As the hand-drawn animated feature Kensuke’s Kingdom picks up the coveted Grand Prize – Audience Award at the 27^th New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF), Lupus Films and International Sales Agent Cinema Management Group (CMG), release a first-look trailer for the film.

The Grand Prize – Audience Award at NYICFF comes hot on the heels of the film’s success at the recent British Animation Awards on March 7th – where it was awarded Best Feature, the Writer’s Award for Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Best Original Music for composer Stuart Hancock.  The awards come following the film’s commercial success in France where the UK/Luxembourg/France co-production has so far taken US $2.7m at the box office with 350,000 admissions following its release February 7th.

Directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, Kensuke’s Kingdom is based on the best-selling novel by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse) and adapted for the screen by BAFTA Award nominee Frank Cottrell-Boyce (The Railway Man, Hilary and Jackie). It features the epic adventure of Michael, a young boy who sets off with his family on a sailing trip of a lifetime. Excitement turns to terror when a violent storm erupts and Michael and his dog, Stella, are swept overboard. They are washed up on to a remote island, frightened and struggling to survive. Michael soon discovers he is not alone when he is confronted by Kensuke, a mysterious Japanese man who has lived there, secretly, since World War Two and is angry that Michael has arrived. However, when poachers threaten their fragile island paradise and the animals that live there, Michael and Kensuke join forces to save their secret world.

The illustrious voice cast includes BAFTA and Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer, Inception) as Dad, BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Happy Go Lucky) as Mum, Raffey Cassidy (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Vox Lux) as Becky, Aaron MacGregor (Puffin Rock and the New Friends) as Michael and Academy Award nominee Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, The Last Samurai) as Kensuke.

Producer and co-founder of Lupus Films Camilla Deakin says

We are thrilled with the recent commercial and awards success for Kensuke’s Kingdom. The New York International Children’s Film Festival Audience Award is particularly special as it is voted for by an audience of children of all ages and their parents, proving that the film is an absolutely perfect viewing experience for the whole family.

Director Neil Boyle says:

All of us involved with the film get such a kick from watching it connect with audiences from all around the world. It’s rather lovely that a film which talks about making connections across different cultures and different generations is managing to do the same thing in the real world! We’re all very proud of it.

Cinema Management Group’s Edward Noeltner added:

This award is another feather in the cap for this highly esteemed and beautifully crafted animated feature. We are excited that Kensuke’s Kingdom is continuing to be recognized by audiences around the world.

The producers of Kensuke’s Kingdom are Emmy Award-winning producers and founders of animation studio Lupus Films, Camilla Deakin and Ruth Fielding, Academy Award nominee Stephan Roelants of Melusine Productions, co-founder of Working Title Sarah Radclyffe, Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning producer Barnaby Spurrier, award-winning producers Jean Labadie and Anne-Laure Labadie of Le Pacte, and Co-Founder and CEO of Align Adrian Politowski and Senior Vice President, Martin Metz.  Executive Producers are Nadia Khamlichi, Nessa McGill, Sierra Garcia, Bill Godfrey, Nick Miller, Tim Morris, Courtney Pledger, Sam Wright, Stephen Kelliher, Natascha Wharton, Kimberley Warner and Bizzy Day.

Kensuke’s Kingdom is presented by BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), FILM FUND LUXEMBOURG and ALIGN and is a LUPUS FILMS production in association with KENSUKE’S KINGDOM, JIGSAW FILMS, MELUSINE PRODUCTIONS, LE PACTE and BUMPYBOX, with the support of FFILM CYMRU WALES and WELSH GOVERNMENT via CREATIVE WALES.

International Sales Agent, CMG, will host several screenings of the film during the Marche du Film/Festival des Cannes in May.

Read Skwigly’s review of Kensuke’s Kingdom here