EST N8 picks up Korean sci-fi animation Pilgrims for world sales
EST N8 has picked up worldwide sales rights to Pilgrims, a South Korean science-fiction animated feature, and will open international sales at Busan's Asian Contents & Film Market, as reported by Variety.
Worldwide sales means licensing the film territory by territory to cinemas, broadcasters and platforms. It is the first animated title for EST N8, a film financing, sales and distribution company.
The story follows grown children who set out on a pilgrimage. Not all of them come back, according to the Bucheon International Animation Festival.
Pilgrims is the first feature adapted from Kim Choyeop's collection If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light. The book is a bestseller in Korea, with 400,000 copies sold, as reported by Variety.
The film is directed by Heo Pyoungkang. It is his feature debut after close to 20 years working in the Japanese animation industry.
The voice cast is led by Kim Hyang-gi, Park Ji-hu and Lee Joo-young. Music comes from Hwang Soyoon, lead singer of the band Se So Neon.
Pilgrims has already travelled the festival circuit. It won the Technical Award at the 2025 Bucheon International Animation Festival and played in the Animated Thrills & Chills strand at the Annecy Animation Festival in France. Special Movie City released the film in Korean cinemas.
The sales deal was negotiated by Sophie Changhui Shi, head of studios at EST N8, with Hugh Cha, co-CEO of Desert Bloom Pictures, for producer 21 Studios, as reported by Variety.
The sales campaign will be run by Jan Paul Villanueva, executive vice president of acquisitions and global distribution, Cathy Ni, head of sales and US distribution, and Shams Pasha, global sales and marketing executive. Busan's Asian Contents & Film Market, held alongside the Busan International Film Festival, is where sellers meet distributors and streamers to close deals for different countries.
