Paris-based sales company Charades has closed a raft of Asian deals on Kohei Kadowaki’s animated feature ‘We Are Aliens’ ahead of its Annecy International Animation Film Festival premiere in Competition.The Japanese-French co-production has sold to Geen Narae Media in South Korea, Hooray Films in Taiwan, Shaw Organisation in Singapore, Intercontinental Film Distributors in Hong Kong and Sahamongkol Film in Thailand.
Written and directed by Kadowaki, “We Are Aliens” follows two boys in a small Japanese town whose friendship is altered by an act of betrayal that continues to shape their lives into adulthood. The feature marks the directorial animation debut of Kadowaki, a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts whose distinctive visual style combines animation techniques with a keen observational approach to everyday life.
“We Are Aliens” is produced by Japan’s Nothing New and France’s Miyu Productions, with Dulac Distribution handling French theatrical distribution. Charades is managing international sales and is currently in active discussions with buyers in several European territories. The wave of Asian sales come on the heels of the film’s world premiere in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and ahead of its Annecy bow, where it will screen in the festival’s prestigious feature film competition.Ahead of his Annecy premiere, Variety spoke with Kadowaki about his technique, a singular blend of 2D animation and rotoscoping underlined the eerie atmosphere of his coming-of-age story.
