The City of Lost Children is a 1995 French‑language science fantasy film directed by Marc Caro and Jean‑Pierre Jeunet and written by Jeunet and Gilles Adrien. A co‑production between France, Spain, and Germany, the film follows a mad scientist named Krank who lives on an offshore rig and, deprived of the ability to dream, kidnaps children from a nearby port city to steal their dreams. When one of his victims is Denrée, the little brother of a carnival strongman known as One, One teams up with a precocious orphan girl, Miette, to rescue him and confront Krank's bizarre creations. Featuring stylized production design by Darius Khondji and costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier, and scored by Angelo Badalamenti, the film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and is widely regarded as a visually inventive example of European steampunk‑tinged cinema. It achieved generally favorable reviews and though it under‑performed commercially, it has since attained cult status.