Festivals - Animation is Film 2021 :  The summit of Gods

By Mulder, Los Angeles, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, 22 october 2021

Animation is film (AIF) is taking place in-person October 22-24 and returns to its home at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood.   The festival kicks off Opening Night on Friday, October 22 with the North American premiere of the highly anticipated Netflix feature, The Summit Of The Gods, followed by an in-person Q&A with award-winning director Patrick Imbert (The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales).  On Saturday, October 23, the Centerpiece film features the West Coast Premiere of GKIDS’ Belle, directed by Oscar® nominee Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai) who will also do an in-person Q & A following the premiere. The West Coast Premiere of NEON’s award-winning Flee, directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, will close the festival Sunday, October 24.  
 
Since 2009, GKids have scored thirteen Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations with The secret of kells (2009), A cat in paris (2011) Chico and Rita (2011), Ernest & Celestine (2013), Song of the sea (2014), The tale of the princess kaguya (2014), Boy and the world (2015), When Marnie was there (2015), My life as a zucchini (2016), the breadwinner (2017), Revolting rhymes (2017), Mirai (2018), and Wolfwalkers (2020).     
 

Animation Is Film alumnus, Patrick Imbert (AIF ’17, The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales) returns with the Opening Night selection The Summit Of The Gods (Le Sommet des Dieux) based on the manga by Jirô Taniguchi and Baku Yumemakura. Seventy years after George Mallory and Andrew Irvine climbed to the top of Mt. Everest, an old Kodak camera, allegedly belonging to Mallory, winds up in the hands of an outcast climber believed missing for years. Obsessed with proving its authenticity, a Japanese reporter enters a world of obsessive mountaineers hungry for impossible conquests on a journey that leads him, step by step, toward the summit of the gods.

The Summit of the Gods is a French-Luxembourg animation film directed by Patrick Imbert, released in 2021. It is the adaptation of the manga The Summit of the Gods by Jirō Taniguchi, based on the novel by Baku Yumemakura. During the Opening Night red carpet we had the opportunity to interview the french director Patrick Imbert

You can discover our interview here :

Synopsis: 
In Kathmandu, the Japanese reporter Fukamachi believes he recognizes Habu Jôji, the mountaineer who was thought to have disappeared years ago. He seems to hold in his hands a camera that could change the history of mountaineering. What if George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were the first men to have reached the summit of Everest on June 8, 1924? Only the little Kodak Vest Pocket with which they were to photograph themselves on the roof of the world could deliver the truth. 70 years later, in an attempt to solve this mystery, Fukamachi sets out on Habu's trail. He discovers a world of enthusiasts thirsting for impossible conquests and decides to accompany him on the ultimate journey to the summit of the gods.

The Summit of the Gods
Directed by Patrick Imbert
Produced by Jean-Charles Ostorero, Didier Brunner, Damien Brunner, Stephan Roelants
Written by Patrick Imbert, Jean-Charles Ostoréro et Magali Pouzol
Music by Amine Bouhafa
Edited by Benjamin Massoubre et Camillelvis Théry
Production companies : Julianne Films, Folivari, Melusine Productions
Distributed by wild Bunch Distribution (France), Netflix (United States)
Release date : July 10, 2021 (Festival de Cannes 2021), September 22, 2021 (France), November30, 2021 (United States)
Running time : 90 minutes

Photos and video : Nicole and Zoe St John / Mulderville

(Source : press release)