Produced by Jean-Charles Levy and Alain Degove

Princess Celeste returns to the Fabolie castle, for her mother is suffering from a deathly illness. As her royal carriage passes by the cursed woods that surround the castle, it is attacked by bandits. In a desperate attempt to flee, the coachman forces the carriage through the haunted forest .

With dusk falling upon the forest, ghastly creatures pierced by arrows wake from the mist and come preying upon Celeste. She barely escapes, thanks to Sir Medard. The turmoil has stirred the forest ghosts and their leader Gideon, reviving an old grievance toward King Anselm. They start plotting their revenge with the help of Diane – the Queen’s sister who was turned into a crow and banned from the castle.

Celeste reaches the castle just in time to see her mother draw her last breath. Queen Dorine : My love, just promise me.... promise me one thing... Swear to me... you’ll never marry another, unless she is a woman more beautiful than I. King Anselm: I swear to you, before God. The Queen smiles then suddenly tenses. She falls back, lifeless.

Prince Regis arrives at the castle to attend the Queen’s funerals. King Anselm does not like this young man, with whom Celeste was so in love that her parents had to send her to study abroad. The King commands Regis to leave at once. Later that day, Regis woos Princess Celeste on her balcony, asking her to meet him at Mute Woman Rock, where he’ll be waiting for her. Celeste : You’re crazy! If you don’t break your neck my father will take care of it himself! Regis : I pledge myself to you in all devotion and fidelity. Will you accept?

Struck by a mind-altering spell cast by the ghosts, grieving King Anselm progressively convinces himself to carry out his spouse’s will by marrying their daughter. King Anselm : I have chosen you to be the new Queen of Fabolie. Celeste : Me? But that’s impossible! I’m your daughter. The same blood flows in our veins.

Distraught by her father’s behavior, Celeste asks for the most eccentric presents in order to delay the wedding: a weather-colored dress, a dress the color of the moon and ultimately, pushed by Diane, the skin of her father’s magic donkey, source of the richness of his kingdom. Which he reluctantly agrees to. Celeste : You were right, I have to run away! I will seek the protection of Prince Regis. Diane : ...and the hide of that poor beast will make an excellent disguise.

Donning the donkey skin, Celeste flies away helped by Diane’s minions. But to her demise, the crows drop her in a glade that opens in the foliage. All of this comedy is part of the revenge planned by the ghosts’ leader, Gideon.

Gideon slowly starts a dark ritual over Celeste’s body. A tree bends down and one of its branches pins down the Princess’s forearm. Another branch lays itself over her body to hold her tight on the ground. The incisions from the branch begin to form cabalistic signs. Gideon gestures the shape of the signs as the branch is writing them. Gideon: Take the Princess back to her room. Next time she comes close enough to the King, she will fulfill her destiny… and finally free our souls.

As Celeste is taken away by the crows, she manages to escape mid-flight, barreling down into a river. She wakes up in a damp tunnel, harmed by her fall but safe. She is being tended by Lupa, a sorceress in wolf-skin attire. Lupa explains her condition, being chased by the people of nearby villages, forced to hide and live in remote places. She tells Celeste how it began, how King Anselm slaughtered her warlock tribe to steal their crystal-dumping donkey and raised a powerful army with his newfound richness. Celeste slowly realizes that her father is led by greed and rules his kingdom like a tyrant.

She has however little time to take it in, as the villagers have found Lupa’s hideout and are breaking in. Sensing the warlock’s magic in Celeste, Lupa offers to sacrifice herself to buy Celeste some time to run away. In the midst of her evasion though, Celeste is captured by Gildas, a hunter who sells her to Bertie’s roaming caravan, an odd gathering of freaks and midgets. There, she meets dwarf Marian. Marian : My brothers and I found Prince Regis in the forest of Fabolie, pinned to a tree by two daggers. We couldn’t do anything to help his valet, but the Prince was still breathing. We took him to our home to care for him. He gave me his cross, to go get help from his peers. But that oaf Gildas trapped me! Helped by Marian, Celeste escapes and reaches the dwarves’ cave. There, thanks to Lupa’s ointments, she is able to heal Regis. Regis : Is this a dream, or am I already dead? Celeste : You’re not dreaming, Prince Regis. And you’re very much alive. Regis : Sir Medard caught me as I was climbing onto your balcony again. Your father stabbed me, and Medard left me in the forest. I didn’t care if I died, because I couldn’t bear losing you. But now I thank heaven for allowing me to live. When Celeste offers Regis to escape to the New World with her, he refuses, arguing that a Prince cannot leave the kingdom he is bound to rule one day. Devastated, Celeste finally accepts that she has to fulfill a role too, in the battle against her father. She decides to drug Regis so he will not prevent her from going back to the castle.

