News

Exclusive: The BBC has acquired Michael Morpurgo adaptation Kensuke’s Kingdom.

The 2023 movie stars Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins and Raffey Cassidy (The Brutalist) and features the epic adventure of Michael, a young boy, shipwrecked on a remote island, who discovers he’s not alone when he encounters a mysterious Japanese man who retreated there after World War Two. As dangerous invaders appear on the horizon, it becomes clear they must join forces to save their fragile island paradise. Murphy and Hawkins play the mum and dad to Aaron McGregor’s Michael.

Kensuke’s Kingdom will launch on BBC iPlayer on August 3. Adapted by UK Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the much-loved Morpurgo book was nominated for a BAFTA earlier this year. Directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, it also stars Aaron MacGregor (Puffin Rock) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai).

Kensuke’s Kingdom won numerous international film and film music awards including...

Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence in director Edward Berger’s ‘Conclave’ (Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024)

Conclave and The Brutalist tied with four wins at the 2025 Ee BAFTA Film Awards, announced on January 16th during a ceremony hosted by David Tennant. Anora, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, A Real Pain, Wicked, and Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Foul each picked up two awards, and David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus) was the recipient of this year’s Ee Rising Star Award.

Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison, Zoe Saldaña, and Kieran Culkin took home their first BAFTA Film Awards wins. Warwick Davis was honored with the BAFTA Fellowship in recognition of “his work as an actor and for using his platform to challenge societal prejudice and champion self-empowerment, advocating that people with dwarfism can and do lead full and meaningful lives.”

BAFTA Awards 2025 Nominees and Winners

Best Film

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete...

This evening saw the cream of the crop of thespian artists as well as filmmakers assemble at London’s Royal Festival Hall for this year’s BAFTA awards hosted by David Tennant.

This year’s nominations saw 12 nominations for ‘Conclave,’ 11 nominations for ‘Emilia Pérez,’ While ‘The Brutalist’ received 9 nominations. 7 nominations for ‘Anora,’ ‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘Wicked.’

14 out of 24 nominees in the performance categories received their first BAFTA Film nomination, including Yura Borisov (Anora), Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) and Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice).

Also in news – The 2025 European Shooting Stars arrive at Berlinale

Winners are highlighted in bold.

Best Film

Anora The Brutalist A Complete Unknown Winner – Conclave...

The 2025 BAFTAs are here!

The annual celebration of film is taking place Sunday (February 16) at Royal Festival Hall in London, England. Doctor Who actor David Tennant is hosting for the second year in a row.

This year, Conclave scored the most nominations with 12 total. Emilia Pérez is in second place, with 11 nominations this year.

Just Jared will be live updating with all the winners throughout the event, so stay tuned!

Keep reading to find out more…

See the full list of nominees and winners…

Best Film

“Anora” — Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, Sean Baker

“The Brutalist”

“A Complete Unknown”

“Conclave” - Winner!

“Emilia Pérez”

Outstanding British Film

“Bird” — Andrea Arnold, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Lee Groombridge

“Blitz” — Steve McQueen, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Anita Overland

“Conclave” — Edward Berger, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Peter Straughan - Winner!

“Gladiator II” — Ridley Scott, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss, David Scarpa,...

Kensuke’s Kingdom, directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, based on the novel by Micheal Morpurgo, is a hand-drawn animated feature that managed to snag both BAFTA and Annie Award nominations this year. The action-adventure centers around a young boy named Michael (Aaron MacGregor), who is taken by his family on a sailing trip. When a storm rolls in, he and his dog, Stella, are pushed overboard and end up on a remote island where they must learn to survive on their own. On the verge of losing all hope, Michael encounters a stern, elderly Japanese soldier (Ken Watanabe) who was stranded there after his military boat capsized during World War II.

Here, Deadline talks to the filmmaking duo about bringing this tale to life.

Deadline: How did you both come to this project?

Kirk Hendry: Sarah Radclyffe, a filmmaker and producer,...

Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence in director Edward Berger’s ‘Conclave’ (Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024)

Conclave emerged the favorite among the 2025 Ee BAFTA Film Awards voters, scoring 12 nominations including Best Film, Director, Leading Actor, and Supporting Actress. Emilia Pérez was close behind with 11 nominations, followed by The Brutalist with nine and Anora, Dune: Part Two, and Wicked with seven.

Overall, 42 films earned BAFTA Film Awards nominations, and 14 of the 24 performance nominees are BAFTA Awards first-timers.

Winners will be announced on February 16th.

“From a total of 235 films entered, we are delighted to announce 42 extraordinary and creatively ambitious films that have been nominated. The skills on display from creative and technical practitioners across the board are phenomenal. I look forward to celebrating the many talented people in front of and behind the camera at the Ee BAFTA Film Awards 2025 ceremony on 16 February,” stated Sara Putt, Chair of BAFTA.

BAFTA...

This afternoon, Will Sharpe and Mia McKenna-Bruce announced the list of lucky nominees for 2025’s Ee BAFTA Awards.

This year nominations see 12 nominations for ‘Conclave,’ 11 nominations for ‘Emilia Pérez,’ While ‘The Brutalist’ received 9 nominations. 7 nominations for ‘Anora,’ ‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘Wicked.’

14 out of 24 nominees in the performance categories have received their first BAFTA Film nomination, including Yura Borisov (Anora), Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) and Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice).

The Ee BAFTA Film Awards ceremony will once again be held at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in central London, and broadcast on Sunday 16 February 2025 on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK.

Also in news – Jack Huston...

The nominations for the 2025 BAFTAs are here!

This year, Conclave scored the most nominations with 12 total. Emilia Pérez is in second with 11 nominations this year.

This year’s ceremony is set to take place on Sunday (February 16) live from London, England with Doctor Who‘s David Tennant returning to host.

Just Jared will be live updating throughout the event, so stay tuned!

Keep reading to find out more…

Scroll down for the full list of nominees…

Best Film

“Anora” — Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, Sean Baker

“The Brutalist”

“A Complete Unknown”

“Conclave”

“Emilia Pérez”

Outstanding British Film

“Bird” — Andrea Arnold, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Lee Groombridge

“Blitz” — Steve McQueen, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Anita Overland

“Conclave” — Edward Berger, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Peter Straughan

“Gladiator II” — Ridley Scott, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss, David Scarpa, Peter Craig

“Hard Truths” — Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe

“Kneecap” — Rich Peppiatt, Trevor Birney,...

The 2025 Ee BAFTA Film Awards nominations are in, with 42 films receiving nods on Wednesday morning. Leading the crop of nominees are “Conclave” with 12, “Emilia Pérez” with 11, and “The Brutalist” with nine. “Anora,” “Dune: Part Two,” and “Wicked” all received seven nominations, even though “Wicked” was shut out from the Best Film category. Ireland’s Oscar entry “Kneecap,” which is on the Academy shortlist, made a strong showing with six nominations. Same with “A Complete Unknown.” “Nosferatu” and “The Substance,” meanwhile, both earned five nominations.

Shut-outs and also-rans included “Challengers,” which received zero nominations; Denzel Washington from the Best Supporting Actor category for his work in “Gladiator II”; Nicole Kidman, out for her work in “Babygirl”; and Daniel Craig, the English actor snubbed for his work in “Queer.” “Sing Sing” did well with three nominations including for Best Actor Colman Domingo and Best Supporting Actor Clarence Maclin. Selena Gomez is in for “Emilia Pérez,...

While desert island games and tales of Robinson Crusoe have long held a special place in the cultural imagination, the reality of life on a deserted island is far more dangerous. Yet, for generations, young readers and moviegoers have found this setup unbelievably exciting. Kensuke’s Kingdom follows in this lineage, allowing audiences to imagine the world of a young boy and his dog finding survival in an unlikely source. The adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s popular novel, Kensuke’s Kingdom, highlights a boy versus nature narrative while tapping into powerful human connection.

