First Trailer for Animated 'The Swallows of Kabul' Playing in Cannes

"Aren't we all already long dead?" Celluloid Dreams has debuted the first full trailer for French animated film The Swallows of Kabul, adapted from Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra's tragic tale capturing life in Kabul in 1998. The film is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival coming up this month, and will then play at the Annecy Film Festival also in France. The emotional story follows two couples whose lives become intertwined: "one young and liberal, whose lives are at risk under the strictures of Taliban rule, the other older and more conservative." The film has been in development for over five years, animated in France and produced by Les Armateurs, co-directed by Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec. Featuring the voices of Hiam Abbass as Mussarat, Simon Abkarian as Atiq, Zita Hanrot as Zunaira, and Swann Arlaud as Mohsen. This looks gorgeous and heartbreaking, a tough story to watch but an important one to tell anyway.

First trailer for Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec's The Swallows of Kabul, direct from YouTube:

The story revolves around Atiq (Simon Abkarian) and Mussarat (Hiam Abbass), who have been married for years and who barely speak to each other any more. He can’t stand his life as a prison warden in a women's jail, while she is dying, suffering from an incurable disease. As for youngsters Mohsen and Zunaira, they are in love and believe in the future, despite all the violence and poverty. But a foolish act by Mohsen tips them over into tragedy… The Swallows of Kabul is co-directed by French filmmakers Zabou Breitman (actress and director of the films Beautiful Memories, The Man of My Life, Someone I Loved, No & Me previously) & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec (an animator / designer making her feature directorial debut). The screenplay is written by Sébastien Tavel, Patricia Mortagne, Zabou Breitman. Adapted from Yasmina Khadra's novel of the same name. This will premiere in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival this month. The film will release in France this September, but has no other release dates yet. First impression?