South Korea’s Barunson E&A has boarded sales of fantasy animated feature Gill and will launch the title to international buyers at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin next week.
Directed by acclaimed animation filmmaker Ahn Jae-huun, the feature premiered in the Contrechamp competition of Annecy International Animation Film Festival last year.
The story centres on a young man and his grandfather who rescue a mysterious boy with gills and shimmering scales at the side of a river. Named Gon, he is welcomed into their family but is forced to leave after an unexpected accident exposes his secret.
It is based on a 2011 novel by Gu Byeong-mo, whose 2022 novel The Old Woman With The Knife has also been adapted into a feature and will premiere at the upcoming Berlinale.
Gill marks the fifth animated feature of director Ahn, who won a special jury award at Annecy in 2020 with The Shaman Sorceress and has further credits including Green Days, The Road Called Life and The Shower.
The film is produced by leading independent Korean animation studio Meditation With A Pencil and has also screened at festivals including Tokyo, Bucheon and Seoul Independent Film Festival.
Barunson E&A’s EFM slate also includes upcoming Indonesian thriller Smothered, written and produced by Joko Anwar; crime thriller Nocturnal, starring Ha Jung-woo and set for release in Korea this week; sex comedy and local box office hit Forbidden Fairytale; and Duong Dieu Linh’s Don’t Cry, Butterfly, which won the grand prize at Venice Critics’ Week.
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