to the ever-present blue tits, and dig through old newspaper archives. She will remember this summer for the rest of her life!
Awards:
- Golden Goblet Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival (Shanghai, China, 2025)
Nominee:
- Nomination at the SCHLiNGEL International Film Festival for Children and Young Audience (Chemnitz, Germany, 2025)
Antoine Lanciaux
Antoine Lanciaux, born on 29 December 1970 in Saint-Riquier (Somme), is a French director, screenwriter, and animator of animated films. He discovered animation at the age of 19 at École supérieure des arts appliqués et du textile (ESAAT) in Roubaix, where he created his first films using drawings and cut-out techniques. Two years later, he joined Folimage, a French animation studio producing animated works for cinema and television (short films, specials and series, as well as feature films). There, he refined his cut-out technique under the guidance of Michel Ocelot during the production of Tales of the Night. In 1995, after working as an animator, graphic artist, and storyboard artist on series and early short films produced by the studio, he moved to London to train with Michael Dudok de Wit. He then worked on projects and screenplays for films by I. Czerenkov. He directed his first film, The Songbird’s Secret, made entirely using the paper cut-out technique, in 2025.
Filmography
2011 – Boniface’s Summer – short film, 26 min
2014 – Snow – short film, 26 min
2025 - The Songbird’s Secret – family, adventure, 77 min
