When producer Jonathan Lim first encountered the true story of a Brazilian fisherman’s unlikely friendship with a Magellanic penguin, he knew it was a tale worth sharing on the big screen.
“The story of friendship, where Dindim was nursed back to health and swam thousands of miles every year for eight years, it was just an unbelievable story,” Lim said. “That story blew up on social media in about 2016-2017, and when we read the script, we just loved the essence of the story.”
Lim’s production company worked to bring that essence to life in the new family film “My Penguin Friend,” starring acclaimed French actor Jean Reno in the lead role. The movie, which is inspired by the real-life tale of a man and his penguin companion, has been earning praise for its stunning visuals and heartwarming narrative.
“People go in there, laughing and crying, and also just a little bit awestruck at what these penguins can actually do,” Lim said. “Eighty percent of the movie is shot with real penguins, and then about 15% is with CGI or computer graphics imagery, and then about 5% is with animatronics.”
Maintaining that authenticity was crucial for Lim, even when it meant sacrificing potential financial incentives. The production team initially planned to shoot the film on the Canary Islands, where there are generous tax credits, but ultimately decided to film in Brazil when they discovered the wrong species of penguin lived on the islands.
“We found out late in the game that the wrong species of penguin was there, so it was actually they had Humboldt penguins, not Magellanic penguins,” Lim explained. “Chances are 99% of the people that watch the movie would not notice the difference between a Humboldt and a Magellanic, I think it’s one stripe or something that differentiates them, but it was really important to me to tell an authentic story and to tell a story about a Magellanic penguin.”
That commitment to authenticity extended beyond the animal actors. Lim, who is also the CEO of a biotech company, said he was drawn to the film’s themes of stewardship and the importance of caring for the planet and its inhabitants.
“There are themes in there that we can take from that in terms of being wise stewards of the planet and the inhabitants of the planet, and then just taking good care of each other,” he said. “I think all of that just shows the transformational nature of both wise stewardship as well as just building and forging meaningful relationships.”
Those themes resonated with actor Reno, who Lim praised for his nuanced and emotional performance as the fisherman at the heart of the story. “It’s really reminiscent of his performance in ‘Leon: The Professional,'” Lim said. “His performance was just so beautiful and so authentic, and I think it really draws the audience in and makes you care about this character and this relationship.”
For Lim, the opportunity to bring this inspiring true story to the screen has been a labor of love, blending his passion for filmmaking with his desire to tell stories that uplift and inspire.
“It’s really a dream come true for me,” he said. “Coming back full circle, and having the chance to be able to produce and finance movies like this is a dream come true.”
With “My Penguin Friend” now in theaters, Lim hopes audiences will walk away with a renewed appreciation for the natural world and the power of human connection.
“I think a really important theme of the movie is stewardship,” he said. “And then just that beautiful relationship between husband and wife and, you know, the family itself, and then between the family and this beautiful creature, I think all of that just shows the transformational nature of both wise stewardship as well as just building and forging meaningful relationships.”
“My Penguin Friend” is now in theaters from Roadside Attractions.
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