Related Probably the Greatest Animated Movie of All Time and It Has 0 Dialogue- Flow Can Truly Beat Pedro Pascal’s The Wild Robot Kensuke’s Kingdom Plot

Following the story from Morpurgo, Kensuke’s Kingdom follows a young boy named Michael (Aaron MacGregor) as his family takes a trip around the world. While he struggles to connect with his mother (Sally Hawkins...

Nothing but praise for Cillian Murphy 's new movie, Kensuke's Kingdom, resulting in the feature opening with a 100% fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating. The film, based on Michael Morpurgo's best-selling children's book and directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, tells an inspiring and contemporary tale of building strong relationships, working together, and saving nature. Alongside Murphy, we also hear the voices of Aaron MacGregor, Ken Watanabe, Raffey Cassidy, and Sally Hawkins.

Kensuke's Kingdom focuses on a young boy, Michael (Aaron MacGregor) a fictionalized version of Morpurgo himself who, together with his sister Becky (Cassidy) and his parents (Murphy and Hawkins), boards the Peggy Sue for an unforgettable family trip. Unbeknownst to his parents, Michael brought his precious sheepdog, Stella, on board. However, their heartwarming family trip soon becomes heartbreaking when the ship gets caught up in a terrible storm, resulting in Michael and Stella being thrown overboard.

After reaching...

Comedy animation Harold And The Purple Crayon heads the new releases at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, opening in 595 cinemas through Sony.

The live-action/animation fantasy comedy is adapted from Crockett Johnson’s 1955 children’s book of the same name, with the film serving as a sequel to the book.

Harold And The Purple Crayon follows a character in a book who can make anything come to life by drawing it; and who draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world.

Zachary Levi leads the cast, which also includes Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, Jemaine Clement,...

“Kensuke’s Kingdom” is a new animated feature, directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, starring Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins, Aaron MacGregor, Ken Watanabe and Raffey Cassidy, opening October 18, 2024 in theaters:

“…a young boy and his family set off on a sailing trip of a lifetime until a violent storm erupts, sweeping ‘Michael’ and his dog overboard.

“After washing up on a remote island, terrified, they struggle to survive and adjust to life alone, One day, Michael discovers he is not alone when he is confronted by a mysterious man who has lived there secretly since World War II, angry that Michael has arrived.

“However, as dangerous invaders threaten their fragile island paradise, Michael and the old man, ‘Kensuke’, join forces to save their world.”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Kensuke’s Kingdom brings to life Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 story in a beautifully animated adaptation. Directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, this 2023 British film tells the tale of an 11-year-old boy named Michael who is shipwrecked on a remote island. There he encounters the island’s sole inhabitant, Kensuke, an elderly Japanese man living alone since World War II.

The film is adapted from Morpurgo’s novel by Frank Cottrell Boyce, known for works like Treasure Island and The Moses Expedition. Cottrell Boyce’s screenplay captures the heart of the original story while making some smart changes. Notably, Kensuke speaks no English in the film, creating an unexpected bond between the castaways that must overcome a language barrier. This shifts the dynamic in an impactful way.

Through traditional hand-drawn animation, Kensuke’s Kingdom brings Morpurgo’s touching story of friendship to life. The visuals are beautifully paired with sound design and...

Cinema Management Group has reported brisk sales on Kensuke’s Kingdom featuring Cillian Murphy on the back of wins at the British Animation Awards for best picture, best screenplay and best original music.

Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired the film for North America; Modern Films for the UK & Ireland; Movies Inspired for Italy Periscoop for Benelux; Arthouse Traffic for Ukraine; New Horizon for Poland; Playarte for Brazil; and Cinetopia for Chile, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia. Encore Inflight acquired worldwide airline rights.

Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse) and adapted for screen by Frank Cottrell-Boyce,...

