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N LITE's 'Afro-Anime' Film MFINDA Reveals More Staff, Preview at Annecy

Multimedia company N LITE announced on Friday that it will unveil an in-depth first look at MFINDA "AFRIME," or "afro-anime," at this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The company also revealed that MAPPA's Masao Maruyama (In This Corner of the World, Tokyo Godfathers producer, Summer Wars planner) is producing MFINDA. Gisaburō Sugii (Touch, Jack to Mame no Ki, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie) is directing. U.S. animation producer and distributor GKIDS is a coproduction partner.

N LITE describes the story of MFINDA:

MFINDA tells the story of a young girl, Odi, who is transported into the past where she joins another young girl, Nasambi. They must venture into the MFINDA and confront evil spirits to reclaim the Nkisi if she has any hope of returning home.

Christiano Malik Terry, founder of N LITE, also leads N LITE Japan with Shin Koyamada (The Last Samurai, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior) and Shigeru Igari (former CEO of Atlus). N LITE is producing MFINDA in Japan. Donald H. Hewitt (Spirited Away's English screenplay) and MFINDA creator Patience Lekien are writing the screenplay. The production credits Lekien and Terry with the story.

N LITE aims to bring black and indigenous stories in partnership with global creators. AFRIME, or afro-anime, is its hand-drawn 2D animation. The company plans to produce AFRIME films and television series. N LITE Japan is working on upcoming projects based on anime and manga IP.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the new feature film by Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Eden of the East), will make its debut at Annecy.

The television anime of Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man manga is competing in the TV Films category. Specifically, the first episode is screening in competition. California-based studio Tonko House's Oni: Thunder God's Tale CGI animated series is also competing in the same category with the episode "The Demon Moon Rises."

Also from Japan, Liv&Bell and Mech Cadets are competing in the TV Films category. "Tongue" is competing in the Short Films category. Yuxin Gao's "Bottled Insects," Yuan Xu's "Sewing Love," and Masataka Kihara's "Tomoya!" are competing in the Graduation Films category.

There is also a work in progress by Shinei Animation's director Yōko Kuno and producer Keiichi Kondō, as well as Miyu Production's Julien De Man and Tanguy Olivier.

This year's Annecy will take place from June 11-17 in the French town of the same name.

Established in 1960, Annecy is the world's oldest and largest animation film festival.

Sources: Email correspondence, Annecy, Variety (Anna Marie de la Fuente)