IRON BOY

(Le Corset)

Special Screening | France, Belgium | 2026 | Animation, Drama, Coming of Age | 90 min | In French with English subtitles

Directed by: Louis Clichy
Written by: Louis Clichy, Franck Salomé
Produced by: Nicolas De Rosanbo, Céline Vanlint (Eddy), Fabrice Delville (Beside Productions)
Film Editing: Vincent Tricon
Cast: Gary Clichy (Christophe), Rod Paradot (JB), Brune Moulin (Clara), Dimitri Colas (Jean), Aurélie Vassort (Catherine), Alexandre Astier (Michel), Jean-Pascal Zadi (The Priest)
International Sales: Playtime
US Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Synopsis

Ten-year-old Christophe inexplicably keeps keeling over — at school, at home, and most alarmingly while driving his father’s tractor. So the family doctor prescribes a “Milwaukee”, a draconian iron back brace the boy must wear day and night. Yet that constraint may just be his unexpected ticket to freedom. Louis Clichy‘s semi-autobiographical animated film boasts breathtaking hand-painted watercolor animation, otherworldly music, and transcendent sensations. It’s a deeply personal, quietly soul-stirring coming-of-age saga about overcoming obstacles, healing wounds, and the enchantment of simply living life.

Director’s bio

Louis Clichy wrote and directed three animated shorts while studying at the Gobelins school of visual arts in Paris, then went on to work as a storyboard artist and 3D animator at Mac Guff, a French visual effects company in Los Angeles. At Pixar, he worked as an animator on WALL-E (2008) and Up (2009). Returning to France, he joined Alexandre Astier in co-directing the mega-hit animated features Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods (2014) and Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion (2018). Iron Boy, the first feature Clichy has directed on his own, won the Special Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival; and three prizes, including the Jury Award, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Like the film’s main character, who is voiced by the director’s own son, Clichy also grew up on a farm in the Beauce region of France and wore a back brace as an adolescent.