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EXCLUSIVE: Gebeka International has boarded sales on Hungarian director Áron Gauder’s drama Four Souls Of Coyote ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 11-17).
The new 2D and 3D feature-length is Gauder’s second feature after The District (Nyócker!), which won Annecy’s top Cristal award for best film in 2005.
The new work is billed as an epic adventure tale tackling contemporary issues of global warming and the destruction of the environment through the prism of a Native American creation myth.
Set in the present day, Native American teenagers confront the crew of an oil pipeline project, just down the hill from the land of their ancestors. An elder evokes the ancient tale of their Creation myth and its lesson that the challenges facing humanity are universal.
Gauder has been fascinated with Native American culture since childhood and previously explored its world in the short films Coyote And The Rock (2015) and Kojot és a sápadtarcú (2016).
“Four Souls of Coyote is an alternative and more modest creation myth, in which the human being is neither the top creature of nature nor the king of the world, but only one of all the creatures,” says the director.
“Surprisingly, these archaic myths depict the interrelations of the world quite similarly to modern scientific results. The former represents the only alternative to a capitalist society. With the help of the animation, I would like to tell this story in an adventurous way in order to point out that we should live an environmentally more responsible life and that we should respect Mother Nature.”
Réka Templen is the lead producer under the banner of Budapest-based Cinemon Entertainment, with the support of Hungary’s National Film Institute.
Previous Cinemon credits include Netflix Original Willy And The Guardians Of The Lake, The Legend Of King Solomon and The Bears’ Famous Invasion Of Sicily.
The sales acquisition deal was negotiated by NFI World Sales’ Klaudia Androsovits with Gebeka International Head of Sales Jason Bressand.
Gebeka International was created as a joint venture between Bunch Launches New Animation Sales Company With French Firm Gebeka — Annecy Goodfellas (then Wild Bunch International) and Gebeka Films (a unit of Reginald de Guillebon’s Hildergarde holding company) in 2021 to serve the growing market for independent feature-length animation.
This marks its third edition of Annecy.
“I am thrilled and honored to be part of Four Souls of Coyote, a groundbreaking film that not only captivates audiences with its magical storytelling but also carries a powerful message of shared responsibility for our planet and all its inhabitants,” said Bressand.
“Gebeka International is proud to bring this authentic and unexplored Native American culture to the world, inspiring hope and awakening our collective consciousness.”
The company is also handling sales on the Iran-set drama The Siren which plays in the main Competition having previously world-premiered in Berlin.
