IFC Films, a subsidiary of AMC Networks, has acquired North American rights to Memoir of a Snail, the latest stop-motion project from Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot. The animated drama will world premiere next month in the main feature film competition at Annecy.
Elliot is best known for his festival-fave Harvie Krumpet (2003), which won dozens of honors including the Academy Award for animated short. His first feature Mary and Max, which launched at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, was also distributed by IFC Films. IFC didn’t give the earlier film a U.S. theatrical release, which is a situation that hopefully changes for this film.
Here is the official synopsis for Memoir of a Snail:
In 1970s Australia, Grace’s life is troubled by misfortune and loss. After their mother dies during pregnancy, she and her twin brother, Gilbert, are raised by their paraplegic-alcoholic former juggler father, Percy. Despite a life filled with love, tragedy strikes anew when Percy passes away in his sleep. The siblings are forcibly separated and thrust into separate homes. Gilbert finds himself in the care of a cruel evangelical family, while Grace, grappling with intense loneliness, gradually withdraws into her shell, much like the snails she adopts. As the years pass, and despite new disappointments and sorrows, a glimmer of hope emerges when she strikes up an enduring friendship with an elderly eccentric woman called Pinky.
Voice cast features Sarah Snook, Eric Bana, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Dominique Pinon, Magda Szubanski, and Jacki Weaver.
In a statement to Deadline, which first reported the news of IFC’s acquisition, Elliot said:
It is an honor to be partnering with IFC again who truly understand indie cinema and in particular the unique requirements of handling stop motion animation. My films are personal and somewhat eccentric, yet I know IFC has the skill and nuance needed to deliver my stories to new and existing audiences. I am so thrilled they will be partnering to spread Grace’s melancholic tale to film lovers who like to laugh and cry at the same time.
