This handdrawn fairytale for adults is an adaptation of a Grimm Brothers tale: A miller’s daughter is sold to the devil, and her hands are cut off when she makes her escape. Entrancing with its minimalistic style — painting entire worlds with spare brushstrokes and a whirlwind of colors — the film tells its cruel, dark story with great sophistication and tenderness. With the fewest of blots and lines, The Girl Without Hands conveys the biggest emotions while strikingly blending characters and their environment.

An Annecy prize winner, this film is director Sébastien Laudenbach’s feature-length debut.

This film is presented in French with English subtitles.

This program screened as part of KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival 2016

Showing in this program

The Girl Without Hands

• Sebastien Laudenbach
• France, 2016
• 76 min.

In hard times, a miller sells his daughter to the Devil. Protected by her purity, she escapes but is deprived of her hands. Walking away from her family, she encounters the goddess of water, a gentle gardener and a prince in his castle. A long journey towards the light…