“Forest,” an Italian eco-themed animation film about deforestation, has scored some strong pre-sales for Rome-based True Colours at the Cannes Marché du film.
The still-in-production 3-D animation feature – the protagonist of which is a young mushroom named Fey – has been picked up for roughly 20 territories by Top Film Distribution which will distribute “Forest” in Ukraine, CIS, the Baltics, and Eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, and Hungary.
Helmed by Luca Della Grotta and Francesco Dafano, the film is produced by Italy’s AI One, the same team that previously spawned 2020 similarly themed animation feature “Trash” that sold in more than 30 countries.
“Forest” – which is the first animation title on the True Colours slate and a rare case of an Italian animation feature film – was presented last year as an in-development project at specialized co-production platforms including Cartoon Movie in the French city of Bordeaux. After launching pre-sales in Cannes, True Colours will now continue market activity on “Forest” at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France.
Other True Colours sales scored in Cannes comprise deals on two works by Italian first timers: Lyda Patitucci’s atmospheric noir “Like Sheep Among Wolves,” produced by Groenlandia which premiered in Rotterdam, and Tiziano Russo’s upcoming teen drama “Supernova” (“Noi anni luce”) produced by Notorious Pictures. Both debut films have been sold for Australia and New Zealand to Palace Film which also acquired Alessio Cremonini’s ISIS-themed drama “Prophets” and Michele Vannucci’s revenge drama “Delta” that launched from Locarno.
Berlinale Generation title “The Properties of Metals” has been sold by True Colours to Swedish Films for Sweden and LGBTQ drama “Norwegian Dream,” which is Norwegian-Polish director Leiv Igor Devold’s feature debut, has found distribution in Benelux, Spain, and Israel via Cinemien.