Jessie Buckley has lent her voice to “Three Hares,” the hand-drawn animated short film from BAFTA-winning filmmaker Paloma Baez.

The ecologically-focused film — which has now completed production — was directed and adapted by Baeza from an original story by Hanya Yanagihara, the author of “The People in the Trees,” “A Little Life,” “To Paradise,” and editor-in-chief of T: The New York Times Style Magazine.

As the film’s description goes, “Three Hares” weaves an enchanting creation myth and the mystical origin story of the ancient three hares symbol into an environmental tale about three sisters, who must remind mankind to respect the earth in order to protect their future.

Oscar and BAFTA nominee Buckley (“Wicked Little Letters”, “The Lost Daughter”) narrates the film, which also features an original score by two-time Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla and co-composer Juan Luqui (“The Last of Us”).

‘Three Hares’

The film’s all-female producing team...

Exclusive: Paris-based Superprod Group has acquired top Luxembourgish animation companies Studio 352 and Mélusine Productions in a move that consolidates its position as one of Europe’s leading animation production groups.

Based in Contern in Southern Luxembourg, the sister companies were founded by Belgian producer Stéphan Roelants in the late 1990s.

Mélusine Productions develops, finances and manages the projects, while Studio 352, which has built up a local team of top-level artists and technicians, executes the work.

The sister companies have been involved in some of the most important animated feature films produced out of Europe in the past 27 years.

At the same time, they have also cemented Luxembourg’s position as an animation production hub, with strong support from the Luxembourg Film Fund.

Latest credits include Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry’s Michael Morpurgo-adaptation Kensuké’s Kingdom, which won Best Feature Film at the 2024 British Animation Awards in February.

Other...

The New York International Children’s Film Festival (Nyicff) has officially selected its 2024 winners.

The jury, which consisted of Ira Sachs, Ilana Glazer, Uma Thurman, and more A-listers, announced short films “Magic Candies” and “Unibrow” as the two selections. Daisuke Nishio’s “Magic Candies” is an animated short and had its world premiere at the festival, where Nedda Sarshar’s “Unibrow” is live-action; both are now Oscar-qualifying. All jurors voted on both awards.

Juror Ilana Glazer called “Unibrow” a “universal” story even given its specificity. “Told viscerally with a full palette of emotions, ‘Unibrow’ is an example of excellent storytelling,” Glazer said.

Fellow juror Benjamin Renner called “Magic Candies” an “absolute delight” of a short film.

The Nyicff audience awards were determined by the votes of viewers aged three to 17, as well as audience members aged 18+ for adult-centric awards. The Grand Prize for an Animated Feature was awarded to “Kensuke’s Kingdom,...

Francesca Orsi Wins Series Mania Award

HBO programing boss Francesca Orsi is to be awarded Series Mania’s Woman In Series Award and will take the stage with Bad Wolf CEO Jane Tranter at the Lille confab later this month. Orsi, whose slate has included the likes of The Last of Us, The White Lotus and Euphoria, along with Bad Wolf-made shows such as Industry, will speak about her career and the industry during the Tranter chat. She is one of the biggest draws for the Lille event, which takes place in two weeks and is featuring the likes of Patricia Arquette and Narcos showrunner Chris Brancato. “Awarding Francesca Orsi with this award for 2024 was an easy decision and an obvious choice for us,” said Laurence Herszberg, Series Mania founder. “Francesca is a true leader and I am incredibly honored to be presenting her with our award this year.” Last...

Finalists have been announced for the 2024 British Animation Awards, which will take place on March 7 at London’s BFI Southbank.

Contending for best feature film are “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,” “A Cat Called Dom,” “Kensuke’s Kingdom,” “Puffin Rock and The New Friends” and “The Amazing Maurice.”

“Christopher at Sea,” “The Debutante” and “All Gucci My Broski” are nominated in the short film category.

