Netflix has acquired I Am Frankelda (Soy Frankelda), a stop-motion feature from Mexican filmmakers Arturo and Roy Ambriz, with plans to release the film globally later this year.
The deal marks a significant milestone for Latin American animation, as the film is recognized as the first entirely Mexican feature-length stop-motion production.
Produced by the Ambriz brothers’ Mexico City–based studio Cinema Fantasma, I Am Frankelda arrives with a significant amount of international buzz. The film recently earned a nomination for best independent feature at the Annie Awards, having previously screened at Annecy, Guadalajara (FICG), and Animation Is Film.
The project, spun off from the Cartoon Network Quirino Award-winning series Frankelda’s Book of Spooks, also boasts the backing of Guillermo del Toro, who served as a creative guide to the filmmakers. A longtime champion of stop-motion animation and co-founder of the studio/training facility El Taller del Chucho in his native Guadalajara, del Toro praised the film as “a landmark in Mexican stop-motion animation and a true triumph of vision, tenacity and love for the craft.” The Ambriz brothers have previously cited del Toro as a mentor and key influence on their work.
Set in 19th-century Mexico, I Am Frankelda follows a gifted writer whose dark stories are dismissed, forcing her to suppress her voice. When she is pulled into her subconscious, the monsters of her imagination come alive, blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality. As she navigates a world of dreams and nightmares alongside the tormented prince Herneval, Frankelda must reclaim her power as a storyteller before darker forces seize control.
The film features production design by Ana Coronilla and Bruce Zick, animation direction by Beto Petiches, and an original score by Kevin Smithers.