Azur and Asmar: The Princes' Quest

Dir. Michael Ocelot (98min, France*, 2008)
Rated PG - Recommended for ages 6+

“The year's most beautiful animated film! Impossibly gorgeous... the sheer storybook rapture swept me away!” -Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

*We are showing the english language version of the film

Azur & Asmar is the story of two boys raised as brothers. Blonde, blue-eyed, white-skinned Azur and black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned Asmar are lovingly cared for by Asmar's gentle mother, who tells them magical stories of her faraway homeland and of the beautiful, imprisoned Djinn Fairy waiting to be set free. Time passes, and one day Azur's father, the master of the house, provokes a brutal separation. Azur is sent away to study, while Asmar and his mother are driven out, homeless and penniless.

Years later, as a young adult, Azur remains haunted by memories of the sunny land of his nanny, and sets sail south across the high seas to find the country of his dreams. Arriving as an immigrant in a strange land, Azur is rejected by everyone he meets on account of his "unlucky" blue eyes, until finally he resolved never to open those eyes again. The once-beautiful child clad in gold is reduced to a blind beggar. Yet, blind though he is, little by little and step by step, he discovers a beautiful and mysterious country. Meanwhile, back in her homeland, Azur's nanny has become a wealthy merchant and Asmar has grown into a dashing horseman. Reunited, but now as adversaries, the two brothers set off on a dangerous quest to find and free the Djinn Fairy.

**Thanks to the generous support of SiteLogic, Family Flicks has greatly expanded from one screening a month to five or more screenings each week**