Animated feature film (S)KiDS will world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market 2024 as part of the Midnight Specials program.
Set in 1993, (S)KiDS follows a group of disaffected teens navigating their last year of high school as they uncover a dark truth about their Principal. Featuring songs from the independent rock band Rare Americans, this 86-minute film is the first animated feature for Crooked City Studios and Solis Animation, in collaboration with Rare Americans.
Annecy’s Midnight Specials is a program where brash hand-picked and gutsy films are screened at night.
The film’s screenwriter-director Les Solis said, “Bringing (S)KiDS to life was a whirlwind two-year adventure. This 80+ minute punk rock musical was realised through the dedicated efforts of 20 talented artists who became dear friends. As we prepare for the world premiere at Annecy International Film Festival ’24, we reflect on current events, with protests erupting on college campuses worldwide, often met with brutal crackdowns. The story of (S)KiDS and its punk rock idealism debuts at a time when younger generations are more aware and empathetic than ever, challenging our moral courage to speak out.”
“(S)KiDS is my favourite recording experience in my career. When we started writing (S)KiDS two years ago, I knew it was a bold project to tackle. How many independent bands have you heard of making a feature-length animated punk rock musical?! The recording process was intense and, short of a better word, almost magical. We recorded 23 songs in less than three weeks, working 12 hours a day. We set up a makeshift studio at my brother’s house, stayed there, ate every meal together, and listened to the songs we just recorded as we ate. It was a collective effort by everyone to get this project over the finish line! I am so excited for our fans to see it at Annecy and around the world,” added Rare Americans frontman and (S)KiDS co-creator James Priestner.
“As an independently run studio ourselves, the story of being misunderstood outcasts rang true for both our camps. Having our world premiere at Annecy helps to assure us that maybe our little group of Canadian punk-rockers, in torn jeans and safety-pinned shirts, might actually belong somewhere. Maybe there are a lot more outcasts like us than we realise,” said the film’s animation director Lou Solis.
“We are extremely excited that (S)KiDS will world premiere at this year’s Annecy International Film Festival. It’s such a unique film that features entirely new songs by Rare Americans and showcases our animation, which is aesthetically different from a lot of styles currently out there. We’re really hoping that this labour of love will broaden our reach and continue to unlock more opportunities to welcome more people into this special community we’ve been building these last few years,” commented the film’s producer Leah Solis.
Annecy Film Festival is a global event dedicated to animation which will take place from 9 to 15 June. The festival’s International Animation Film Market (Mifa) will be held from 11 to 14 June 2024.
