Paul & Gaëtan Brizzi

Gaëtan & Paul Brizzi, twin brothers born in 1951, studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. During their studies, a notable early animation project opened the doors to the ORTF (France's state TV network until 1974) for them, eventually leading to a prestigious artist residency at the Villa Medici. At the end of their two-year residency, the Brizzi brothers presented Fracture, which was nominated for the César Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1978. They later worked on numerous projects, including the 1985 movie adaptation Astérix et la surprise de César, and opened their own animation studio in Paris. Disney’s acquisition of this studio opened the doors to the United States and a new collaboration. Upon their arrival in Los Angeles, Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) was already being adapted, and Disney asked the Brizzi brothers to direct key sequences of the animated film. They subsequently worked on The Firebird sequence in Fantasia 2000. Artistic disagreements led to their departure, prompting them to begin collaborating with DreamWorks Animation. Far from finding the creative freedom they had hoped for, they also left the studio to work independently before returning to France. It was then that they met a publisher who offered them the space they needed to bring their fantastical and dreamlike world to life. They began with Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s La Cavale du Dr Destouches in 2015, and have since continued to adapt great classics of French and international literature by authors such as Honoré de Balzac, Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quichotte de la Mancha), Gaston Leroux, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare and Dante Alighieri (Dante's inferno). Despite being separated by the Atlantic, Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi continue their lonstanding collaboration in a remarkable four-handed effort.