Ahead of the world premiere of (S)KiDS at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Thursday, June 13, we have the exclusive first look at the trailer for Crooked City Studios and Solis Animation’s first animated feature film.
Watch it below:
Set in 1993 during a period of punk rock idealism in Edmonton, Canada, (S)KiDS uses animation set to a soundtrack of new songs by Vancouver-based band, Rare Americans, to tell the story of a group of disaffected high school seniors questioning the truth surrounding their principal.
“As we prepare for the world premiere at Annecy, we reflect on current events, with protests erupting on college campuses worldwide, often met with brutal crackdowns,” (S)KiDS director and screenwriter Leslie Solis said. “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.”
The film was a two year passion project for Solis, animation director Louis Solis, and producer Leah Solis. Together, the three siblings run Crooked City Studios alongside Rare Americans’ band founders James Priestner and Jared Priestner. The partnership between the animation producers and the band launched in 2019 when the Solis trio began a series of music videos for the band that became wildly successful online. The animation for (S)KiDS was produced by Toronto-based Solis Animation.
(S)KiDS was entirely self-funded and produced on a budget of $1.12 million USD.
Describing how they brought the punk rock opera to life, the team shared:
(S)KiDS was born out of a collaboration with independent band Rare Americans. 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 realize.
Working with the band Rare Americans, who recorded 23 songs for the film in less than three weeks, animation director Lou Solis tells Cartoon Brew, “We knew the key was letting the energy of each unique song drive the feeling of the visuals. The band’s raw and earnest emotion dictated the same from the hand-drawn style and acting.”
And the visual spirit stems from director Les Solis’s unique blend of influence from manga artists like Taiyo Matsumoto (Tekkonkinkreet), contemporary animators like Robert Valley (Gorillaz, Pear Cider and Cigarettes), and classic 1990s comic artists like Alan Davis (Excalibur).
(S)KiDS will world premiere at Annecy on Thursday, June 13, at 10:30 pm at the Bonlieu’s Petite Salle theater. A second Annecy screening will follow on Friday, June 14, at 10:30 pm at the Cinéma Pathé.
