Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North and Latin American rights to Michael Dudok de Wit’s The Red Turtle. The film is co-produced by Japanese animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli.

According to Variety, the film is Dudok de Wit’s first full-length film, though he won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2000 for Father and Daughter. This is Studio Ghibli’s first international co-production. Co-production was handled by France’s Wild Bunch, in association Why Not Productions. Studio Ghibli’s Isao Takahata is listed as artistic producer (see “Geek Film News Round-Up -- Pre-Holidays 2015”). Specific release plans have not been announced.

The mostly silent movie follows a shipwrecked man who is stranded on an uninhabited island. When he builds a raft to escape the island, he is thwarted by the giant red turtle. The film chronicles the man’s life after that first attempt to leave, including the arrival of another shipwreck survivor and the couple’s decision to start a family.

It is unknown if VIZ Media plans to publish an art book based on the feature. It has produced art books for previous Studio Ghibli films (see “VIZ Announces Amano, Ghibli Art Books”).

(Below is a French preview of the film.)