Joann Sfar

Joann Sfar’s take on French presidential election

5 May 2012

Tomorrow everything will be over (thank god), we’ll get to know who is France’s new flashy president… Flamby le petit calumniateur our Monsieur BlingBling le pov’con. Both of them are just as good or bad for France, although this is arguable. Although…. not everything will be completely over coss just in a few weeks they’ll be back with the legislative elections….

Integrite - Image by Joann Sfar
"When I laugh at Sarkozy they retweet me much more... I should reaffirm my left-wing support" Integrite - Image by Joann Sfar

Our admired Joann Sfar (you know… Gainsbourg, Rabbi’s cat) has been tweeting and drawing quite intensively over the past few days pre and post Sarkozy-Hollande TV debate with some great political cartoon hits that summarize pretty well the political campaign.

Sarko apres le debat - drawing by Joann Sfar
"I don't understand why that was shocking! It's not my fault if the Maghreb is full of arabs" Sarko apres le debat - drawing by Joann Sfar
Haute Tenue - Drawing by  Joann Sfar
Haute Tenue - Drawing by Joann Sfar

But above all discussions, satires and cartoon irony Joann is very right about one thing… if Sarkozy leaves tomorrow… there will be soooooooo many French cartoonists and humorists (think Canal + Guignols above all) will go into mourning… the rest of his prolific political cartoons (and many of his previous doodles) are available on-line on his twitter photostream.

Depart de Sarkozy - drawing by Joann Sfar
Depart de Sarkozy - drawing by Joann Sfar
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The rabbi’s cat

10 April 2011

It might take a bit (even a year) before this film is released in the UK or outside France (with a planned June release date) but we can already start admiring the latest work of Joann Sfar (Gainsbourg – Vie héroïque director, better known for his comics).

Finally adapting his  last decade’s best-seller “Le chat du rabbin” into  full featured animated film which Joann started producing with Antoine Delesvaux in 2008 just when the last 2 books of the cat series were finally published in English.

"Which of the following prophets has the longest beard, Moses, Jesus or Mahoma?

Algiers, 1920s. Rabbi Sfar has more than one problem. His beautiful daughter is becoming a teenager and above all, his parrot-killing cat has just started talking! The delivery of a trunk from Russia further complicates matters when a painter is discovered inside, more dead than alive. The painter is on a quest for a hidden tribe and its mythical city in Africa. Convinced that the city really exists, he sets off on an incredible adventure, taking with him the Rabbi and his cat, a wise old Arab Sheikh and an eccentric Russian millionaire.

an idea for a poster
another of the unlikely to be released posters

Now it’s a matter of patiente till it it gets to your local cinema (if ever as the French distributir UGC haven’t even planned on a foreing release calendar) you can always get a cheap ticket to Paris and watch it this summer while tanning at the great fake Paris Plage.

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