IFC Ent. has picked up North American distribution rights to the animated French feature Peur(s) du noir (Fear(s) of the Dark), according to The Hollywood Reporter. Employing drawings from six world renown comic-book artists and cartoonists to explore the world of nightmares, the pic made its world premiere in October at the second annual Rome Film Festival and later played Sundance.
Produced predominantly in black-and-white, Fear(s) examines childhood terrors as recalled by a diverse group of artists made up of The New Yorker contributors Richard McGuire and Lorenzo Mattotti, Strasbourg-born Blutch (Christian Hinker), American illustrator Charles Burns, and France’s Marie Caillou and Pierre Di Sciullo. Canal Plus art director Etienne Robial served as artistic director on the project.
Fear(s) of the Dark is produced by Valerie Schermann and Christophe Jankovic’s Prima Linea Prods. (U, Alice in the City) and Celluloid Dreams is handling sales. Diaphana Distribution put the pic out in France in February.
IFC, which has branched out from its Independent Film Channel cable offering to handle theatrical distribution, hasn’t yet set a North American release date for the animated film. All that’s known at this point is that it will make its U.S. premiere this Saturday in the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema showcase at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
