The highly anticipated animated fantasy-adventure Mavka. The Forest Song, produced by The Stolen Princess studio Animagrad (FILM.UA Group) in Ukraine, has dropped its official international trailer as the feature film prepares to share its folkloric enchantments with audiences around the world. Mavka premiered domestically on March 2 and set box-office records with its opening, beating out Avatar: The Way of Water with 189,048 admissions.
Mavka. The Forest Song launches its wide theatrical release with more than 80 countries already having acquired distribution rights — and the list is still growing. More than 50 countries and territories have set release dates.
The adventure follows Mavka — a Soul of the Forest and its Warden — as she faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as guardian to the Heart of the Forest, when she falls in love with a human, the talented young musician Lukas. The ambitious CG animated project is inspired by ancient Slavic traditions and rituals, ornaments and patterns, national visual symbols in costumes, folk melodies and also by the classic fairytale drama “The Forest Song” by Ukrainian poetess Lesya Ukrainka. Environmental protection themes and local wildlife are also strongly represented.
“Our partners are attracted by the quality of animation, a universal story, a combination of drama and humor, and music,” says Evgeniy Drachov, head of FILM.UA Distribution. “Mavka. The Forest Song has all the makings of a family animation success, and sales in a large number of territories show that our opinion is shared by professionals all over the world. We hope that the audience will like Mavka. The Forest Song, because the story of love and struggle for one’s world should resonate with people worldwide.”
On February 26, Italia Film, Muvi Cinemas and FILM.UA Group, with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, held a highly attended pre-release screening, kicking off Mavka‘s wide theatrical release across the Middle East (Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen) and North African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara, et al), where the film hit screens March 2. On March 5, a screening of Mavka took place in Abu Dhabi.
Upcoming: On March 29, Universal Pictures Content Group and KMBO distribution company will release Mavka. The Forest Song across France, with a same day release in Belgium. Mavka will then roll out to New Zealand and Australia (April 6), The Netherlands (April 19), Italy (April 20), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo (April 27), Andorra and Spain (April 28) and Vietnam (April 29), then to Hungary and Portugal (May 4) and Romania (May 12), Serbia and Montenegro (June 29), Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania )(July 14) and Turkey (August 25).
Release dates for the United States, Canada, Latin America, South Korea, Mongolia, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Denmark, Finland,
Norway, Sweden and others will be announced soon in partnership with local distributors who have already acquired the film.
Mavka. The Forest Song first drew international attention when the initial teaser was presented at the MIFA content market in 2017, held within the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. That same year, it was the only Ukrainian project to be selected to pitch at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux, for two years in a row. The project has since grown into a multi-platform “Mavka Universe” IP, which brings together people from the creative, technological and business spheres, scientific and public institutions, and government agencies.
Learn more about Mavka. The Forest Song at mavka.ua and check out the new international trailer below.
