13/03/2014 - Launched in the Generation Kplus sidebar at the Berlinale, Esben Toft Jakobsen’s second fully-animated feature has been licensed to North America – before the Danish premiere

Danish director Esben Toft Jakobsen’s Beyond Beyond [+see also:
trailer
film profile]– his second fully-animated kidpic scripted with Jannik Tai Mosholt, which was world-premiered in the Generation Kplus sidebar at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival – has been licensed to Grindstone Entertainment for North America, where it will be released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

“The unique characters, the wonderful animation style and the moving story will touch the children and their families’ hearts,” said Grindstone acquisition chief, Stan Wertlieb.  “The best US platform we could have wished for,” added CEO Sarita Christensen, of Danish production company, Copenhagen Bombay.

Copenhagen Bombay, which will also release the film domestically on 10 April through its Danish distribution shingle, has also sold the film to another 20 territories through its international sales branch, including Sweden (Noble Entertainment), France (Gebeka Films), Russia (Premium Film), India and the Middle East (Krisco).

Produced by Petter Lindblad for Sweden’s CB Sverige and Christensen for Copenhagen Bombay, Beyond Beyond is the story of Johan and his father, who have lived at sea for as long as Johan can remember - or since his mother was abducted, when he was three. He likes the ship, which has a greenhouse and fishing nets.

One day while alone on the boat, he receives a distress call on the radio about his mother's whereabouts. “I wanted to create an adventure in the spirit of the classic fairy tales, with exciting, funny and touching scenes in an amazing world, giving the viewers the opportunity to recognize their own worries and wishes,” Jakobsen explained.

Since graduating from the Danish National Film School in 2006, he has been working for Christensen’s Copenhagen Bombay production company, established the same year. His feature debut, The Great Bear [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2011), also written with Mosholt, competed in Generation Kplus and was later  awarded in Chicago, Buenos Aires and Bilbao.