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GKIDS
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Foundation date 1 january 2008
GKIDS (Guerrilla Kids International Distribution Syndicate) is an American distributor based in New York City of animated and youth-aimed cinema and, originally, the organizers of the New York International Children's Film Festival, which has run annually in the city since 1997 and is an Academy Award–qualifying event.
From that origin their role has since expanded to running a Web site with videos of short films shown at the festival and a guide to children's and family films on home video, running events in the city outside of the festival and, beginning in 2008, distributing individual feature films and packages of features and shorts to movie theaters across the United States.
Best films
(2011)
(2012)
(2009)
(2014)
(2010)
(2010)Filmography of GKIDS (12 films)
Distribution
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The Prophet (2015)
, 1h24Directed by Bill Plympton, Roger Allers, Joann Sfar, Mohammed Saeed Harib, Tomm Moore, Gaëtan et Paul Brizzi
Origin USA
Genres Animation
Actors Quvenzhané Wallis, Liam Neeson, John Krasinski, Salma Hayek, Frank Langella, Alfred Molina
Kamila, a widowed mother, works as the housekeeper for Mustafa, a foreign poet, painter, and political activist being held under house arrest. Mustafa is guarded by the soldier Halim, who has a secret crush on Kamila. Kamila's daughter, Almitra, has stopped talking due to her father's death, and has become a troublemaker who frequently steals from local merchants. Almitra has seagulls for her only friends; she even seems able to talk to them by making birdlike noises. Halim's pompous Sergeant arrives to tell Mustafa that he is now free, but he must board a ship to his home country by day's end. The Sergeant escorts Mustafa to the ship, and Mustafa spends the time conversing with Kamila, Almitra and Halim, as well as with the townspeople, who regard him as a hero. Mustafa's conversations, ranging in topics from freedom to marriage to parenthood to eating, are animated by the movie's many directors in their own unique styles.
Giovanni's Island (2014)
Directed by Mizuho Nishikubo
Genres Drama, Historical, Animation
Actors Masachika Ichimura, Yukie Nakama, Yūsuke Santamaria, Kaoru Yachigusa, Tatsuya Nakadai, Saburō Kitajima
The story follows two brothers, Junpei and Kanta, who live on the island of Shikotan, shortly after World War II. On August 15, 1945, Russian soldiers land on Shikotan and occupy the island. Junpei and Kanta, who live with their grandfather, a fisherman, and their father, the head of the firefighting force of the village, are forced to move to the stables while the Russian commander's family, among them the commander's daughter Tanya, move into the main house. At school, Russian children occupy half the building, and Tanya and the other Russian kids begin to mingle with the Japanese children at recess. After a playground jostle makes Junpei bump into Tanya, they become friends and the two brothers are subsequently invited to Tanya's house for dinner.
Song of the Sea (2014)
, 1h33Directed by Tomm Moore
Origin Belgique
Genres Fantastic, Fantasy, Animation
Themes Children's films
Actors Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Jon Kenny, Jean-Stan DuPac, Nolwenn Leroy
In October of 1981, on an island off the coast of Ireland lives Conor, a lighthouse keeper, his son Ben, his wife Bronagh, who is expecting their second child, and their sheepdog Cú. Bronagh leaves unexpectedly late one night, leaving behind her newborn daughter Saoirse. Six years later, Conor is a broken man, Saoirse has yet to utter a single word, and Ben has grown resentful of his sister, associating her with his mother’s disappearance. The family are then visited by Granny for Saoirse's birthday. That night, Ben scares Saoirse with a story of Mac Lir the giant and his mother Macha the Owl Witch, who stole his feelings and turned him to stone. Later that night, Saoirse plays a seashell horn given to Ben by their mother, and it leads her to a white sealskin coat hidden in Conor’s closet. She puts the coat on and is coaxed into the ocean by a group of seals. It is then revealed that she is a beautiful white Selkie. After swimming with the seals, she is found washed up onshore by Granny, who insists upon taking the children back home to the city for their own safety. Conor reluctantly agrees despite Ben's protests, especially that Cú cannot go with them, and throws the chest containing Saoirse's coat and its key into the sea.
