s quality standards . the specific problem is the links in the lead section should be moved into the article please help improve this article if you can . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message gkids type privately held industry film distribution animation founded 2008 founder eric beckman headquarters new york city united states products motion pictures website gkidsfilms.com gkids guerrilla kids international distribution syndicate is an american film distributor based in new york with a focus on sophisticated indie animation . 1 gkids uses a bespoke distribution method to release critically acclaimed 2 hand drawn 3 international 1 films such as the works of renowned japanese animator hayao miyazaki 4 to north american audiences . the company has gained prominence since 2010 by garnering a series of academy award nominations for little known underdog films 5 beating out big budget american films such as the lego movie and the peanuts movie . 6 contents 1 history 2 style and reception 3 films distributed by gkids 4 awards and nominations 4.1 academy awards 5 references 6 external links history edit gkids was founded in 2008 by eric beckman who previously co founded and ran the new york international children s film festival with his partner emily shapiro . 7 8 their first general release was azur & asmar a french film dubbed in english for british and irish audiences . my neighbor totoro is in the studio ghibli collection distributed by gkids . the company attained national recognition with the 2010 release of the secret of kells 9 the debut film by irish animator tomm moore which received a nomination for best animated feature at the 82nd academy awards . 10 this surprise nomination was followed by two more best animated feature nominations at the 84th academy awards spanish language chico and rita and french language a cat in paris . 11 both nominations were considered highly surprising by film insiders 12 13 beating out such notables as the adventures of tintin and cars 2 the first eligible pixar film not to be nominated since the category s founding . 14 this marked the first time that an independent distributor had two films in the best animated feature category in the same year 15 a decision which puss in boots director chris miller said indicated the academy s respect for diversity . 16 in september 2011 gkids announced the acquisition of the north american theatrical distribution rights to the studio ghibli library that were previously held by walt disney studios motion pictures . 17 walt disney studios home entertainment however retained the home media distribution rights . 17 gkids has since also managed the north american distribution of two new studio ghibli films from up on poppy hill in 2013 18 and the tale of princess kaguya in 2014 . 19 gkids received three more oscar nominations in 2014 and 2015 with ernest & celestine 20 song of the sea and the tale of the princess kaguya . 21 these latter two films beat out the lego movie widely considered to be the frontrunner for the award . 22 23 24 gkids has since released four new films in 2015 of which when marnie was there kahlil gibran s the prophet and boy & the world were in the running for best animated feature at the 88th academy awards but lost out to pixar s inside out . 25 style and reception edit while films distributed by gkids span a wide range of nationalities languages and animation styles the distributor focuses almost exclusively on handmade mostly auteur driven animated movies created by individual animators working with small teams . 26 founder eric beckman has described their films as counter programming to the predominance of expensive to produce expensive to distribute animated films primarily made using cgi embodied by kung fu panda 2 or puss in boots . 26 to this end the company relies heavily on critical reception and accolades to attract audiences rather than big budget marketing campaigns . beckman has said of the academy awards the oscars are the great equalizer . you don t have to spend millions to reach millions you look to a smaller group of people who know and like film ... but you ve got to start with something super . 27 as a result of this focus on artful stylistically distinct animation gkids has been widely hailed by critics and animation insiders as a welcome complement to the standard hollywood fare . various sources have referred to gkids as the saints of independent animation 28 one of the most notable independent distribution companies in the us 29 and the country s best distributor for traditional hand drawn animation . 3 industry magazine film journal international said of the company s track record the reason gkids films keep getting nominated despite the company s low relative to disney dreamworks et . al. profile is that simply put their films tend to be really good . 30 sita sings the blues was one of the best reviewed films of 2009 . two films in gkids s collection have a perfect 100 % fresh rating on review aggregator site rotten tomatoes the tale of princess kaguya with 80 positive reviews 31 and sita sings the blues with 32 positive reviews . 