EST N8 has acquired worldwide sales rights to Pilgrims, a Korean science-fiction animated feature — the American entertainment company’s first animated feature acquisition, announced October 8.
Pilgrims (Credits: EST N8)
Pilgrims already carries serious festival pedigree: it screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and won a technical award at the 2025 Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF). EST N8 launched international sales at the Asian Contents & Film Market during the Busan International Film Festival, held October 10–13.
A Pain-Free World, a Forbidden Memory
The film adapts a short story from Choyeop Kim’s bestselling collection If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light, which has sold 400,000 copies. The story follows Sophie, a resident of an idyllic community where emotional suffering has been eliminated — and where everyone must spend a year on Earth upon turning 18.
When Sophie begins remembering Daisy, a friend who disappeared on Earth, she uncovers troubling truths about her village and is forced to ask the film’s central question: is a life without pain worth living without love?
A Debut 20 Years in the Making
Pilgrims marks the feature directorial debut of Pyoungkang Heo, who spent nearly two decades working in the Japanese animation industry. His credits include serving as series director on Netflix’s Japan Sinks: 2020 and unit director on Night is Short, Walk On Girl.
The voice cast features Hyang-gi Kim, Ji-hu Park, and Joo-young Lee. EST N8 — formed from the combination of EST Studios and N8 — specializes in financing, sales, and distribution of Asian films worldwide, and Pilgrims puts Korean animation squarely on its slate.
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Source: Anime News Network — read the full story there.
