American entertainment company EST N8 has officially acquired worldwide sales rights for Pilgrims, a critically acclaimed Korean science-fiction animated feature. The film previously captured attention during its screening at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival and secured a technical award at the 2025 Bucheon International Animation Festival. International sales for the project were launched at the Asian Contents & Film Market during the Busan International Film Festival.
Adapted from Bestselling Sci-Fi Prose
The narrative is drawn from a short story featured in Choyeop Kim's widely celebrated collection If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light, which has surpassed 400,000 in sales. The plot centers on Sophie, a young woman living in a utopian enclave where emotional anguish has been completely eradicated. By mandate, all residents must spend a year on Earth upon turning 18. When Sophie experiences lingering memories of Daisy, a companion who vanished on Earth, she uncovers unsettling realities about her home society and confronts whether a pain-free existence holds true value without connection and love.
Directorial Vision and Cast
Pilgrims serves as the feature-length directorial debut of Pyoungkang Heo, who brings nearly two decades of production experience from the Japanese anime industry. Heo's background includes serving as series director for Netflix's Japan Sinks: 2020 and unit director on Masaaki Yuasa's celebrated feature Night is Short, Walk On Girl. The Korean voice cast features prominent actors Hyang-gi Kim, Ji-hu Park, and Joo-young Lee.
For EST N8—a distribution and financing entity formed by the merger of EST Studios and N8—Pilgrims represents the company's inaugural venture into animated feature films as it expands its global catalog of Asian cinema.
