Mia And The White Lion
Mia and the White Lion (French: Mia et le lion blanc)[4] is a 2018 family adventure film directed by Gilles de Maistre. The film stars Daniah de Villiers, Mélanie Laurent, and Langley Kirkwood. The film was released in France on December 26, 2018[5][6] and in the United States on April 12, 2019.[7]
Mia and the White Lion
Ten year old Mia Owen has her life turned upside down when her family decides to leave London to manage a lion farm in Africa. When a beautiful white lion, Charlie, is born, Mia finds happiness once again and develops a special bond with the growing cub.
When Charlie grows too old to be kept in the house, Mia's father, John, decides to place the growing lion into an enclosure away from all human contact. When Mia's brother, Mick, is injured by Charlie, Mia's parents forbid her from interacting with Charlie - if she does, they will sell him for money. However, Mia defies her father's instructions not to interact with Charlie. In retaliation, her father opts to sell Charlie - Mia is shocked to discover that the farm she lives on is selling lions to be shot by trophy hunters to make money. She becomes determined to save Charlie from this cruel practice so drives across South Africa with him intending to release him into the Timbavati Game Reserve - a refugee for the iconic white lions.
Mia and Charlie arrive at the Timbavati Game Reserve, where Dirk and his companion ambush them. Charlie manages to attack Dirk and escape with Mia. Mia's family and the police spot Charlie and Mia entering the Game Reserve - the police attempt to shoot Charlie but cannot do so once he is safely in the reserve. Sometime later, Mia and her family revisit the Timbavati Game Reserve and are delighted to see that Charlie has mated with a lioness and has a litter of cubs.
Directed by French director Gilles de Maistre, the expansive production was filmed over the course of three years so that the film's young stars Daniah De Villiers and Ryan Mac Lennon could bond and develop real relationships with the lions and other animals that appear in the film. The scenes between the actors and the animals in the film are real and not reliant on CGI.[8][9][10] Mélanie Laurent, Langley Kirkwood, Brandon Auret and Lillian Dube also star.
Kevin Richardson, a lion expert also known as the "Lion Whisperer", oversaw the entire production process and all interactions between the lions and the children ensuring the safety of the animals, cast and crew on set.[8]
The film is based on an original story written by de Maistre's wife, Prune de Maistre, after they visited lion-breeding farms in South Africa. The screenplay is written by Prune de Maistre and William Davies. The film is co-produced by Studiocanal, M6 Films, Film Afrika and Pandora film and created in collaboration with Canal+, Cine+, M6, W9 and Film-und Medienstiftung NRW in partnership with Kevin Richardson.[11][7]
Parents need to know that Mia and the White Lion is a South Africa-set family drama that exposes the country's trophy-hunting industry. By allowing viewers to inhabit the fantasy of life with a pet lion, it helps deliver a powerful conservation message that may stick with kids the rest of their lives. But part of that effectiveness lies in anguishing moments in which lions are shot, killed, and in peril. Kids are also threatened and in danger, and people are harmed by animals (and other people). There's also a bit of strong language (including "s--t"). And although the movie has clear messages about taking a stand for what you believe in, respecting nature, and the importance of compassion and courage, Mia (Daniah De Villiers) is a bit of a wild animal herself. She disobeys and yells at her parents, and she runs away when it suits her -- without much in the way of consequences.
In MIA AND THE WHITE LION, a tween named Mia (Daniah De Villiers) resents her family's recent move from London to South Africa to run a wildlife farm. When white lion cub Charlie is born, Mia is initially dismissive -- but she soon forms an unbreakable bond with him that her parents fear will become dangerous once he's a fully grown lion.
Mia and the White Lion is so captivating that it has the potential to create a new generation of animal rights advocates. For tweens, there's the appeal of seeing someone their age have an adorable white lion cub as a pet. Ten-year-old Mia loves, snuggles, and plays with Charlie on her family's South African animal farm; it's pure fantasy for animal fans. In a remarkable feat, the movie was filmed over the course of three years, so everyone truly ages: Mia gets braces and grows long and lanky, Charlie morphs from adorable cub to dignified beast, and dad John (Langley Kirkland) has a beard that ebbs and flows while his own mane starts thinning. The unusual technique may have been done for practical purposes (apparently the only way to keep a child safe with a lion is for them to grow up together), but it's also an amazingly effective way to draw viewers in tighter to the family's concern for Mia.
Canned lion hunting is legal in South Africa. Do you think something that's unethical should be illegal? Should citizens on one side of the world have a say on how another culture handles their wildlife?