Adjoa Andoh, Benedict Cumberbatch, Emilia Clarke, Idris Elba, Claire Foy, Tom Hollander and Hugh Laurie are among the ensemble cast members nominated for best voice performance for “Mog’s Christmas” “The Amazing Maurice” and “The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and the Horse.”

Baa also acknowledges achievement in television, with “Tweedy & Fluff,” “The Sound Collector – Harp Strings,” “The Rubbish World of Dave Spud – Moonbreaker” and “Lloyd of the Flies” nominated for best children’s series.

For best original music, composer David Arnold is nominated for “Mog’s Christmas...

“The Kitchen” co-director and co-writer Daniel Kaluuya and “Polite Society” writer-director Nida Manzoor are among the emerging talents recognized at the British Independent Film Awards’ (BIFA) New Talent categories.

Both have been longlisted twice, in the debut director and debut screenwriter categories. In all, 20 fiction and 15 documentary features have been longlisted in the four debut filmmaking categories. Nineteen first-time fiction feature directors, 17 first-time feature documentary directors, 17 first-time writers and 24 breakthrough producers have been recognized by BIFA voters this year.

BIFA Springboard, an annual program supporting second-time feature filmmakers will launch in early 2024. BIFA will reveal the Netflix-sponsored 2023 breakthrough performance longlist, which highlights British acting talent in their first significant role in a British feature film, on Oct. 24. The final five nominations in each category will be unveiled on Nov. 2. Winners will be revealed at the 26th BIFA ceremony on Dec. 3.

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Sponsored By...

Eight films listed in three of the four categories.

Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane and Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex are among the 35 features on the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) Filmmaker New Talent longlists for 2023.

The ceremony has released longlists for four awards: the Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director), Best Debut Screenwriter, Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary (a new award for this year) and Breakthrough Producer.

Scroll down for the full New Talent longlists

Eight films have been longlisted in three of the four categories: Earth Mama, Femme, In Camera, Pretty Red Dress,...

Pauline Burt left the Welsh film agency in September.

Ffilm Cymru, the development agency for Welsh film, has named Lee Walters as its incoming CEO, taking up the position from November.

Walters joins from Media Cymru, an organisation set up to drive economic growth in the Welsh media sector, where he was a senior producer and funding manager.

Prior to that, he was senior change manager at BBC Cymru Wales, where he was instrumental in delivering the new headquarters to the centre of Cardiff. In 2020 he joined Cardiff University as programme manager for Clwstwr, an innovation programme supported by both...

When Hayao Miyazaki’s semi-autobiographical fantasy “The Boy and the Heron” had its international premiere Sept. 7, it wasn’t just the first animated film to open TIFF, or the master director’s first in a decade. It is also part of an unexpected resurgence of animated work at major international festivals.

“When we started doing [2017’s] ‘Loving Vincent,’ only one adult animated film every five years got any kind of recognition,” says Hugh Welchman, who directed ”Vincent” and “The Peasants,” which premiered Sept. 8 at TIFF, with wife D.K. Welchman. “Now it seems that every year one kind of breaks out.”

Their Oscar-nominated Vincent van Gogh biopic helped inspire this trend, earning $42.2 million worldwide on a $5.5 million budget. “Heron” is already continuing arthouse animation’s successful run, taking in $50.6 million since July in Japan alone. And prominent fests are increasing their support: in 2019, Cannes launched an Animation Day in partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

’Silent Roar’, ‘Shoshana’ and ’How To Have Sex’ will also play at the French seaside festival that spotlights UK and Irish cinema.

France’s Dinard Festival of British Film has unveiled the line-up of its 34th edition, which includes Cannes titles Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone Of Interest and Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex.

Also on the line-up is Charlotte Regan’s Sundance title Scrapper. The comedy drama stars Harris Dickinson and follows a young girl forced to confront reality when her estranged father returns, and is currently on release in...

“Decorado,” the awaited next animated feature film from Alberto Vázquez, director of 2015’s “Birdboy: The Forgotten Children” and last year’s “Unicorn Wars,” has been boarded by Le Pacte.

