Wildwood  has been set as the closing night film for the Animation Is Film Festival, which runs Oct. 16-19 in Los Angeles.

Laika's animated epic will screen Oct. 19 at the Academy Museum's Geffen Theater. Following the screening,  Wildwood  director and Laika president and CEO Travis Knight will hold a conversation with filmmaker Jason Reitman.

 Wildwood  follows headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) on a desperate mission to rescue her brother after he is abducted by a murder of crows. Her rescue takes her into the Impassable Wilderness, an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon. Joining Prue is her classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), and the two enter a world of talking animals, bandits and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition. As the pair is drawn into a conflict threatening the balance of the forest itself, Prue must find a way to save her brother while confronting forces that could determine Wildwood's future.

The cast also features Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits and Richard E. Grant.

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Directed and produced by Knight,  Wildwood  opens in theaters on Oct. 23. Fathom Entertainment is distributing the film theatrically in the United States, with FilmNation Entertainment handling international sales. The film is inspired by Colin Meloy's 2011 novel of the same name and illustrated by Carson Ellis in Laika's classic stop-motion style. The production took 15 years to complete and is Laika's most ambitious project to date.

 Each year, Animation Is Film returns to Hollywood to champion the notion that animation, as an art

form, repeatedly redefines what we think cinematic storytelling is capable of,  said Animation is Film

director Matt Kaszanek.  We can think of no greater example of that mission than Travis Knight's

 Wildwood.' A new Laika film is a reason to celebrate for every person who loves great films, and we are

so proud to be part of its journey. 



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