Caramel's Words
This is a story about the friendship between Kori, a deaf mute boy, and Caramel, a camel, in the Sahrawi refugee camps. Kori begins to read the camel’s lips, translating them into writings and poems.
In the midst of the hard life of the Sahrawi camps, Kori, a deaf mute boy, begins to learn how to read lips. This coincides with the birth of Caramel, a camel that is about to become Kori’s closest friend. As Kori notices the movement on Caramel’s lips, he starts translating them into words, then poems, and learns to see the world differently, with the beautiful innocence of childhood. Kori then starts to write down the poems, as their bond grows stronger. But times are hard in the camp, and Caramel’s meat is precious to the people, he has to be sacrificed. Kori decides to flee into the desert with Caramel, in search of a mystical camel oasis. But the two friends get lost, and get rescued at death’s door by Kori’s uncle. Back in the camp, Caramel has to face his fate, and as he draws his last breath, he moves his lips one last time as Kori writes down his words, which will become a poem, that will eventually make Kori the new voice of his people, thanks to Caramel’s Words.
Directors statement
Based on the book by Gonzalo Moure. This is the story of Kori, a deaf and mute boy. It is about his perception of the world and the way he turns in into poetry, in his own words. Ultimately, it is the story of a misunderstood child, that struggles to understand the world that surrounds him, and has to face every day life’s difficulties, along with solitude, and great emotions such as friendship, and loss.
Being confronted with grief during childhood is a life changing experience that leaves a mark, and allows some of us to give it a meaning, through art, words, or poetry. As a director, my challenge is to convey how the character feels through his expressions and actions, in order for the audience to relate to him, and accompany him on his journey.
Above all, this is a story about friendship. Caramel is Kori’s source of poetry, he interprets the movement of his lips into words, and verses, he stimulates the child’s imagination. When Caramel has to be sacrificed, Kori will have to accept his fate. Artistically speaking, it is a great challenge to bring life and color to such a dry and colorless environment. I will use Kori’s perspective in order to bring color, and life, through his moods and emotions, in a dreamlike manner.
Being confronted with grief during childhood is a life changing experience that leaves a mark, and allows some of us to give it a meaning, through art, words, or poetry. As a director, my challenge is to convey how the character feels through his expressions and actions, in order for the audience to relate to him, and accompany him on his journey.
Above all, this is a story about friendship. Caramel is Kori’s source of poetry, he interprets the movement of his lips into words, and verses, he stimulates the child’s imagination. When Caramel has to be sacrificed, Kori will have to accept his fate. Artistically speaking, it is a great challenge to bring life and color to such a dry and colorless environment. I will use Kori’s perspective in order to bring color, and life, through his moods and emotions, in a dreamlike manner.
SALVADOR SIMÓ is a director and writer. He started studying animation at the American Animation Institute in Los Angeles, while working at the Bill Melendez Prod Studio on a Charlie Brown special. He worked for several animation studios, including Disney in Paris, and set up his own studio in Barcelona. He also worked in MPC’s animation and design department on projects such as Narnia : Prince of Caspian and James Bond: Skyfall. He became head of animated film sequences for the Disney movie The Jungle Book in 2014. In 2016, he directed his first feature film, Buñuel en el laberinto de las tortugas, which was presented in October 2018 at the Los Angeles Animated Films Festival, and received the Jury’s Price. The film also won the 2019 European Animated Film and the 34th Goya Award for Best Animated film.
- DirectorSalvador Simó
- ProducersAlexandre Charlet, Xosé Zapata
- ScreenwritersSalvador Simó, Eligio R. Montero
- Production countriesFrance, Spain
- Production companyLes Films du Cygne
- Age8+
- Duration80 min
- GenreFamily
- TypeAnimation
- Year2026
- Spoken languagesEnglish, Spanish
- Total budget€3,413,635
- Financing in place€195,635
Contact persons
Company profile
Based in Annecy and Paris, Les Films du Cygne is a production company for ambitious films aimed at a broad, international audience. With more than 45 films (short movies, feature films, documentaries, TV movies & series) produced, including Les Bigornaux (César 2018 for best short film), Even mice go to heaven (animated feature nominated for the European Film Awards and the César 2022, awarded by the Czech Lions, European Film Awards and the Cartoon Tributes 2022) and extra., a TV series (10x26') for Cine+/OCS (selected for Series Mania and Cinemajove 2024), this catalog represents more than 2000 selections in festivals and 350 prizes. Several projects are currently in development and production, including the animated feature film Ro by Magda Osinska in co-production with Animoon (Pl), Northern Star in co-production with Hausboot (Czech Rep.), as well as the series Alpha (6x45') in co-production with Storia TV, Maze Pictures (All), Fasten Films (Esp.) for France Télévisions Slash International and ZDF and Meurtres à Chartres for France Télévisions.
We are looking for potential co-producers, European support and financial partners (distributors, sales agent, tv broadcasters) to support this project.
Goals at JCM
Representatives at JCM and contact details