One of France’s most important independent film companies, a distributor in France of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” and Ken Loach’s “I: Daniel Blake” among its biggest foreign hits, Le Pacte, headed by Jean and Alice Labadie, has acquired rights to “Decorado” for distribution in France and international sales.

“We picked up ‘Decorado’ because we were in love with ‘Unicorn Wars’ and ‘Decorado is even crazier,” said Jean Labadie. “We love animation and bold projects which are out of boundaries.”

The “Decorado” feature was presented at Cartoon Movie in March where its producers met Le Pacte and initiated discussions after Le Pacte’s expressions of enthusiasm for the story and the project.

Vázquez’s follow-up to “Unicorn Wars,” a Gkids U.

Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 children’s book comes vividly to life in Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry’s joint feature debut, a castaway fantasy in which a young boy learns vital lessons about the natural order of things. Seasoned screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce is on board too, and yet this is likely one of his sparsest screenplays yet, leaning into the subtleties of the animation: traditional hand-drawn 2D with mixed-media elements for the background. Older kids will likely love it, but a beautifully stark encapsulation of the bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 may rule it out as something for the whole family.

It begins with 11-year-old Michael (Aaron MacGregor) setting off on a world cruise on The Peggy Sue with his parents (Cillian Murphy and Sally Hawkins) and sister (Raffey Cassidy). This is a normal family – the kids squabble and fight over their tasks – but Mum and Dad take their responsibilities seriously...

Lupus Films attending this week’s Annecy Film Festival with ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’.

UK-based sales agency WestEnd Films has boarded Las Dos Fridas, the new animated feature from UK producers Lupus Films.

WestEnd will sell the film under its WeLove label, launched to promote female talent and bring female-driven content of all genres to audiences.

Currently in development, Las Dos Fridas will be written and directed by UK filmmaker Paloma Baeza, who is of Mexican heritage. Inspired by the visual style of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, the film will depict the key moments which changed Kahlo’s life, from the motor...

The event showcases UK titles and UK sales companies to mainly European buyers.

Animated features Kensuke’s Kingdom, an adaptation of a Michael Morpurgo novel directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry.and sold by Bankside, and Tim Harper’s Ozi - Voice Of The Forest, about an orphan orangutang, that is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and sold by Gfm, are among the high-profile projects that will screen to distributors at this year’s London Screenings.

The three-day event will take place at Picturehouse Central in Piccadilly Circus from June 19 - 21 2023,

UK and international sales companies will be...

Leading animation festival will open with Benoît Chieux’s Sirocco And The Kingdom Of The Winds.

French director Benoît Chieux’s Sirocco And The Kingdom Of The Wind is to open the Annecy International Animation Film Festival which runs from June 11-17.

The film – about two young sisters who discover a passage between this world and the extraordinary universe of The Kingdom of the Winds - is one of 11 titles selected for the festival’s official competition, where it will compete for the Crystal award.

Scroll down for full list

Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry’s Kensuke’s Kingdom – which is...

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 2023 edition, running from June 11 to 17.

More than 13,000 animation professionals are set to descend on the French festival’s lakeside setting for its traditional mix of screenings programs across all formats, Work-in-Progress and First-Look sneak peeks, and presentations going behind the scenes of upcoming animation productions.

Competition title Sirocco And The Kingdom Of The Winds by French director Benoît Chieux opens the festival. The fantasy follows the adventures of two young sisters as they try to make their way home after getting trapped in the world of their favorite book.

A Cat In Paris and Phantom Boy director Alain Gagnol co-wrote the screenplay for the feature lead produced by Paris-based Sacrebleu Productions.

The film, which world premieres in Annecy, is among 11 titles competing for the festival’s Crystal award.

Another three French productions debut in Competition: Chiara Malta and...

In the run-up to Cannes, the British Film Institute and the British Council held the Great8 showcase, which presented eight U.K. films from emerging filmmakers. Here are the films selected:

“Aftersun” (drama)

Director/writer: Charlotte Wells

Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall

Sales: Charades

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father 20 years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.