John Owen: For now, he's a cub, and you want to have fun with it. Soon he'll just want to kill you. Go past this fence, and any one of these lions will tear you to pieces in five seconds flat. It doesn't matter if you've fed themnor bathed them or cuddled them, or if your name is Mia or Kevin or Obi-Wan Kenobi... a wild animal is a wild animal, and you can never change that, no matter what you do.
Shot over the course of three years, Mia and the White Lion centers on a willful young girl named Mia whose life is turned upside down when her family decides to leave London to manage a lion farm in South Africa. When a beautiful white lion, Charlie, is born, Mia finds happiness once again and develops a special bond with the growing cub. As Charlie grows to full size, Mia uncovers an upsetting secret that puts Charlie in danger so the two friends set out on an incredible journey across the South African savanna in search of a sanctuary where Charlie can live out his life in freedom. This film is appropriate for ages 10 and up.
The relationship could have been enough to keep Mia happy, except she discovers a secret that her father has been hiding for years. When the secret threatens the life of the lion, Mia goes on a quest to make sure he remains safe. The film becomes an incredible journey across the Africa landscape and a trek of emotional growth for Mia.
- Moving to a new place, Africa, wild animals, parent/child relationships, coping, fear, being thankful, miracles, legends, sacred creatures, conservancy, scientific research, lying, lies, lion populations.
Written by Prune de Maistre and William Davies, Mia and the White Lion is the story of a girl who forms a lifelong bond with a beautiful white lion and then must fight to save him from the evils of animal poaching. Mia and the White Lion is not only an engaging narrative about a girl and a lion, but also an activist film, fighting the pertinent poaching industry of South Africa. (JRL: 3.5/5)
Then, in a terrifying twist, Mia discovers that her father is knowingly selling his lions to animal poachers. She realizes that Charlie, a beautiful and rare white lion, is next. Mia must find a way to save Charlie from the poachers and let him live out the life he deserves.
Due in theaters Friday, April 12th through Ledafilms Entertainment Group, Mia & the White Lion adds one more to the collection. The work of Director Gilles de Maistre (Killer Kid 1994, Le Premier Cri 2007), and Writers Prune de Maistre and William Davies (Flushed Away 2006, How to Train Your Dragon 2010), the story promises a humble tale of friendship between a young girl and a white lion. Hence the title.
These kind of movies often have a bonus because animals are just wonderful. And yeees the lion is very cute, but the story itself is really generic and predictable.If you can overlook the weaknesses of the script and the dialogue, you have a solid family film that has some nice scenes (that just put you in a good mood).For me it was difficult for me to hide these weaknesses which is why I would rather recommend watching a documentary (dealing with the subject of lions).At least you can learn something there ?
Shot like a TV-movie. It annoys me to be able to see this in cinema when my only option to see The Tale is on my TV. The only thing interesting here is the fact that Daniah de Villiers can be/act this close of a lion and that the film was shot in a two and a half year span in order to establish a trusting relationship and a real bond between Daniah and Thor (the white lion). Aside from that, not really much to save here (although you can still save your money).
With her younger brother Mick, she has been forced to follow her parents who chose to leave London to take over a lion breeding farm in the heart of South African bush. Mia suffers from being torn from her hometown and her friends. She rejects this new life in Africa. But the birth of a white baby lion is about to change everything... Mia loves and be loved by this lion cub. They grows up together and become inseparable.
As the years passed by, Mia became passionately fond of lions, but also began to wonder about the activities of the family's farm that used to be her grandfat her's. Why did her parents leave 12 years before? Why are they selling certain lions and to whom? These questions remained fuzzy, and her relationship with her parents becomes conflictual.
Charlie is now a 3 years old grown up lion and Mia's lite suddenly toggles when she discovers the secret the farm is hiding: her father sells the lions to trophy hunters who kill them point blank... And Mia, without her father knowing, attends an execution , an in-box hunt .
Shot over the course of three years, Mia and the White Lion centers on a willful young girl named Mia (Daniah De Villiers) whose family decides to leave London to manage a lion farm in South Africa. She bonds with a white lion cub named Charlie but become distraught by the thought that he could be in harm and sets out on a journey across the South African savanna in search of another land where Charlie can live out his life in freedom. Mia and the White Lion is directed by French filmmaker Gilles de Maistre, director of the films Killer Kid and Ferocious previously, as well as many TV series documentaries over the last decade. The screenplay is co-written by Prune de Maistre & William Davies, from a story by Jean-Paul Husson; based on an original idea by Prune de Maistre & Gilles de Maistre. The film first premiered at the Cinéfilous Festival last year, and opened in France and most of Europe in December / January already. Mia and the White Lion will be released in select US theaters starting April 12th this spring. Who's interested? 041b061a72