, 1h58Genres Documentary, Animation
Actors Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, John Lasseter, Isao Takahata, Hideaki Anno, Joe Hisaishi
The documentary delves into the life of Hayao Miyazaki and the productions of the animated films The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, including various footage of said productions. The footage shown includes the choosing of Hideaki Anno as the voice actor for the character Jiro Horikoshi in The Wind Rises as well as the extensive and detailed amount of storyboarding sketched, inked, and painted by Miyazaki. It notes Miyazaki's opinions on subjects such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and Zero planes, and shows his tensions with some of the other staff, including Isao Takahata, and his memories of his father. The film illustrates the importance of Miyazaki, Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki's works altogether to help Studio Ghibli be successful, and concludes with mention of Miyazaki's supposed official retirement.
Ernest & Celestine (2012)
, 1h20Directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner
Origin Belgique
Genres Drama, Comedy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about racism, Mise en scène d'un ours, Mise en scène d'un rongeur, Mise en scène d'une souris, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Lambert Wilson, Patrice Melennec, Forest Whitaker, Brigitte Virtudes, Mackenzie Foy, Dominique Collignon-Maurin
Celestine is a young mouse who lives in the underground world of rodents. At the orphanage where she lives, the caretaker known as the Gray One tells scary stories about the evil nature of the bears that live in the outside world, though Celestine doubts they are entirely true. She loves to draw but must soon study dentistry, since that's what all rodents do, and to prepare, she must travel above ground to collect bear cubs' lost teeth from underneath pillows. On one such occasion, the cub's family catches Celestine in the act and chase her into a trash can where she is trapped and spends the night. The next morning, a destitute and starving bear named Ernest discovers Celestine and attempts to eat her. Celestine convinces him to let her go by helping him break into the basement of a candy shop, where he can eat his fill. He is soon caught by the store's owner, however, and arrested. Celestine, who is behind on her quota of collected teeth, agrees to free him from the police wagon if he will help her break into and rob the teeth from the office of the store owner's wife, who happens to be a dentist.
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
, 1h31Directed by Gorō Miyazaki
Origin Japon
Genres Drama, Animation, Romance
Themes Feminist films, Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films, Children's films
Actors Masami Nagasawa, Junichi Okada, Yuriko Ishida, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Rumi Hiiragi
Umi Matsuzaki is a 16-year-old student at Isogo High School living in Coquelicot Manor, a boarding house overlooking the Port of Yokohama in Japan. Her mother Ryoko is a medical professor studying abroad in the United States. Umi runs the house and looks after her younger siblings Sora and Riku and her grandmother, Hana. College student Sachiko Hirokouji and doctor-in-training Miki Hokuto also live there. Each morning, Umi raises a set of signal flags with the message "I pray for safe voyages".
A Cat in Paris (2010)
, 1h10Directed by Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli
Origin France
Genres Comedy, Adventure, Crime, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about cats, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Dominique Blanc, Jean Benguigui, Bruno Salomone, Marcia Gay Harden, Bernadette Lafont, Steven Blum
Nico is a burglar who sneaks into buildings and steals jewels. Nico is always followed by a black cat. The following morning, the cat wakes in a house with a little girl, catches a lizard and gives it to the girl. Zoé, hearing Jeanne, her mother, calls her to come in and look at her lizards, but Jeanne is too busy on the phone to take much notice of what she is shown. At nightfall, the cat leaves and goes to find Nico.
