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Exclusive: Fortissimo Films has closed distribution deals in key territories for The Girl Who Stole Time, a Chinese animated feature that played at Annecy last month.

Rights for the film have been acquired for Latin America (Cine Canibal), Spain (Mar-Mitako), India (Cine Alliance) and inflight (Kairos Distribution). Cine Canibal previously distributed prestige animation titles including Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Hero and Oscar-winner Flow.

The Girl Who Stole Time opened in China on May 30, where it has taken $26m at the box office to date.

After receiving its international premiere at Annecy International Animation Film Festival, it is...

Fortissimo Films has landed international rights to upcoming Chinese animated feature The Girl Who Stole Time and will launch sales at the European Film Market (EFM) this week.

The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company has secured rights to the fantasy adventure feature ahead of its local release on May 30.

The story follows a girl from a fishing village who gains the power to stop time with a coveted magical device. She embarks on an adventure with new friends through a fantastical metropolis but must eventually face the consequences of her powers.

The feature is produced by Maoyan Entertainment, a leading...

When it comes to animation, 2023 has been a year of quite high highs and rather low lows. There have been bold works that experiment with form and style in vibrant ways just as there have been sweet yet largely shallow experiences that feel like they’re only scratching the surface of their potential. Nestled right in the middle of this is Deep Sea, a stunning animated feature with plenty of spark that still feels like it is often treading water. After opening in China back in January and playing the festival circuit, the latest from writer-director Xiaopeng Tian (Monkey King: Hero Is Back) is now getting a limited theatrical release in the U.S. where it feels like one of those films that could, unfortunately, be far too easily slept on.

“Deep Sea,” an innovative Chinese-made animation film that has played the international festival circuit throughout this year, will release in North American theaters later this month.

Theatrical rights were acquired by Viva Films from Netherlands-China sales outfit Fortissimo Films. Viva plans an outing on Nov. 24 with Chinese and English-dubbed versions and a PG13 certificate.

The fantasy adventure tells the story of Shenxiu, a girl who has felt a deep sadness since being abandoned by her mother. While on a family cruise, she falls into the sea and breaks into the Deep Sea restaurant where she meets inventive underwater chef Nanhe and embarks on a journey between dreams and reality.

“Deep Sea” is a 3D animation directed by Tian Xiaopeng (“Monkey King: Hero is Back”) and produced by Yi Qiao (“Nezha”) through October Pictures and Coloroom. Tian and his team developed a CG technique based around particles, creating 3D images from abstract Chinese ink paintings.

This is van Vugt’s feature fiction debut after several award-winning documentaries.

Amsterdam-based sales outfit Fortissimo Films has snapped up international sales rights to Dutch director Jacqueline van Vugt’s Dutch feature Crossing, now in post-production.

This is van Vugt’s feature fiction debut after several award-winning documentaries, among them Borders (2014) and Up To G-cup (2022). It will be introduced to buyers at the European Film Market (EFM).

Crossing is an ensemble drama set in real time on a ferry crossing from Morocco to Spain as.a couple and their two sons travel home from their holiday, the ferry captain smuggles...

Shenxiu has felt a deep sadness since her mother left. A storm plunges her into a dreamlike, 3D world of swirling colour. Led by the Hyjinx, and joined by inventive underwater chef Nanhe, she embarks on a quest to find solace in the Eye of the Deep Sea. (Source: Berlinale)

After 2015’s record-breaking box-office hit Monkey King: Hero Is Back, director Tian Xiaopeng’s sophomore feature is a 3D animated fantasy story with a modern background. The movie has secured the coveted Chinese New Year release in China on January 22, 2023 and is also joining the line-up for Berlinale’s Generation Kplus competition with an international world premiere in February.

Chinese feature is directed by Tian Xiaopeng, who previously broke box office records with ‘Monkey King: Hero Is Back’.

Amsterdam-based sales outfit Fortissimo Films has secured international rights to Tian Xiaopeng’s Deep Sea, which is set to receive its international premiere at the Berlinale.

The Chinese 3D animated feature marks the second feature by Tian, whose debut Monkey King: Hero Is Back became the highest-grossing animated film ever in China when it took 138m in 2015. The current record holder is 2019 animation Ne Zha, whose producer, Yi Qiao, is the producer of Deep Sea.

The film tells the story of Shenxiu,...

The Berlin Film Festival’s youth-focused sidebar Generation 14plus is set to open with “When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before,” the anticipated next film of Sonja Heiss and und Zeevonk von Domien Huyghe.

Based on Joachim Meyerhoff’s eponymous novel, “When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before” tells the comedic and moving story of a childhood and youth spent on the grounds of a psychiatric clinic.

Meanwhile, Domien Huyghe’s moving film “Sea Sparkle” will kick off the Generation Kplus competition. The film follows 12-year-old Lena who relentlessly battles with the tides of her grief after the death of her father, which she blames on a sea monster.

The Generation selection pans 25 feature-length and 31 short films, including 40 world premieres. The Berlinale team said this year’s lineup will invite audiences on an “exploration of young perceptions of the world.”

“The films in this...

"You can't hide from it, we have to defeat it." Time for a fresh look at some incredible CG animation! Deep Sea is a 3D animated Chinese film directed by Tian Xiaopeng, his follow-up to his first film Monkey King: Hero Is Back. After years in development, it's finally ready for release in China coming soon. Another trailer has arrived to promote it. This movie has a distinct look that is as intensely vibrant and as spectacular as most anime, but with even more glitter thrown in to some of the water scenes. "Although antique stories are popular among Chinese animation works in recent years, Deep Sea will apply a different way, using unique oriental aesthetics to interpret a fantasy story with a modern background." The story follows a lonely young girl who finds a connection underwater. This guy says he has magic powers, which always makes me think of some of Miyazaki's characters.

Director Yang Yun-ho of Fighter in the Wind (2004) helms action road film Cross Boarder (越界者), and it is co-produced by K-Dragon Corporation and Zhejiang Hg Entertainment, according to The Korea Herald.

The story centers on identical twin brothers on the run from Korean police and Chinese hoodlums simultaneously.

Zhejiang Hg Entertainment recently distributed Monkey King : Hero is Back by Tian Xiao Peng, which is the highest-grossing Chinese animated film in China and has a cult following.

Word got around about director Yang’s sequel to Fighter in the Wind last September, and Yang Dong-Geun returns as Choi Bae-Dal.

Cross Boarder (越界者) is eyeing a wide release and currently in production.