'April and The Extraordinary World' US Trailer and Screenings Revealed [UPDATED]

Fresh from the success of Only Yesterday and Boy And The World, GKIDS continue their mission to bring the best in world animation to North American audiences. This time they've turned their attention to France, with April and The Extraordinary World hitting cinemas across the US (appropriately enough) in April.

The film is based on the work of acclaimed graphic novelist Jacques Tardi and comes from the producer of the Oscar nominated Persepolis. The titular April is a young chemist on the run from sinister forces in an alternate steam-punk version of 1941 France ruled over by Napoleon V. The film offers a fascinating look at an alternate universe where history took a different turn. This version of Paris is full of chimneys, bicycle-powered airships and the iconic image of twin Eiffel towers. It features the Oscar-Winning Marion Cottillard (speaking her mother-tongue) in the lead role, and won the Best Feature Cristal at last year's Annecy festival.

The first US release trailer gives us a good taste of the film, which promises to be a good old-fashioned adventure romp, with a gallic twist. The fact that it features a female scientist as a hero is going to get it a lot of attention for a start. It's got a visual style that looks like it could be torn right from the pages of of French comics -or bande dessinee- too. We don't know about you, but we're sold.

April and The Extraordinary World will open first in New York's IFC Center on March 25th, and then play in LA from April 1st. It will then begin to roll out to cinemas across the country from April 8th. The initial list of screenings follows- make sure to check back with the offical site though, as more screening will be added in weeks to come.

UPDATED MARCH 16TH