"Linda's Chicken!" directors Sébastien Laudenbach and Chiara Malta are following up their award-winning film with a death-themed animal Story "My Stupid Intentions".

This decidedly coming-of-age novel, adapted from a 2023 book by Italian author Bernardo Zanoni, reads like the autobiography of a beech ferret who grew up poor and found his way into a harsh and uncaring world. grow up.

Malta says: 'This is an extremely cruel book' type. "It's a very dark story about death and the emergence of consciousness in the animal kingdom. Because with consciousness comes nostalgia, memory, the fear of death, the awareness of finitude. And with that comes loss. , sadness and chaos – this is the challenge[Sebastian Laudenbach and I]set for ourselves.”

"By adapting such a brutal book for a young audience, the goal is essentially to talk to kids about death," Malta continued. “We hope to make this beautiful book—one that touches on so many philosophical issues and high-level concepts—accessible to the most distinguished of readers.”

Currently in early development, the French-Italian co-production will reunite "Chicken for Linda!" from Miyu Productions and Dolce Vita Films, with the filmmakers currently testing out combining 3D tools with a sensory 2D aesthetic. animation style. A pilot date is set for 2026, and the filmmakers hope to begin production soon thereafter.

"Linda's Chicken!" won the Annecy International Airport Award for Best Film at the 2023 Animation Film Festival and the 2024 César Award for Best Animated Film.

In the immediate future, creative and domestic partners are busy with personal projects. As Laudenbach is currently overseeing the production of Georges Bizet's adaptation of Love is a Gypsy Child: The Story of Carmen, Malta is planning to film a live-action Italian remake of the 2023 Belgian comedy Love (Pre)Experience. ” in partnership with Rome-based Wildside Productions.

"This remake is a bit of a gamble," Malta said. "But (original directors Anciello and Rafael Balboni) trusted me because we both had a very strong artistic vision. They had a lot of fantasy and imagination, and they trusted that I wouldn't simply way) to adapt it.”

Malta is also set to adapt author Gianrico Carofiglio's 1980s novel Three in the Morning, about a father and his epileptic son who spend 48 hours in Marseille Story, production begins in the south of France later this year.