Phantom Boy

Lumière has added Peter Monsaert's debut feature Offline to its international sales line-up. Offline is the second title confirmed for the Benelux distributor's brand new world sales arm. At Cartoon Movie in Lyon, Lumière VP Annemie Degryse announced that international rights to the animated Phantom Boy would also be sold by the new sales agency.

Starring Wim Willaert and Anemone Valcke, Offline tells the story of Rudy, who after a seven-year prison sentence, returns to society. He has set himself two clear objectives: get back to work as a repairman, and – more importantly – become reconciled with the family he had left behind. But just when a reunion eventually comes within sight, the past gets the upper hand again, and Rudy has to take the toughest decision of his life. DOP is Ruben Impens while Alain Dessauvage is responsible for the editing. A theatrical release is set for this fall. Lumière's subsidiary Lunanime produced the film.

Ghent-based distributor Lumière is to launch an international sales division that will also operate under the Lumiere banner. A first title that the company is to sell internationally will be the animated Phantom Boy by the team responsible for the Oscar nominated A Cat In Paris. The news was announced by Lumière's vice president Annemie Degryse at Cartoon Movie in Lyon (7-9 March).

The first in the new division's sales catalogue is Phantom Boy, the new animated feature by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, the directors team behind the Oscar nominated A Cat in Paris. Their new film will be co-produced by Lumiere’s production branch Lunanime. Phantom Boy is about an 11-year-old boy in a hospital who can fly over the city and pass through walls like a phantom, using his powers to help a wheelchair-bound police officer hunt down a mob kingpin. The film will be made as a mix of traditional 2D animation on paper and computer painting.