Oscar-winning Australian stop-motion animator Adam Elliot’s new feature Memoir of a Snail is coming out of its shell, with IFC Films announcing it will release the film in the U.S. in select theaters on October 25, with a wider expansion in November. The film made its premieres after a decade in production at the Annecy Festival in June, where it won the prestigious Cristal award, and was selected as the Opening Film of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Synopsis: 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.
Produced by Arena Media with the support of Screen Australia, Memoir of a Snail is written and directed by Elliot — his second feature film after Mary and Max, another Annecy Cristal winner. The filmmaker who grew up on a shrimp farm in southern Australia won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film with Harvie Krumpet. His shorts Ernie Biscuit, Brother, Uncle and Cousin have also screened at festivals around the world.
Memoir of a Snail voice stars Sarah Snook (Succession, Koala Man), Eric Bana (Dirty John, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook, Back to the Outback), Kodi Smit-McPhee (X-Men films, ParaNorman), Dominique Pinon (Outlander, White Fang) and Magda Szubanski (Kath & Kim, 100% Wolf). The film’s music is composed by Elena Kats-Chernin (The Divorce), who previously contributed to the Mary & Max soundtrack. Producers are Liz Kearny and Elliot.
Charades handles international sales.
[Source: Variety]