Wearing her donkey skin one last time, she heads back to the castle. As she walks into the throne room before the king, the ominous burns on her arm start to glow. King Anselm : What do these mean? Celeste : “From your own blood will grow the arm that will avenge us.” Does that remind you of anything?

Deep into the forest, ghosts are emerging. The arrows piercing their bodies pull themselves free and float towards Gideon, gathering behind his outstretched arms. The arrows assemble behind him and point at the sky, like an army awaiting a signal. Finally, Gideon lowers his arms. The arrows cut through the air, into the sky, towards the castle.

Anselm tries to run, but the arrows catch him, slicing into him in mid-flight. Celeste : The warlocks’ arrows! The warlocks are sending them back to you! King Anselm : We’ll meet again in hell! The arrows propel the King toward the stained-glass windows of the study, smash through it and fly out into the courtyard.

With the King dead, Celeste is rightfully crowned Queen of Fabolie. And her first ruling is to get married to the man she loves. Regis : Your clothes? They captured you? You are the new Queen of Fabolie? Oh no! Celeste : I am the new Queen of Fabolie, that is true. But I’m seeking a king. And I was told a charming prince was sleeping here, and that whoever could wake him with a kiss would marry him. Was I mistaken?

Directing Intentions Once upon a time... timeless words introducing tales of fantasy, tragic and heroic destinies, epic achievements that mere mortals can only dream of accomplishing. This is Princess Donkeyskin, as written by Charles Perrault in the late XVII. What I want to show is a modern take on this classic tale, confront magic and reasoning, show a real coming of age story through the escaping of a young lady who reflects our time's concerns. It is a tale of knights and ghosts, of talking crows and dwarves, of freaks and princes; and at the same time I want it to retain what makes it a classic tale: its "moral“. Adults can crush their children's destiny but children have the power to resist and to become better adults than their own parents. This is not an easy message and this is why a metaphoric story is needed. To emphasize the story, I want strong gothic looks for the woods and the castle, to show their inherent darkness, and warm tones for the waterfall, Lupa's cave and every place Celeste can break from her escaping. The modern tone will be underlined by the use of latex-like donkey skin suit., 3D imagery of the crows and magic spells. The use of 3D is instrumental in improving the experience and plunge the audience into Donkeyskin torments and ordeals, to enjoy her success over her father and her new love at the end of the movie. To the children, a Harry Potter like movie set in a Grimm background. To the adults, a Grimm tale in a Harry Potter world.

Biography Born in Brussels, Alain Berliner has been a screenplayer for many feature films and television films in Belgium and France. He began directing several short films; « Meeting », « Day of the Cat », and « Rose ». In 1997 he was discovered by the general public thanks to seeing everything through Rose coloured glasses in his debut long feature « Ma vie en rose » (My life in pink). The story of this little boy who thinks he is a little girl shook the Cannes Film Festival and was awarded, amongst others, The Golden Globe in 1998 for the best foreign film, European film award for best screenplay, nominated for a Bafta and for the Cesar of best debut film. Since then he directed « The Wall » for Arte (Le Mur, 1998), « Passion of Mind » (D’un rêve à l’autre, 2000) in the United States with Demi Moore in the main role, « The House by Canal » (La maison du canal, TV, 2003) with Isild Le Besco, from a novel by Simenon for the centenary anniversary of the writer’s birth, « I always wanted to be a dancer », (J’aurais voulu être un danseur , 2007) an hommage to the musicals and Gene Kelly starring Vincent Elbaz, Cecil de France and Jean-Pierre Cassel, « Clara Sheller » (id, 2008) a trendy and catchy TV series for french TV F2, and « La Peau de chagrin » (2010, TV) adapted from Honoré de Blazac’s classic fantastic novel. He is currently preparing a new feature « Princess Donkeyskin »