Today sees the start of the filming of Coppelia, an original family film based on the modern version of the ballet classic. In this unique international production, which combines animation and ballet, star ballerina of Dutch National Ballet Michaela DePrince dances the leading role, alongside Daniel Camargo, principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet. The cast also includes Igone de Jongh, principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, the former Bolshoi Ballet and Royal Ballet star Irek Mukhamedov, the British ballet and television star Darcey Bussell, and Dutch dancer and actor Jan Kooijman.
An international team of designers and animators is working on the production, shaping the characters and the story. Coppelia is directed by Jeff Tudor, Steven de Beul and Ben Tesseur. The choreographer is Ted Brandsen, director of Dutch National Ballet. The film is expected to be screened at the end of 2020.
About Coppelia
In this modern fairytale, the budding love between Swanilda and Franz is jeopardised by the incredibly beautiful Coppelia. She is the creation of Dr Coppelius, a plastic surgeon who seduces the villagers with the ideal of perfect beauty. Even Franz falls under her spell. But the headstrong Swanilda discovers that Dr Coppelius is up to no good. In his ‘beauty parlour’, he steals unique features. The loving heart of Franz is the final part he needs in order to bring Coppelia to life. Swanilda does everything in her power to save Franz from a terrible end.
Coppelia is adapted from the modern version of the classic 19th-century ballet based on the story by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, which was created by Ted Brandsen in 2008.
Michaela DePrince: „The character I play is a very strong young woman who doesn’t let the anyone tell her that she should be more than she already is. For me it’s about believing in who you are and that you shouldn’t change who you are just because somebody else thinks you would look better or prettier because of it.
I really feel I have a connection with the character because of that. I believe that beauty really does come from within and you should be true to yourself, because I think everyone is beautiful no matter what.“
About the production
Coppelia is a unique international production, made in collaboration with Dutch National Ballet. The film is directed by Jeff Tudor, initiator of the project, and co-directed by the Belgian duo Steven de Beul and Ben Tesseur from Beast Animation. The film is produced by Submarine (NL/US), 3 minutes West (GB/NL), Lunanime (BE) and MotionWorks (DE).
The production has received funding from the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund Production Incentive, the Dutch Cultural Media Fund, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Screen Flanders, Nord Media, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Creative Europe Media, the Creative Industries Fund NL, AvroTros and MDR / Arte. The film will be released in the Benelux through Periscoop Film.
press release