32 this latter film combining stylistic elements of rajput painting shadow puppets vector graphic animation and squigglevision was selected by chicago sun times reviewer roger ebert for his annual ebertfest calling it one of the year s best films 33 i was enchanted . i was swept away . i was smiling from one end of the film to the other . it is astonishingly original . it brings together four entirely separate elements and combines them into a great whimsical chord . ... to get any film made is a miracle . to conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle . roger ebert roger ebert s journal 34 films distributed by gkids edit us title original title us release rotten tomatoes score tahaan 35 tahaan 000000002008 09 05 0000september 5 2008 no reviews azur & asmar azur et asmar 000000002008 10 17 0000october 17 2008 new york 000000002008 11 27 0000november 27 2008 80 % 36 sita sings the blues sita sings the blues 000000002009 12 25 0000december 25 2009 new york 37 38 100 % 32 secret of kells thethe secret of kells secret of kells thethe secret of kells 000000002010 03 05 0000march 5 2010 new york 000000002010 03 19 0000march 19 2010 39 91 % 32 west of pluto l ouest de pluton 000000002010 03 26 0000march 26 2010 40 no reviews summer wars sam w zu 000000002010 12 03 0000december 3 2010 41 76 % 42 eleanor s secret k rity la maison des contes 000000002011 01 21 0000january 21 2011 37 no reviews mia and the migoo mia et le migou 000000002011 03 25 0000march 25 2011 new york 000000002011 04 22 0000april 22 2011 43 38 % 44 studio ghibli collection thethe studio ghibli collection nausica of the valley of the wind castle in the sky my neighbor totoro kiki s delivery service only yesterday porco rosso ocean waves pom poko whisper of the heart princess mononoke my neighbors the yamadas spirited away the cat returns studio ghibli collection thethe studio ghibli collection kaze no tani no naushika tenk no shiro rapyuta tonari no totoro majo no takky bin omohide poroporo kurenai no buta umi ga kikoeru heisei tanuki gassen pon poko mimi o sumaseba mononoke hime h hokekyo tonari no yamada kun sen to chihiro no kamikakushi neko no ongaeshi 000000002011 12 16 0000december 16 2011 45 87 % 46 95 % 47 93 % 48 96 % 49 100 % 50 94 % 51 no reviews 78 % 52 91 % 53 92 % 54 75 % 55 97 % 56 89 % 57 chico & rita chico & rita 000000002012 02 10 0000february 10 2012 new york 000000002012 02 17 0000february 17 2012 58 86 % 59 cat in paris aa cat in paris une vie de chat 000000002012 06 01 0000june 1 2012 60 82 % 61 tales of the night contes de la nuit lesles contes de la nuit 000000002012 09 26 0000september 26 2012 62 78 % 63 the rabbi s cat le chat du rabbin 000000002012 12 07 0000december 7 2012 new york 64 000000002 013 01 04 0000january 4 2013 65 94 % 66 approved for adoption couleur de peau miel 000000002013 02 08 0000february 8 2013 new york no reviews wrinkles arrugas 000000002013 02 08 0000february 8 2013 67 96 % 68 letter to momo aa letter to momo momo e no tegami 000000002013 02 10 0000february 10 2013 69 79 % 70 ernest & celestine 71 ernest et c lestine 000000002013 02 27 0000february 27 2013 97 % 72 from up on poppy hill kokuriko zaka kara 000000002013 03 15 0000march 15 2013 73 83 % 74 painting thethe painting tableau lele tableau 000000002013 05 10 0000may 10 2013 75 82 % 76 grave of the fireflies hotaru no haka 000000002013 11 09 0000november 9 2013 77 97 % 78 patema inverted sakasama no patema 000000002014 08 29 0000august 29 2014 79 % 79 nocturna nocturna la nuit magique 000000002014 09 04 0000september 4 2014 no reviews welcome to the space show uch show e y koso 000000002014 10 14 0000october 14 2014 no reviews the tale of the princess kaguya kaguya hime no monogatari 000000002014 10 17 0000october 17 2014 100 % 31 song of the sea 80 song of the sea 000000002014 12 19 0000december 19 2014 99 % 81 when marnie was there omoide no marnie 000000002015 05 22 0000may 22 2015 90 % 82 zarafa 83 zarafa 000000002015 07 03 0000july 3 2015 76 % 84 kahlil gibran s the prophet kahlil gibran s the prophet 000000002015 08 07 0000august 7 2015 70 % 85 boy & the world 86 o menino e o mundo december 11 2015 94 % 87 april and the extraordinary world 88 avril et le monde truqu march 25 2016 98 % 89 miss hokusai 90 sarusuberi october 14 2016 the breadwinner 91 the breadwinner summer 2017 the company also tours selections of short and feature films screened at nyicff across the country . in mid 2009 the live action features tahaan and west of pluto l ouest de pluton were licensed for potential general releases but plans for both were dropped by late 2011 in favour of a focus on animation . 92 awards and nominations edit academy awards edit year nominee work award result ref . 2009 the secret of kells best animated feature nominated 93 2011 a cat in paris nominated 94 chico and rita nominated 2013 ernest & celestine nominated 95 2014 song of the sea nominated 96 the tale of the princess kaguya nominated 2015 boy & the world nominated 97 when marnie was there nominated references edit a b rebecca keegan 2012 11 14 . gkids winning pitch as the go to market for foreign animated films latimes . articles.latimes.com . retrieved 2016 09 16 . terry flores 2015 02 12 . gkids on a roll with six oscar nommed animated films in five years . variety . retrieved 2016 09 16 . a b watch the power and beauty of hand drawn animation in less than 2 minutes . vox . retrieved 2016 09 16 . gkids picks up studio ghibli s only yesterday animation world network . awn.com . 2015 08 24 . retrieved 2016 09 16 . bond strategy and influence . bondinfluence.com . retrieved 2016 09 16 . carolyn giardina 2015 01 15 . oscars indie distributor gkids pushes into animated feature race with two noms . hollywood reporter . retrieved 2016 09 16 . about us . gkids.tv . gkids . february 2008 . archived from the original on