Best Director Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) delivers a stirring Holocaust fable – the first animated film to screen in Cannes competition since 2008.

In a snow-blanketed rural village during WWII, a poor Polish woodcutter lives with his wife, who is unable to bear children. Their small, insular world drastically changes when a baby is thrown from a passing train heading for the prison camp at Auschwitz. Seeing it as a gift from God, the woman pledges to raise this child – against the initial resistance of her husband, and in the face of the rising antisemitic fervour of the local villagers.

The first animated title to compete for the Palme d’Or since Waltz With Bashir (MIFF 2008) and fresh from screening at Annecy, The Most Precious of Cargoes sees French filmmaker Hazanavicius (Final Cut, MIFF 2022) impressively transition to animated storytelling. Based on a 2019 novel by Jean-Claude Grumberg and narrated by the late French screen legend Jean-Louis Trintignant, this profoundly moving film boasts a striking visual palette reminiscent of graphic novels, while its narrative evokes the ‘once upon a time’ framing and moral storytelling of classic picture books and fairytales.

“Likely to become a classic … An indelible parable destined to be watched and shared by generations to come.” – Variety