Animated sci-fi feature Wilderness of the Greenriver seeks partners in Taipei

An animated feature set in a future where people erase their own memories is looking for backers this week. The project, Wilderness of the Greenriver, is being presented at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei, which runs from 6 to 9 November at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Variety reported.

The team is seeking co-production partners in Asia, animation studios, and distributors and sales companies. A co-production partner is a company that shares the cost and creative work of a film in return for a share of its rights and income.

The film is the feature debut of Ellis Kayin Chan, a Hong Kong director who is based in Barcelona. He is a Gobelins graduate, the animation school in Paris, and was animation supervisor on Lost in Starlight, which Netflix describes as its first Korean animated feature. His short films include Monsoon Blue and Bluebird in the Wind.

The story follows a young therapist who treats a woman living in a future where emotional peace is kept through voluntary memory erasure. The film is a 2D sci-fi story about grief and loss, and it deals with what people choose to forget and what it costs them.

The producer is Eddy Cinéma, a Paris-based company. Its founding member Nicolas de Rosanbo is executive producer. The company also co-produced Iron Boy, the hand-painted animated feature by Louis Clichy, a Pixar animator, which won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes.

The project has already drawn support and prizes. A three-minute proof of concept was made with help from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. In 2025 it won the top award at the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion in Taipei, a market for early-stage projects, and the prize was a TWD 1 million Grand Prize, according to Taiwan's Creative Content Agency. At the Annecy festival in France, it also won awards from Ciclic, SACD and Titra in the feature pitches, and it was selected for the 2026 MIFA Pitches.

The timetable is set out in stages. Chan is developing the film into a screenplay with writer Clément Roussier, with completion targeted for early 2027. Storyboard, casting and editing are targeted for completion by early 2028, with animation planned for 2028 and 2029. The team is aiming for a theatrical release in 2030.

Pitch events like TCCF and Annecy are where many independent animated films find money and partners long before any footage is shown to the public. Nothing in the timetable is fixed, and the team's plans will depend on the partners it signs up in Taipei and beyond.