GKIDS Acquire 'Another Day Of Life' For US, Release 'Funan' Trailer
Directed by Raúl De La Fuente and Damian Nenow it uses a mix of animation and interviews and archive footage to create a hybrid that is part drama part documentary. Set against the real-life event of the Angolan civil war, it is adapted from the book of the same name by journalist and author Ryszard Kapuściński.
GKIDS Films have announced plans to release the film theatrically in North America some time in 2019. " We are incredibly proud to release Another Day Of Life. The film brings Kapuściński's writing to visceral life, in a thrilling story of a journalist's obligations during war that will stay with audiences long after they leave the theater.," says GKIDS president David Jesteadt. Full release details will be announced at a later date.
SYNOPSIS:
An official Cannes selection and winner of festival prizes and awards worldwide, ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE is a daringly ambitious dive into the chaos of war, based on the book by the journalist Ryszard "Ricardo" Kapuściński, one of the world's most compelling chroniclers of conflict. Intercutting a graphically bold animation style with interviews and archival footage, the visually striking film conveys a rare immediacy as it tells of the outbreak of civil war following Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975. Against all advice, Kapuściński is intent on driving south into the heart of the bloody conflict to find the isolated rebel leader Farrusco (a legendary figure like Kurtz in Heart of Darkness). His animated trip through corpse-strewn roads conveys an undeniable urgency, while the documentary testimony reminds us that we are watching actual history.
The film is another showcase of the power of animation to tell serious stories and seems like it's a fitting companion piece with Dennis Do's Funan, which is arriving in the US this June, also via GKIDS films. Set in Cambodia in 1975, under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, it follows a young woman named Chou as her and her husband are separated from their 4-year-old daughter during a forced exile. Chou is determined to reunite her family- even if it means risking everything. The film won the top prizes at Animation Is Film and Annecy last year. Funan will open June 7 in New York and June 14 in Los Angeles, and ahead of the release, GKIDS has unveiled the debut US trailer. More dates and locations will be announced later.
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).
