Exclusive from the Unifrance Rendez-vous in Le Havre: MIAM! Distribution has announced the acquisition of international distribution rights for TRASH! (50’), a bold fiction comedy for young adults, produced by Darjeeling and currently airing on ARTE in France.
Combining live-action and stop-motion, TRASH! delivers a witty, irreverent, and thought-provoking perspective on fast consumption of single-use objects.
TRASH! follows the existential quest of Gobi, a single-use coffee cup suddenly facing the long stretch of eternity. After fulfilling his grand destiny—holding Mary’s latte for a solid three minutes—he’s left with a haunting question: figuring out how to spend the next 200 years before he decomposes. With sharp satire and dark humor, TRASH! drags into the spotlight what we’d rather not see: our garbage. What if it had a voice?
Created by Géraldine de Margerie (Loulou, Call My Agent) and Maxime Donzel (Toutouyoutou, Tutotal), and directed by Venice Mostra-awarded filmmaker Benjamin Nuel together with Kim Keukeleire (renowned for Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit, Frankenweenie), TRASH! brings a unique hybrid visual approach by blending real-world locations with tactile stop-motion animation. Streets and Parisian sewers form the backdrop, while discarded objects are brought to life with handcrafted facial features and expressive movement. This low-tech, hands-on approach reinforces the series’ message giving viewers a tangible connection to the material and the environmental issues it explores.
The French voice cast includes well-known actors and social media influencers such as Sébastien Chassagne, Romane Bohringer, Anaïde Rozam, Jenny Letellier and Ludovic Franceschet, Paris’ most famous sanitation worker, with over 400K TikTok followers.
Marc Lustigman Executive Producer and Co-founder at Darjeeling comments: “The series quickly went viral online, amassing nearly 2 million views on TikTok in less than 10 days. TRASH! represents also a remarkable achievement in securing unprecedented financing and rallying the support of numerous French institutions committed to environmental and sustainable initiatives (Alcome, Gestes Propres, Syctom and Refashion).”
Mélanie Errea, Head of Sales & Acquisitions at MIAM! distribution, adds: “This acquisition strengthens MIAM! distribution long-standing and successful collaboration with producer Darjeeling, a partnership that began with MIAM!’s founding in 2016 and has since delivered numerous international successes. Together, we’ve brought titles such as Yeti Tales (280×8’ + 40×2’30’’ + 2×26’ – Preschool), Our Summer of Freedom (6×26’ – Family), and Fail in Love (22×4’ – Teen/Young Adult) to international audience. TRASH! stands out for its distinctive hybrid graphic design and powerful storytelling. With a witty tone, it addresses the themes of fast consumption and the afterlife of our waste, delivering a message that resonates with our catalogue’s editorial vision.”
The series is joining MIAM! distribution slate of young adult programs alongside best-selling titles like Boys Boys Boys (10×5’), It’s my body! (20×3’30) and Brazen (30×3’30).
Watch the trailer:
TRASH! is an animated film written by Géraldine de Margerie, Maxime Donzel, and Niels Rahou, on an original concept by Marc Lustigman. It’s directed and art-directed by Benjamin Nuel, with animation direction by Kim Keukeleire. French cast includes Sébastien Chassagne, Anaïde Rozam, Romane Bohringer, Jenny Letellier, Moustafa Benaïbout, Fanny Bloc, Augustin Shackelpopoulos, Sacha Béhar, Nicolas Berno, and Antoine Schoumsky. It’s co-produced by ARTE France, Darjeeling, Foliascope, Inthebox, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, with support from CNC, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Haute-Savoie department, and Procirep-Angoa. The international sales are handled by MIAM! distribution.
