Tricoast Boards ‘Kayak To Klemtu’; Russia’s ‘Unforgiven’ Gets New Trailer; Laika’s ‘Missing Link’ Adds Cast – Cannes

EXCLUSIVE: Tricoast Worldwide has boarded sales on Zoe Hopkins’ family adventure drama Kayak To Klemtu. The debut feature screens in the market on May 12. Hopkins is a Canadian Heiltsuk/Mohawk filmmaker who co-wrote the picture with Michael Sparaga. The story follows 14-year-old Ella (Ta’kaiya Blaney) on a journey to fulfill her Uncle David’s (Evan Adams) dying wish — to kayak to the remote island of Klemtu and to testify to protect their ancestral land from an oil pipeline. Ella is prepared for the hardships of the trip, but her biggest challenge will be with the mercurial family members who accompany her on the adventure. The movie has played several festivals already and won the Best Canadian First Feature at the Victoria Film Festival. Producers are Sheryl Kotzer and Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films.

EXCLUSIVE: Big Cinema, Lon Haber & Co and Planeta Inform are presenting Russian revenge thriller Unforgiven in the market here. Starring Dmitriy Nagiev, it’s based on real events and had its premiere at the Moscow Film Festival last month. Having lost his entire family in a mysterious plane crash, and on the brink of giving up on life, Vitaly Kaloyev (Nagiev) finds himself with a desire for revenge, which becomes his motivation for living. Check out the trailer below. Producers are Sarik and Gevond Andreasyan and Armen Ananikyan. Lon Haber & Co is handling sales for the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. Planeta Inform is representing all other territories.

Laika’s latest animated offering, now titled Missing Link, has added cast including Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Timothy Olyphant, Matt Lucas and David Walliams. They join the already announced Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis. Annapurna previously made a deal for U.S. rights with a release set for spring 2019; Stuart Ford’s AGC International is handling offshore sales here in Cannes. Chris Butler directs the story of charismatic Sir Lionel Frost (Jackman) who considers himself to be the world’s foremost investigator of myths and monsters, but his small-minded high-society peers don’t recognize this. His last chance for acceptance by the adventuring elite rests on traveling to America’s Pacific Northwest to prove the existence of a legendary creature. A living remnant of Man’s primitive ancestry. The Missing Link.

Film Mode Entertainment is expanding into North American distribution with the release of two new horror/thriller features, The Harrowing and Mad Genius. The former stars Michael Ironside, Matthew Tompkins and Arnold Vosloo and is written and directed by Jon Keeyes (American Nightmare, Fall Down Dead). The film has already played a number of festivals, picking up prizes along the way. It follows a vice detective wrongly accused of the ritualistic murder of his best friend. Bent on finding the truth, he goes undercover and uncovers the real story behind a demonic myth. Royce Gorsuch’s feature debut Mad Genius, a 2017 Fright Fest selection, will be available on demand and VOD July 3 in the U.S. Spencer Locke and Faran Tahir star in the story that’s set in the world of bio-hacking. Film Mode is handling international rights on both pictures.

Here’s the Unforgiven trailer: