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Gkids said Tuesday that it has acquired North American distribution rights to the French psychedelic fantasy Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds.

Directed by Benoît Chieux, the film is a singular vision many years in the making. It had its world premiere as the opening-night feature of the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Next up, it will have its New York premiere as the centerpiece film of the Fiaf Animation First Film Festival on January 26.

Kingdom of Winds is the first animated feature solely directed by Chieux, who previously co-directed 2013’s Aunt Hilda! The two-time César Award nominee also served as the screenwriter for 2008’s European Film Award-winning Mia and the Migoo, which was one of the earliest titles distributed by Gkids.

Gkids will release Kingdom of Winds theatrically later this year following a domestic release in France that began December...

2D computer animation also took the distribution award.

Sebastien Laudenbach and Chiara Malta’s French-Italian 2D computer animation Chicken For Linda! won the Cristal for best feature film at Annecy International Animation Film Festival this evening.

It was one of two prizes received by the film, alongside the Gan Foundation award for distribution.

Scroll down for the list of feature film winners

Chicken For Linda! (French title: Linda veut du poulet!) follows a mother and daughter, grieving following the loss of the mother’s late husband, who go on a quest across strike-paralysed Paris in search of the key ingredient...

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...

Exclusive: Nexon, an Asian video game developer specializing in immersive virtual worlds, is setting up an LA-based film and TV division to be run by Disney and Activision Blizzard veteran Nick van Dyk.

In addition to being president of Nexon Film and Television, van Dyk will also be the parent company’s EVP and Chief Strategy Officer. In that role, he will steer strategic planning, M&a, corporate development, franchise management and partnerships.

Nexon, founded in 1994 in South Korea, is now based in Tokyo. It is publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization north of $18 billion.

The film and TV unit will look to leverage existing IP at the company. Its titles include long-running games like Dungeon Fighter, The Kingdom of the Winds, MapleStory and KartRider. Others are in development at Nexon’s Embark Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.

In an interview with Deadline, van Dyk...

Grégoire Melin’s Paris-based Kinology will sell Sacrebleu’s upcoming animated feature “Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds,” set to host Was an Annecy Works in Progress panel at the upcoming digital version of the world’s largest animation festival and market.

At March’s Cartoon Movie in the French port city of Bordeaux, the films singular visuals and family-friendly story caught the eye of many in attendance, and makes it one of the most anticipated productions set to participate at this year’s Annecy.

Kinology has a strong reputation in dealing with independent arthouse animated features, including the critically acclaimed 2014 Annecy main competition player “Mune: Guardian of the Moon.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with Ron and Benoit on such a unique, poetic and emotional journey; it has everything to become a true future kids’ classic in the line of ‘The King and the Mockingbird’ and ‘Kirikou,’” Kinology CEO Grégoire Melin told Variety.

Remi Chayé’s “Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary,” Benoît Chieux’ “Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds” and “They Shot the Piano Player,” from Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, were among projects which caught attention at this week’s 22nd Cartoon Movie, which ran March 3-5 in the French port city of Bordeaux.

The presentation of “Calamity.” the awaited second feature by Chayé (“Long Way North”), registered the highest attendance of any pitch at the animation co-production and sales forum. Produced by France’s Maybe Movies and Denmark’s Nørlum and sold by Paris-based Indie Sales, “Calamity” tells the story of Martha Jane Cannary, a 12-year-old girl caring for her siblings in a wagon train heading West to Wyoming. A coming-of-age feature, it is also an origins story of the young woman would become the legendary Calamity Jane.

A buzz title in Bordeaux, sold by Film Constellation and...