A young pastry chef who creates colorful and inventive desserts in a grey, conformist village. One day, he meets a faun who will change his life forever.
Gerlando, born in 1986, studied visual arts at La Cambre in Brussels, where he focused on animation. While in school, he made a bunch of animated films. His first one, “Margot,” won the Junior Jury Prize at the Annecy International Animation Festival back in 2008 when he was in his third year. The next year, he directed a student short called “Milovan Circus,” which picked up around fifteen awards, including the Audience Award at Anima. In June 2009, the French singer Robert asked him to direct her music video for “Ange et Démon.” In 2010, he finished his graduation film, “L’Oeil du Paon,” and it got great responses at festivals and in 2011, he directed the music video for “Franky’s Princess” for Emilie Simon.
How and when did you begin your journey in animation? Was it a coincidence or something you’ve been interested in since you were little? What’s your path?
GI – “My very first memory is tied to animation! As a child, I was both fascinated and terrified by The Last Unicorn, which I watched on repeat. The scene with the witch sent chills down my spine. I would hide under a cushion, unable to look away. That feeling of fear, especially when you’re a child, is incredibly powerful. From that moment on, I developed an almost obsessive relationship with animated films… and a particular fascination with villains, who made me feel the strongest emotions.
By the age of 11, I was already certain I wanted to become an animator. My favorite book wasn’t a novel, but the making-of book for Aladdin, which I pored over endlessly, searching for clues about how animated films were made. Around that time, I created my very first short animated film on celluloid, called Zombio!. The thrill of seeing my drawings come to life was indescribable. I kept making new films whenever I got home from school… I just couldn’t stop. Since then, animation has never left me”.
“La Bague au Doigt” is an incredible project, like the previous ones: the cinematography, lighting, animation, construction, puppets, etc. How do you manage to pay attention to all the details? Which role do you prefer?
GI – “Since the age of six, I’ve been enrolled in a multidisciplinary extracurricular art academy, where every three weeks we would explore a new technique or form of expression. From a very young age, I became comfortable switching between sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and painting. Over the years, this variety not only fueled my curiosity but also helped me develop a keen and demanding eye — sometimes too demanding. While that level of precision is a strength, it can also become a challenge, especially when dealing with limited budgets or tight deadlines.
I truly enjoy every step of the creative process, which makes it difficult for me to choose one role over another. But if I had to pick just one, it would definitely be animation. There’s something uniquely intense about that moment when a puppet you brought to life months earlier with a pencil stroke suddenly begins to move. It feels like a private, almost magical bond between my character and me”.
Hyacinthe, the feature film you are currently working on, how did the idea of creating a feature film originate? Who is collaborating with you, and what is the storyline?
GI – “I didn’t wake up one morning thinking, “That’s it, I’m going to write a feature film.” It all happened quite differently. After finishing my studies, I one day sketched a young pastry chef. His name, Hyacinthe, came to me instantly. As I looked at the drawing, I began to wonder: what was his story? What did he like, what did he dislike? I started imagining what I wanted to happen to him — and just as importantly, what I didn’t want to tell.
Little by little, an idea began to take shape: a young pastry chef who creates colorful and inventive desserts in a grey, conformist village. One day, he meets a faun who will change his life forever. As the story evolved, I realized it held the potential to develop into a world rich enough for a feature-length format.
Between other short film projects, I kept nurturing the idea, and the first treatment was completed in 2020. I met my producers at the Annecy festival — Wrong Men in Belgium and Foliascope in France. Together, we produced a first teaser for this story, which has continued to grow ever since”
You can check out more about this project here!
