Cannes, Annecy-Winning ‘Iron Boy’ Producer Eddy Cinema Backs Memory-Erasure Animation ‘Wilderness of the Greenriver’ at Taiwan Creative Content Fest — SkimNews
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- Ellis Kayin Chan, the Barcelona-based Hong Kong director and Gobelins graduate, is directing his first animated feature, “Wilderness of the Greenriver,” in which Arin, a man with no memory of his past, learns patient Zia is the sister he lost and must choose between upholding a system that wipes painful memories and embracing his own humanity; Chan supervised animation on Netflix’s “Lost in Starlight” and has worked for Burberry and Balenciaga.
- Wilderness of the Greenriver grew out of Chan’s own loss: his sister died by suicide, and he says “Pain is not the enemy of being human – forgetting is.” He adds the film does not romanticize suffering, asking what else is erased if pain is removed in order to survive.
- Hong Kong Arts Development Council supported a three-minute proof of concept for the project, which took the top award at Taipei’s 2025 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, with the prize money going toward writing and development.
- Annecy — the feature pitch picked up awards from Ciclic, SACD and Titra this year, extending a run of honors that began with the Golden Horse project prize.
- Iron Boy, co-produced by Eddy Cinéma, won a Special Jury Prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and both the jury and audience awards at Annecy this year; the Paris company, which has worked with Chan since he left Gobelins, is backing his first feature with founding member Nicolas de Rosanbo as executive producer.
- Clément Roussier is co-writing the screenplay with Chan, targeted for completion in early 2027; storyboard, casting and editing are slated to wrap by early 2028, animation runs from 2028 into 2029, and a theatrical release is planned for 2030.
- Eddy Cinéma calls the film a hopeful story about family and the ethics of technology with appeal to family audiences and arthouse viewers, says it sees strong market potential in Europe and Asia, and is using Taipei — where TAICCA runs the festival Nov. 6–9 — to seek co-production partners in Asia, animation studios, and distributors and sales companies.
Why it matters: Eddy Cinéma is building toward a five-year runway: script by early 2027, animation in 2028–29, theatrical release in 2030, with 2025 Golden Horse prize money already funding writing and development. The Taipei trip is about locking in Asian co-production partners, animation studios and distributors before that schedule begins.
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