Trailer and key art released for Netflix’s ‘I Am Frankelda’
Netflix have released an official trailer for the upcoming stop-motion fantasy feature film I Am Frankelda, a historic milestone as Mexico’s first-ever feature-length stop-motion production. The film, which stars Mireya Mendoza, Arturo Mercado Jr. and Luis Leonardo Suarez, screened at last year’s Annecy festival and was acquired by Netflix earlier this year.
In 19th-century Mexico, Frankelda is a gifted writer whose dark tales are ignored and dismissed. Forced to suppress her voice, she refuses to give up, even as many try to silence her. But when she is thrust into her subconscious, the very monsters she created come to life. Guided by Herneval, a tormented prince trapped between dreams and nightmares, she must restore balance between fiction and reality before both realms collapse. Meanwhile, the sinister writer Procustes and his conspirators plot to seize control. As Frankelda and Herneval grow closer, their bond becomes both a strength and a curse. To rewrite their fate, she must confront a love that defies existence and reclaim her power as a storyteller—before dark forces consume her imagination and reveal horrors beyond her creation.
Written, produced and directed by sibling duo Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz, I Am Frankelda features an original score by Kevin Smithers, production design by Ana Coronilla and Bruce Zick, with Beto Petiches serving as animation director and DOP duties helmed by Irene Melis and Fernanda G. Manzur.
I Am Frankelda (Image: Netflix)
As brothers, we grew up inventing worlds together, drawing, playing, imagining. Over time we understood that fictional characters were not only companions but guides. Sometimes they felt closer than the people around us. They provided us courage, wisdom, and solace. We believe fiction is not an escape from reality but a way of understanding it. A way of converting truth into palatable chunks. I Am Frankelda comes from a lifelong love of storytelling.
At the heart of the film is the relationship between Frankelda and Herneval: creator and creation, voice and echo. We are drawn to the mystery of ideas. We do not know if we invent them or if they find us. We only know that when they arrive, they ask to be brought into the world.
This film is a dream for us. It holds everything we have loved since childhood: monsters, drama, music, color, intensity, culture and worldbuilding. We are moved by characters who feel deeply, who struggle, who transform. Frankelda is about a creator who insists on being heard, even when everything around her says no.
-Roy and Arturo Ambriz (Directors, I Am Frankelda)
I Am Frankelda is released June 12th on Netflix