Birds of a Feather

Inspired by Christian Haas and Andrea Block's observations of the seagulls and swifts zipping around the Côte d'Azur during a sailing holiday, the debut feature by Germany's Luxx Studios follows a clutch of other Euro-animations in using the difference between avian species to teach younger viewers about the issues involved in the migrant crisis. At the centre of the story is Manou, a foundling swift who gets to rescue his adoptive gull family from a storm during their winter flight south after being cast out of the community following a rat attack on its clifftop nests. The graphics and character designs are pretty slick, although as is increasingly the case with CGI features, the plot and its message are frequently sidelined by game-inspired action sequences whose swooping speed is designed to counter short attention spans. Somewhat surprisingly, Willem Dafoe and Kate Winslet headline as Manou's parents, but they have less to do after he falls for a singing female swift named Kalifa.