Savages

Claude
Barras

Born on January 19, 1973, in Sierre, Claude Barras is a Swiss director and producer.
Son and grandson of farmers, he studied illustration for children’s books at the Emile
Cohl school, anthropology and digital image at Lulière University in Lyon and then 3D
Infographics at Lausanne School of Art. After his studies he co-directed Banquise with
Cédric Louis, his first animated short film, selected for Cannes Official Competition in
2006. Claude Barras then worked with the animation collective, Helium Films, producing
and directing some ten animated short films which were selected for and won prizes in
many festivals. He also taught animation and at the Geneva School of Applied Arts and
the Ecole de la Poudrière in Valence.
In 2013 he began directing his first feature-length film in stop-motion, co-written with
Céline Sciamma. My Life as a Courgette premiered at Cannes in 2016 in Directors’
Fortnight. The film was distributed in over 60 countries and has to date clocked up over
175,000 spectators in Switzerland, and 800,000 in France and has won many prizes,
including two Césars and an Oscar nomination in 2017.
In 2018 with Nancy Huston and Morgan Navarro, he developed an idea for a new
animated feature film which he then wrote with Catherine Paillé. Savages will premiere
at a Special Screening in Official Selection at the 2024 Cannes Festival.
Clause Barras is currently developing a documentary series on excrement and an
adaptation, with Christelle Berthevas, of Fabien Toulmé’s graphic novel It’s Not What I
Was Expecting.

In Borneo, at the edge of the tropical forest, Kéria is given a baby orangutan that has been rescued from the oil palm plantation where her father works. At the same time, her young cousin Selaï has come to live with them, seeking refuge from the conflict between his nomadic family and the logging companies. With their ancestral forest home under greater threat than ever before, they will have to confront many obstacles in their battle against its planned destruction.