Sep 23, 2021

Exclusive Pilot Premiere: Animated Documentary "Cannabiz" Explores France's Illegal Weed Trade

In France, cannabis dealers are everywhere. The trade is both ubiquitous and heavily policed: France is one of Europe's leading cannabis consumers, but possession and sale are punishable by 10 years in prison and a fine of 7.5 million euros (about $880 million). For dealers, discretion is key.

"Cannabiz" explores this black market with all its risks and hypocrisy. In development, this animated documentary series is built around rare interviews with small-scale domestic dealers, explaining how they came to sell marijuana and how they do it.

Following the project's unveiling at this week's Cartoon Forum, we are exclusively premiering the pilot version. Focusing on Nina, who sells cannabis in a wealthy Mediterranean community:

The series consists of ten 5-minute episodes, each episode portraying one dealer alone. The characters include urbanites, farmers, men, women, young and old, part-time and full-time. The dialogue is faithfully reproduced from conversations that writer-director Victorian Tardif had with his subjects, but was re-recorded by the actors to preserve anonymity.

This is also accomplished through the use of animation. Tardif explains:

Worried about preserving the anonymity of the people I met, the actors re-recorded their testimonies to avoid their own voices being broadcast. Animation is another way of getting to know them without endangering them.

The choice of animation also fits with my intention of humanizing the dealers. Oscar Aubry and Mickaël Dupré? Oscar Aubry and Mickaël Dupré [who directed the film with Tardif] took care to portray characters that are lovable, touching, and even funny. Our goal is not to promote cannabis, but to get at the reality of dealers through sensitive portraits. If the audience says, "These people are outlaws, but maybe they're not so different from me... " then we have won the bet.

Aubry and Dupré, graduates of the Emile Coeur in Lyon, draw their characters in a loose, painterly style inspired by Chinese ink techniques. The series uses hand-drawn animation.

"Cannabiz" is produced by Christian Pfohl of Lardux Films and co-produced by Emmanuel Chevilliat of Neos Films. They are looking for partnerships with international platforms and French broadcasters.