{"id":876119,"date":"2026-10-09T08:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T08:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876119\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T08:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T08:50:08","slug":"annecy-sci-fi-animation-pilgrims-lands-at-est-n8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876119\/","title":{"rendered":"Annecy Sci-Fi Animation ‘Pilgrims’ lands at EST N8"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cPilgrims<\/a>,\u201d a Korean sci-fi animated feature that played Annecy and took a prize at Bucheon, has been picked up for worldwide sales by EST N8<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is the first animated title for the film financing, sales and distribution company.<\/p>\n

\n\tEST N8 will launch international sales on the film at the Busan International Film Festival<\/a>\u2018s Asian Contents & Film Market. Sophie Changhui Shi, head of studios at EST N8, negotiated the deal with Hugh Cha, co-CEO of Desert Bloom Pictures, who represented producer 21 Studios.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is the first feature adapted from Kim\u2019s bestselling collection \u201cIf We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light,\u201d which has sold 400,000 copies, and is based on one of its short stories. The story is set in an idyllic community where emotional suffering has been eliminated and where every resident, on turning 18, must spend a year on Earth. When Sophie starts to remember Daisy, a friend who went missing on Earth, she discovers troubling truths about the village and begins to wonder whether a painless existence is worth having if it comes without love.<\/p>\n

\n\tKim Hyang-gi (\u201cAlong with the Gods,\u201d \u201cInnocent Witness\u201d), Park Ji-hu (\u201cAll of Us Are Dead,\u201d \u201cConcrete Utopia\u201d) and Lee Joo-young (\u201cItaewon Class,\u201d \u201cBroker\u201d) lead the voice cast. Hwang Soyoon, lead singer of the band Se So Neon, wrote the music. Hwang\u2019s solo output includes \u201cSmoke Sprite,\u201d a collaboration with BTS member RM.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Pilgrims\u2019 asks a universal question through a distinctly Korean science-fiction story: Is a life without pain worth living if it also means a life without love?\u201d Shi said. \u201cThe film brings together Kim Choyeop\u2019s bestselling source material, Heo Pyoungkang\u2019s nearly two decades in Japanese animation, and a voice cast with internationally recognized credits. It represents exactly what EST N8 stands for: bringing bold, elevated Asian storytelling to global audiences, and we are thrilled to introduce it as our first animated feature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHeo makes a feature directing debut after close to 20 years in the Japanese animation industry. Heo\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes the Netflix series \u201cJapan Sinks: 2020,\u201d on which Heo was series director, and Yuasa Masaaki\u2019s \u201cThe Night Is Short, Walk on Girl,\u201d on which Heo directed a unit. We Hyun-song heads up character design. We\u2019s credits include \u201cInside Out 2,\u201d and We worked as a concept artist on \u201cKPop Demon Hunters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis film portrays the journey of those who willingly embrace pain to choose love,\u201d Heo said. \u201cI would describe it as a work that asks how we can accept this imperfect world we live in and learn to love one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t21 Studios is based in Seoul and develops and produces IP, with a focus on stories that move between film and television. The company is run by CEO Huh Kyubum, a former venture capitalist with Union Investment Partners who focused on investing in Korean content.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPilgrims\u201d picked up the Technical Award at the 2025 Bucheon International Animation Festival. It then played in the Animated Thrills & Chills strand at this year\u2019s Annecy Animation Festival before Special Movie City released it in Korean cinemas.<\/p>\n

\n\tHuh said the team set out to keep the emotional intimacy of Kim\u2019s story while building a world that feels cinematic. \u201cThe film\u2019s recognition at BIAF and selection at Annecy have shown that Sophie\u2019s choice can speak across cultures,\u201d Huh said. \u201cWe are pleased to partner with EST N8 to bring the film to international audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThree EST N8 executives will run the sales campaign and global release strategy: Jan Paul Villanueva, EVP of acquisitions and global distribution; Cathy Ni, head of sales and U.S. distribution; and Shams Pasha, global sales and marketing executive.<\/p>\n

\n\tEST N8\u2019s Busan market lineup also includes \u201cTame,\u201d the Thai horror debut from B-EST Pictures; \u201cMaster,\u201d the Rotterdam prizewinner from Rezwan Shahriar Sumit; Dean Colin Marcial\u2019s Manila-set crime thriller \u201cJaguar\u201d; the Taiwanese action film \u201cDead End\u201d from Chan Chun-hao; and Mariko Tetsuya\u2019s \u201cDear Stranger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe company was formed when EST Studios and N8 combined. It finances, sells and distributes Asian films worldwide, and also releases international titles across Asia. Its production and sales credits include the Oscar-shortlisted, Emmy-nominated \u201cHidden Letters,\u201d the Toronto selection \u201cK-Pops!\u201d and \u201cThe Monk and the Gun,\u201d Bhutan\u2019s Oscar submission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cPilgrims,\u201d a Korean sci-fi animated feature that played Annecy and took a prize at Bucheon, has been picked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[101724,43398,88,98807,206,337020],"class_list":["post-876119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-asian-contents-film-market","tag-busan-international-film-festival","tag-entertainment","tag-est-n8","tag-movies","tag-pilgrims"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}