Chico & Rita (2010)
, 1h34Directed by Fernando Trueba
Origin Espagne
Genres Drama, Musical, Animation, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Films about music and musicians, Transport films, Jazz films, Musical films
Actors Peter Appel, Jay Benedict
In present-day Havana, Chico, a shoe-shiner, tunes his radio to the Radio Progreso station, which is playing old Cuban hits on a program called Melodies from Yesterday. As he listens, the station begins to play a romantic arrangement of A Taste of Me (Sabor a Mí) by Mexican composer Álvaro Carrillo (1921–69) which causes him to remember his life back in 1940s Cuba. In 1948 Havana, Chico and his best friend Ramón are struggling dandies in a low-life bar. Ramon arranges a double date for the both of them with two American tourists. They take the women to a bar where Chico falls in love with the band's beautiful lead singer, Rita. Chico attempts to talk to her, but an American tourist refuses to let Rita leave him. Chico and Ramón go to the Tropicana Club with their lady-friends, and sneak in through the performer’s entrance. While walking around, Chico sees upon Rita and her gentleman friend arguing. The Maitre d' overhears that Chico is an accomplished pianist and persuades him to substitute for the main event's missing pianist. Chico fills in, playing at first sight a new piece—Ebony Concerto by Igor Stravinsky. Chico, initially nervous, ends up performing the piece with aplomb, to the delight of the band. Rita finally agrees to ditch her date and flee with Chico on Ramón’s motorcycle and sidecar, along with the Americans. After a dangerous chase, the American man finally crashes into a car dealership, and the others escape. Rita and Chico leave the rest of the party and go to a bar where Chico introduces her to bebop music, which she takes up quickly. Afterwards they go to Chico’s place and spend the rest of the night together. The next day Rita wakes up to find Chico playing a new composition on the piano, which he names "Rita". As they play and kiss, Juana, Chico’s former girlfriend, walks in and picks a fight with Rita. The two women angrily leave Chico, feeling betrayed. However, Chico is still smitten with Rita and begs Ramon to convince her to perform with him for an upcoming radio contest. Ramon pays Rita to sing with Chico but after the contest, Rita leaves Chico without speaking to him. He follows her to the house of a santera, who predicts that Chico will cause her much suffering. That night, the station announces that Chico and Rita have won a month's engagement at the Hotel Nacional. A few weeks later, Chico and Rita are having great success in their performances. Rita’s beauty mesmerizes all the men, which ignites Chico’s jealousy. One of the admirers, Ron, asks Rita to his table to discuss business. He offers to take Rita to New York City to make her a star, where jazz and Latin music are a burgeoning scene. However, Rita insists that the offer must include Chico. Meanwhile, Chico has been watching from a distance and becomes jealous, believing Rita wishes to leave him for Ron. Rita attempts to explain that she is fighting for both of them to go to New York together, but Chico storms off. Rita goes to his apartment and waits for Chico, but falls asleep in the courtyard. She is awakened by Chico stumbling home with Juana. Hurt, Rita agrees to go to New York with Ron, alone. After her departure, Chico becomes depressed and he and Ramon eventually secure the means to go to New York to seek their fortunes as well. Chico and Ramón give Chano Pozo a letter of recommendation they received from his sister in Cuba. Chano is receptive and excited to meet fellow Cubans. However, he is involved in drugs and has a short temper. After discovering he was sold oregano instead of marijuana, Chano attacks the dealer, who later finds him in a bar and kills him. Chico finds work as a party musician, and Ramón as an usher at the Plaza Hotel. At one of his party gigs, Chico runs into a successful Rita again, who is hurt by the racist doubts of her fellow party goers about her upcoming film project. Chico and Rita run away in her new car and spend the night together again. The next day, Ron locates Ramón and proposes a deal to finance his artist-agency business, as long as Ramon finds jobs to keep Chico away from Rita. Ramón complies with his end of the bargain and signs Chico with Dizzy Gillespie, who gives him a gig in Paris and a European tour. Rita becomes a big film star while Chico finds a new girlfriend in Paris. One morning, while playing "Rita" at the piano, the girlfriend's dog, Lily, comes in and sits by Chico. He decides to change the name of the song to "Lily". Back in New York, despite her wealth and success, Rita is still mistreated socially due to her skin color. While being driven to a set, the radio plays a new Jazz hit that she instantly recognizes as the piece Chico composed for her. She is moved to tears when she learns Chico renamed the song. In New York, Rita goes into a bar and sees Chico playing "Lily". She waits for him outside the bar and demands to know who Lilly is. He teases her about the mystery female's identity, but finally reveals that he renamed