PARIS -- "Approved for Adoption," one of the standout projects at Gallic film mart Paris Project, has been picked up for international distribution by Paris-based sales company Wide Management.
Budgeted at $5.14 million (€3.7 million), the docu-toon is co-directed by Belgian-Korean comicbook artist Jung and French helmer Laurent Boileau. It is produced by Thomas Schmitt ("Her Name Is Sabine") for Mosaique Films and co-produced by Belgium's Artemis Productions.
Wide founder Loic Magneron said the company is in talks to ink an all-rights distribution deals with U.S. and Canadian buyers.
Nabbed by Cineart for Benelux distribution, docu was pitched at the Franco-Korean Co-Production workshop hosted by Paris Project, which wraps Thursday.
Schmitt is looking for a Korean co-producer to take advantage of the French-Korean co-production agreement.
Film follows 40-year-old Jung as he returns to Seoul for the first time since he was abandoned at the age of 5. The animated parts illustrate Jung's memories of growing-up in Belgium with his adopted parents.
"Some people have described the film as a Korean 'Persepolis,'" said Schmitt. "As in 'Persepolis,' the narrator uses animation to share sweet and sour memories of his childhood and adolescence."
"Adoption" is skedded for a 2011 release.
Other Wide pickups include Seyfi Teoman's "Summer Book," which opened in the Berlin Film Festival's Forum section and is screening at Paris Cinema Intl. Film Festival as part of the spotlight on Turkish cinema.
Wide has also sold two pics to Japan's Fine Films: Erotic drama "Albakiara," directed by Stefano Salvati, and coming-of-age drama "Misbehavior," helmed by Michel Zgarka.
Christian Poveda's docu "La Vida Loca," a chronicle of juvenile violence in Salvador, has been acquired by Switzerland-based company Ascot-Elite for all-right distrib in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com