06/12/2026
Gebeka Films has acquired French distribution rights to Oscar-nominated filmmaker Louise Bagnall’s animated feature Julián ahead of its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival later this month.
The picture is produced by Aircraft Pictures and five-time Academy Award-nominated Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon , the award-winning animation production house behind The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers and The Breadwinner.
Adapted from Jessica Love’s 2014 bestselling children’s book Julián Is a Mermaid, the film revolves seven-year-old Julián who spends the summer with a grandmother he barely knows. He is amazed to discover her treasure-trove apartment, his own Caribbean heritage and the surroundong lively Brooklyn community. But most surprising of all, Julián discovers that he is a mermaid.
