A Boat in the Garden

Jean-François
Laguionie

Born in 1939 in Besançon, Jean-François Laguionie developed a passion for drawing from an early age. After art studies, he met Paul Grimault who introduced him to animation, sharing a workshop with him for almost ten years. It was there that he started to develop his first short films. In 1978, he won the Short Film Palme d'Or for the film "Rowing Across the Atlantic". His first feature, "Gwen, or the Book of Sand", was released in 1985. He then directed, among others, "A Monkey's Tale" (1999), "The Painting" (2011), "The Prince's Voyage" (2019) and "A Boat in the Garden" (2024)

François (11) lives with his kind-hearted mother and his reserved but sincere stepfather Pierre – nicknamed Slocum by his friends. When Pierre begins building a replica of the Spray, the famous sailboat on which Joshua Slocum became the first person to circumnavigate the globe, the project becomes a symbolic vessel for the family – sometimes sailing together, sometimes apart – in their journey toward understanding and acceptance. Told through the eyes of a boy growing up in the 1950s along the Marne River, this gentle, nostalgic animation is the work of master animator Jean-François Laguionie, who, at 85, returns to his childhood in a quiet, heartfelt tribute to his stepfather. The film’s delicate, bookish visual style adds a unique charm to this late-career personal opus. Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, it is a story of family warmth and a childhood that is slowly drifting away.