Drawing from the past

"The Chinese story will be about the daughter of a pharmacy owner," reveals Ocelot.

The meticulous filmmaker usually spends six years producing a film. But Ocelot intends to produce his upcoming works-which will include a feature-length anthology of three short tales set in Egypt and France-more quickly.

Born in Villefranche-sur-Mer in 1943, the artist who has been devoted to animation for over half a century jokingly suggests his passion developed in the mid-1940s at the age of 18 months.

"I always liked to scribble on paper or anything else that was available. There were no TV sets in my childhood, so I had to create my own amusement. Thanks to painting and animation, they continue to make me happy and have now become part of my life," says an emotional Ocelot.