The Fantasia International Film Festival is giving animation a first-time sidebar at the Montreal genre festival, and rechristening its animation jury prize as the Satoshi Kon prize.

Fantasia is launching the Axis section to showcase international animation, from social realism to mind-bending fantasy.

Early titles booked into the Axis sidebar include Canadian premieres for Asura, from Japanese director Keiichi Sato, which debuted at the 2012 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and Korean filmmaker  Yeun Sang-ho’s The King of Pigs (pictured), which screened as part of the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes.

Also headed to Montreal for Axis is Wrinkles, a Goya Award-winner from Spanish director Ignacio Ferreras, and the French-Belgium co-production Zarafa, by directors Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie,  which screened in Berlin.

The Satoshi Kon award for achievement in animation is named after the late Japanese filmmaker whose debut feature, Perfect Blue, had its world premiere at Fantasia in 1997.

The full lineup for the Fantasia International Film Festival will be unveiled on July 11.