EXCLUSIVE: South Korea’s Barunson E&A has sold fantasy animated feature Gill to key territories in Europe and Asia, while a fresh voice cast of local stars have stepped to in re-record the dialogue.
The film has been acquired for German-speaking Europe (Wild Bunch Germany), Japan (KDDI), CIS (Deep Ent), Mongolia (Filmbridge), Taiwan (Cola Films) and airlines (Kairos Distribution). It is set for a local release in Korean cinemas on September 9.
Directed by Ahn Jae-huun, Gill premiered in competition at Annecy in 2024 before going on a long festival run that included Bucheon International Animation Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival and London Frightfest.
Ahead of its local release, the feature has been re-voiced by a cast of acclaimed Korean stars.
They include Jung Hae-in of Cannes 2024 thriller I, The Executioner and Netflix series D.P., who will play the leading role of Gon. The cast is further led by Kang Ha-neul of last year’s box office hit Yadang: The Snitch and Netflix series Squid Game; and Lee Chung-ah from recent series Honour and features including The Good, The Bad, The Weird. Yoo Chea-myung and Kim Sun-young round out the voice cast.
The story follows a young man and his grandfather who rescue a mysterious boy from the side of a river and discover he has gills and shimmering scales. The boy is welcomed into their family where he is named Gon, but when an accident exposes his identity, he is forced to leave.
It is based on a 2011 novel by Gu Byeong-mo, whose 2022 novel The Old Woman With The Knife was adapted into a feature that premiered at the Berlinale in 2025 before screening at Busan later that year.
Gill marks the latest animated feature of acclaimed director Ahn, who won a special jury award at Annecy in 2020 with The Shaman Sorceress and has further credits including Green Days, The Road Called Life and The Shower.
Written by Ahn, Kim Joo-An and Seo Hae-in, the feature is produced by leading independent Korean animation studio Meditation With A Pencil and co-produced by Namu Animation.
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