the song after a dog. The two passionately kiss and make up. A paparazzo captures the kiss in a photograph that appears in the newspapers. Chico and Rita agree to marry that New Year’s Eve, after Rita’s debut in Las Vegas. Chico tells Ramón, who worries that their reunion will ruin his business. Ramón slips a packet of drugs into Chico’s coat, which police discover during a search after a raid on his gig at the Palladium in New York. They arrest Chico, and won't let him make a phone call to Rita, who waits in vain in a Las Vegas motel. Chico is soon deported back to Cuba. Upset, Rita becomes drunk before her New Year's Eve performance, believing that Chico left her again. Despite Ron's urging to not "spoil it all now", Rita deliberately sabotages her career by denouncing the racism of the Hollywood industry and the hypocrisy of being a celebrated black artist. Meanwhile, Chico enters Cuba right at the beginning of Castro's regime, and the new Cuban revolutionary authorities seize his passport. All venues are now forbidden to play jazz because it is "capitalist music." Disappointed with life, Chico gives up music altogether. Sixty years later, when Chico is shining shoes for a tourist, a young man rushes to him and tells him that a famous young singer and her entourage are eagerly asking for him and his jazz music. He reluctantly agrees to meet them and for the first time in years he plays his music for an audience. The singer asks him to record a song with her and Chico agrees. It becomes a big hit and takes him on a world tour, giving him success for the second time. After the tour, Chico is allowed re-entry into the United States. He searches for Rita, starting in New York. He eventually finds Ron in a nursing home and discovers that his friend Ramón has died and learns Rita is in Las Vegas. He goes there and knocks on her door and she reveals that she has stayed for 47 years in the same motel room, working as the motel's housekeeper and waiting for him. The film ends with their reunion.
The Secret of Kells (2009)
, 1h18Directed by Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
Origin Belgique
Genres Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Seafaring films, Films about religion, Transport films, Films set in the Viking Age, Children's films
Actors Brendan Gleeson, Mick Lally, Dominique Collignon-Maurin, Paul Young, Féodor Atkine, Nora Twomey
Brendan, a young, curious, and idealistic boy living in the tightly knit community at the Monastery of Kells, is under the strict care of his stern uncle, Abbot Cellach. Cellach is obsessed with building a wall around the Abbey of Kells, in order to prevent Viking attacks.
Eleanor's Secret (2009)
, 1h20Directed by Dominique Monféry
Origin France
Genres Animation
Actors Julie Gayet, Denis Podalydès, Peppino Capotondi, Lorànt Deutsch, Liliane Rovère, David Gasman
The seven-year-old hero, Nathaniel, is not a confident reader. When his eccentric old aunt Eleanor dies, she leaves her house to his parents and her huge book collection to the young boy. Nathaniel discovers that the books shelter all the heroes found in children's literature. Among them are Alice in Wonderland, Puss in Boots, Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood and they are counting on him for protection: if they leave the library, they will disappear along with their stories forever. When his parents start selling off the books, Nathaniel is shrunk by the evil witch Carabosse and must brave everything to save his miniature friends.
Mia and the Migoo (2008)
, 1h27Directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd
Origin France
Genres Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Mise en scène d'une plante
Actors Dany Boon, John DiMaggio, Matthew Modine, Miou-Miou, Wallace Shawn, Yolande Moreau
At a remote construction site in Latin America, an American developer named Jekhide attempts to build a resort, however the site is attacked by a mysterious force, causing several workers to get trapped underground. One of the worker's daughters Mia has a premonition. So after saying a few words of parting at her mother's grave, she sets out on a journey across mountains and jungles to search for her father. She goes to a witch who shows her the way and along the way she meets and befriends a tribe of giant called the Migoos.
Tahaan (2008)
Directed by Santosh Sivan
Genres Drama
Actors Anupam Kher, Sarika, Rahul Bose, Rahul Khanna, Victor Banerjee, Rasika Dugal
After salvaging money using various means, Tahaan reaches the moneylender to reclaim Birbal. He is told that old Subhan Darr (Anupam Kher) bought the donkey and went across the mountains in which Tahaan's father went missing. Gathering courage, Tahaan goes in search of the old man. He finds him and he follows Subhan and his assistant Zafar (Rahul Bose) and their mule train, leading Birbal despite their protests. Although Subhan promises to return Birbal to Tahaan if he can win a race against the incompetent Zafar, when he wins Subhan refuses to give him Birbal. Instead, Subhan gives the donkey to his eight-year-old nephew. Zafar tries to give Tahaan his sunglasses as a replacement for the donkey, but Tahaan will not accept the gift.