GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced it has acquired the US distribution rights for the animated feature Funan, the inspiring and emotionally-searing debut from filmmaker Denis Do, based on his own family story, which won the top prizes at the Annecy Int’l Animated Film Festival and the Animation is Film Festival. GKIDS will release the film theatrically this spring.

Funan follows Chou, a young woman living in the chaos of 1975 Cambodia, amid the arrival of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. When she and her husband are separated from their 4-year-old son during a forced exile from their home, Chou remains determined to reunite her family – even if it means risking everything.

“Denis Do has created a truly remarkable and personal film,” said David Jesteadt, GKIDS’ President. “Funan is the perfect example of animation’s ability to tell all kinds of stories, for all kinds of audiences. I can’t wait to share this special film with as many people as possible.”

SYNOPSIS

Cambodia, April 1975. Chou is a young woman whose everyday world is suddenly upended by the arrival of the Khmer Rouge regime. During the chaos of the forced exile from their home, Chou and her husband are separated from their 4-year-old son, who has been sent to an unknown location. As she navigates her new reality, working in the fields day and night under the careful watch of soldiers, and surviving the small indignities and harrowing realities of the increasingly grim work camps, Chou remains steadfast in her determination to reunite her family – even if it means risking everything. Winner of the top prizes at the Annecy Animation Festival and the Animation is Film Festival, Funan is a searing and remarkable debut from filmmaker Denis Do, who uses his own family history as inspiration for a thrilling story of love, loss and enduring hope in the most trying of times. Featuring the voices of Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Louis Garrel (The Dreamers).

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.

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