Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, October 28, 2024 – This November 1st, the Quebec-made animated feature Katak The Brave Beluga will have its Japanese premiere at KINEKO, Asia’s biggest festival of films for young audiences. The film’s director, Christine Dallaire-Dupont, will be present, along with the producer from 10th Ave Productions, Nancy Florence Savard.

Founded in 1992, the 31st edition of this international festival of films for children and teens will welcome over 125,000 visitors. Since 2016, the festival has taken place in the modern city of Futako Tamagawa, in the Tokyo region. Since returning from maternity leave, director Christine Dupont-Dallaire has dreamed of travelling to Japan to present her first 3D animated feature, co-directed with her collaborator, director Nicola Lemay.

For producer/director Nancy Florence Savard, this marks a happy return to the land of the rising sun. “During the early days of our company, NHK acquired rights to our first 3D animated TV special, The Legend of the Christmas Tree. When our team started out in 2D digital animation with our series W, it was Cartoon Network Japan that acquired the rights, marking the network’s first acquisition of a non-Japanese project. Returning today with Christine to present Katak The Brave Beluga at KINEKO is a great honour,” declares the founder of 10th Ave.

Christine Dallaire Dupont is also known in Japan as a comic book creator under the artistic name Nunumi. “I’m delighted by the selection of Katak The Brave Beluga to be screened in Japan. It’s a country with a rich tradition in animated filmmaking that has strongly influenced my artistic practice. I’m honoured to be going back there to present this film, which I worked on for nearly four years. To see Katak’s journey continuing, so long after the film’s release in Quebec in February 2023, makes me realize just how long an animated film can go on shining,” says the director of Quebec’s most successful film for young audiences in 2023.

Produced over a 24-month period after 6 years in development, and scripted by writer Andrée Lambert, Katak The Brave Beluga is the only Quebec-made animated feature to be ranked among Quebec’s 10 most popular films of 2023, with box office receipts exceeding $1.8 million on the Canadian market. The film also had a successful release in France after being selected for the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival, selling over 130,000 tickets. Its presence at KINEKO today is a great opportunity, and the team is grateful for the efforts of Jo-Anne Blouin of FIFEM, Xiaojuan Zhou of Attraction Distribution, and Yuki Kayama from the Quebec Delegation in Japan.

Today, director Christine Dallaire-Dupont and producer Nancy Florence Savard are preparing a financing submission for a new animated film for young audiences to be made by 10th Ave, with a script by Émilie Rosas, who is also a director at 10th Ave Productions.

Supported by the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), Telefilm Canada, the Shaw Rocket Fund, the City of Québec, the Government of Canada, Radio-Canada, Maison 4:3 and Attraction Disrtibution, Katak The Brave Beluga is the fifth animated feature produced by this production company established at Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures in the Quebec City region. 10th Ave is a leader in Canadian animated feature film production. This month, the company celebrates the 26th anniversary of its founding.

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Source:
10th Ave Productions
Productions@10ave.com

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