WATCH: GKIDS Releases North American Trailer for ‘Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles’

GKIDS, the American animation distributor that recently released Mamoru Hosoda’s Oscar-nominated Mirai, has released the official North American trailer for another of their recent acquisitions, the Spanish/Dutch co-pro Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles.

Last year, Cartoon Brew  wrote about the film and released an exclusive teaser.

Directed  by Salvador Simó, from a script that he wrote with Eligio R. Montero, the film is based on Fermín Solís’s graphic novel and follows famed Spanish auteur Luis Buñuel (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), as he embarked on a trip to Las Hurdes — an impoverished mountainous region in western Spain — to shoot a documentary that would eventually become Land Without Bread (1933). The animated feature includes live-action footage taken from said documentary.

This is Simó’s third feature following two cg animated films for Thailand-based The Monk Studio that were part of the Paddle Pop Adventures franchise.

Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles had its world premiere last October in Los Angeles at Animation Is Film Festival, where it won a special jury prize. Next month it will screen in competition at the Miami International Film Festival.

Here is the official synopsis:

In a stranger-than-fiction tale befitting the master surrealist filmmaker, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles tells the true story of how Buñuel made his second movie. Paris, 1930. Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel are main figures of the Surrealist movement, but Buñuel is left penniless after a scandal surrounding his first film L’Age d’Or. However, his good friend, the sculptor Ramón Acín, buys a lottery ticket with the promise that, if he wins, he will pay for his next film. Incredibly, luck is on their side, the ticket is a winner and so they set out to make the movie. Both a buddy adventure and fascinating episode of cinematic history, Buñuel and the Labyrinth of the Turtles utilizes sensitive performances as well as excerpts of Buñuel’s own footage from the production, to present a deeply affecting and humanistic portrait of an artist hunting for his purpose.

Although the film is scheduled to hit select theaters at some point this year, GKIDS has not set an official release date yet.

Production companies involved in the 80-minute film are Sygnatia, The Glow Animation Studio, Submarine, and Hampa.