“Birchanger Green” (sci-fi)

Director/writer: Moin Hussain

Cast: Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook, Simon Nagra

Sales: Bankside Films

Adam lives a solitary life. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, he finds himself in search of answers. Piecing together a complicated image of a man he never knew, Adam starts to become convinced he is descended from an alien race.

Titles include ’Aftersun’, ’Enys Men’, ‘Birchanger Green’ and ‘A Gaza Weekend’.

Cannes premieres Aftersun, sold by Charades, and Enys Men, sold by Protagonist Pictures, are among the titles selected for year’s Great 8, the annual Cannes buyers’ showcase of UK films from emerging directors.

The other six titles are all in post-production.

Now in its fifth edition, the 2022 Great 8 showcase is funded and run by the BFI and the British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4.

Unseen footage from all of the titles will be introduced by their filmmakers and screened on May 12 exclusively to buyers and festival programmers during the online-only showcase,...

The BFI and British Council have revealed the line-up for this year’s Great8 showcase, which allows international distributors and festival programmers to get an early look at eight releases from emerging U.K. filmmakers in the run-up to Cannes Marché.

Now in its fifth year, the showcase on May 12 will allow filmmakers to screen unseen footage from the films, which will be available to buy during the market, which runs from May 17-28.

Of the eight films selected for the showcase, one has also been selected for the official Directors’ Fortnight and another for the Critics’ Week line-up. The remaining six films are in post-production.

The Great8 showcase is funded and organized by the BFI and the British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4. It has previously presented films including “I Am Not A Witch” and “Calm with Horses.”

Neil Peplow, the BFI’s Director of Industry and International Affairs,...

Voice cast includes Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Raffey Cassidy.

UK sales outfit Bankside Films has released a first-look image from Kensuke’s Kingdom, directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry.

The UK-Luxembourg-France co-production is adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s children’s novel of the same name, published in 1999. Morpurgo is also the author of War Horse.

The voice cast features Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Raffey Cassidy.

Boyle is a director and animator who has previously worked on Ethel And Ernest and Space Jam. The screenplay has been penned by Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

The film tells the...

Former Umedia exec Adrian Politowski’s new company invests $6.5m into the animated feature.

Adrian Politowski’s LA-based production and finance company Align has boarded Kensuke’s Kingdom, the animated adaptation of the best-selling 1999 novel by UK author Michael Morpurgo.

Sold by Bankside Films, Kensuke’s Kingdom has been put together as a UK-France-Luxembourg co-production. It is directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, and has Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Raffey Cassidy in the voice cast.

The film tells the story of a boy swept overboard with his dog during a storm while on a sailing trip with his family.

Titles include animation ’Kensuke’s Kingdom’ and Terence Davies’ next feature, ‘Benediction’.

The 10 biggest recipients of BFI production funding in 2020 received a total of £11.6m in support.

They include additional Covid-related production awards for BFI-backed projects interrupted at the start of pandemic such as Benediction, True Things and Pirates.

Nearly all 10 titles, with the exception of Earwig, also received £20,000 as part of pilot initiative BFI Step-up, which enabled productions to provide opportunities for production crew from under-represented groups to work on BFI-funded features

1. Kensuke’s Kingdom, Jigsaw Films (£1.62m)

Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe are among the English-language voice cast of this animated feature,...

Voice cast includes Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Raffey Cassidy.

Animated feature Kensuke’s Kingdom, which includes Sally Hawkins and Cillian Murphy among its voice cast, has secured fresh finance and animation partners as it goes into production.

UK-based Lupus Films, whose credits include Ethel & Ernest, will receive backing from the BFI, Ffilm Cymru, Creative Wales and Film Fund Luxembourg on the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s bestselling children’s novel.

Cardiff-based firm BumpyBox has come on board as the production’s Welsh animation partner. Previously announced production partners include Luxembourg-based Melusine Productions and French production company Le Pacte.

In late November, the agency evaluated 37 projects eligible for development and production support. The selection committee of the Film Fund Luxembourg’s national audiovisual support programme has announced that it will be backing 20 new domestic productions. In particular, production and development support for this slate of funding accounted for €9,217,341 and will contribute to the making of ten fiction films, four animated films, four documentaries, one TV series and one short fiction film. The big winners of this round of funding are two animated movies – namely, Kirk Hendry and Neil Boyle’s Kensuke’s Kingdom, and Christian Volckman’s The Kid, both in receipt of a €1.9 million production grant. The first project is an adventure flick penned by Frank Cottrell Boyce and produced by Howald-based outfit Mélusine Productions in co-operation with French, British and Irish partners. Meanwhile, Volckman’s dramedy is a loose adaptation of Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 film of the.

Exclusive: Sally Hawkins (The Shape Of Water), Cillian Murphy (Inception), Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) and Raffey Cassidy (The Killing Of A Sacred Deer) are to voice the animated adaptation of War Horse scribe Michael Morpurgo’s novel Kensuke’s Kingdom.

The children’s book tells the story of Michael, who is taken by his family on a round-the-world sailing trip. When a storm strikes he is washed overboard and ends up on a remote island in the Pacific where he struggles to survive on his own. He soon realizes there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive.

Sherlock Gnomes animator Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry (Junk) will direct the adventure story with an ecological message whose script comes from Frank Cottrell-Boyce (The Railway Man). Bankside is handling sales at the Efm and has previously closed pre-sales in France (Le Pacte...

Bankside Films boards feature animation from Ethel & Ernest producers.

Kensuke’s Kingdom, the feature animation based on a Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 children’s novel from the team behind Ethel & Ernest, has secured a sales deal ahead of Cannes with UK outfit Bankside Films.

The Railway Man screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce has adapted Morpurgo’s novel for the screen. Producers are Sarah Radclyffe, who co-founded UK powerhouse Working Title, Camilla Deakin and Ruth Fielding, the co-founders of Ethel & Ernest animation studio Lupus Films, with Barnaby Spurrier (Somers Town) and Stephan Roelants (Ernest & Celestine).

The project is being directed by Neil Boyle,...

Script from The Railway Man writer will be produced by the Ethel & Ernest team and Working Title co-founder Sarah Radclyffe.

Lupus Films and Melusine Productions, two of the companies behind critically-praised feature animation Ethel & Ernest, have identified their next project.

They are joining forces with producers Sarah Radclyffe and Barnaby Spurrier on Kensuke’s Kingdom, an animated feature adaptation of War Horse author Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 children’s novel.

Directors Neil Boyle (whose credits as an animator include Space Jam and Ethel & Ernest) and Kirk Hendry (who directed 2011 Bifa-nominated short Junk) will oversee the project from a script by The Railway Man writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

Camilla Deakin and Ruth Fielding of Lupus Films are producing with Sarah Radclyffe, who co-founded UK production outfit Working Title Films, as well as Stéphan Roelants of Melusine Productions and Barnaby Spurrier.

The film’s plot follows the adventures of a young boy and his dog who are shipwrecked on a remote...

Despite the insistent quacking of a Brooklynite in between films, the short showcase put on by the Brooklyn Film Festival was an invigorating experience -- a presentation of some truly talented individuals who will likely impress many when their features eventually unfurl.

"Tennis" by Darren Herczeg was first up and we can't imagine a weirder way to start an evening. Short and sweet (the total run time being a scant four minutes), the movie documents a match between two highly aggressive players, sweating and grunting as they slam the ball back and forth. But when one athlete misses his shot, "Tennis" takes a darker turn: soldiers storm the court and prepare him for execution, exhibiting their strict no-loser policy. It's funny through and through, managing to be enjoyable while critiquing the inherent rigid, stuck-up nature of the sport. Like a more sober example of an "Adult Swim" show with its...