Khumba, the second animated feature film to come out of Cape Town-based company Triggerfish, will compete in the Kids programme at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.
This will also be the film’s North American premiere following its world premiere in France, where Khumba was selected in competition at Annecy. Khumba’s African launch took place at the Durban International Film Festival in July.
Khumba follows the adventures of a young zebra born with only half his stripes. When his superstitious herd blame him for the sudden drought affecting the land, Khumba teams up with a sassy wildebeest and a flamboyant ostrich to find the legendary waterhole where the first zebras got their stripes. On his daring quest across the Great Karoo desert, Khumba meets a host of quirky characters and comes face-to-face with a tyrannical leopard in an epic battle to earn his stripes.
TIFF’s 38th edition runs from 5 to 15 September and continues to shine a spotlight on international children’s films. The festival line-up consists of five family-friendly titles from around the world representing a diverse range of cultural perspectives. Themes explored include courage, camaraderie, love and acceptance and are aimed at both young and young at heart festival goers.
The five films selected for TIFF Kids are: Amazonia (Thierry Ragobert, France/Brazil, North American Premiere), Antboy (Ask Hasselbalch, Denmark, World Premiere), Khumba (Anthony Silverston, South Africa, North American Premiere), The World of Goopi and Bagha (Shilpa Ranade, India, World Premiere), Zip and Zap and The Marble Gang (Oskar Santos, Spain, World Premiere).
Triggerfish’s first animated film Adventures in Zambezia has released successfully across the world and opened widely in France this week as Droles d’Oseaux. Last week the film won the Best Children’s Feature at Anima Mundi in Rio, Brazil. So far the film has been sold in 40 territories with some still to be confirmed at Toronto.
