Every year it seems there is a 2-D independent film that comes out of nowhere during awards season to snag an Oscar nomination. This year I think the most likely possibilities are April and the Extraordinary World and another European (French/Danish) film called Long Way North.

These chances look even stronger with the buzz the film is having on the festival circuit. At the end of March, Long Way North took the grand prize for a feature film at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival. To do this, it beat out 24 other films. Previous winners of this prize include Song of the Sea and Ari Folman’s The Congress.

Long Way North is directed by Rémi Chayé who worked as an assistant director for The Secret of the Kells. The film tells the story of a girl named Sasha, a young Russian aristocrat, who begins an adventure to find her grandfather who went missing on an expedition to the North Pole. It is being distributed by Shout! Factory and will be released in the US in fall of this year.

What do you think of Long Way North? Does it look appealing to you? At the very least, it is nice to see these type of films are still being made and given recognition such as this award.

Edited by: Kelly Conley