'The Girl Without Hands' Comes to the US This Summer

GKIDS Films do a wonderful job of representing the true diversity of global animation. As well as family-friendly crowd-pleasers like the Song Of the Sea or My Life As A Zucchini, they also seek out more unusual or esoteric animated features. And you don't get much more unusual or esoteric than Sébastien Laudenbach's award-winning The Girl Without Hands.

Based on a tale by Brothers Grimm it may be- but this is as about as far away from a Disney fairy-story as you could imagine. A Miller who has fallen on hard times sells his daughter to the Devil. Although she is able to escape, the Devil takes her hands in revenge and begins to plot to steal her away again.


The hand-drawn feature is the debut from Laudenbach, after a number of acclaimed shorts. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Cesars, and won the Jury Prize and Best French Film at the Annecy Festival.  Remarkably, it's virtually a one-man production, with Laudenbach responsible for directing, writing and animating the whole film himself.

The film will open on July 21 at the IFC Center in New York, and at the Laemmle Music Hall, LA on August 4. Additional screenings or locations are to be confirmed. More information here. Check out the trailer, below.