Korea’s Finecut Sells Toronto Title ‘Long Long Night’ & July Jung’s ‘Dora’ To Japan 

Korean sales agency Finecut has sold 3D animated feature Long Long Night, which will premiere in Toronto, and July Jung’s Cannes Directors Fortnight title Dora to Japan.

Long Long Night, the feature debut of Youm Kyu Bock, has been sold to Japan’s Geek Pictures. The film is based on a best-selling Korean novel inspired by a true story, which has sold over 800,000 copies and was included in the 2021 White Ravens list by the International Youth Library in Munich.

After premiering in Toronto’s Centrepiece section, the film also been selected for the main competition section of this year’s Busan film festival and the competitive Anima’t section of Sitges film festival in Spain. 

“Even from just the 15-minute promo footage, we were deeply moved by the beauty of the film and the way it captures the world of the original story, by the endearing bond between the last rhino on Earth and a penguin, and by the kindness and strength that come through in its message of living for someone else. We immediately felt that this was a film we wanted to bring to audiences in Japan,” said Geek Pictures CEO Tamotsu Kosano.

Geek Pictures has also acquired Japanese rights to Dora, the third feature by director July Jung that premiered at this year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and has been invited to the Gala Presentation section of the Busan International Film Festival. Finecut has also sold the film to Light Year Images for Taiwan. 

Finecut’s Toronto slate also includes animated feature Guardians Of The Video Game and Japan filmmaker Takuya Miyahara’s horror-thriller Wash Away, which will have its world premiere in the Panorama section of Sitges Film Festival,