European Animation Is Ready To Celebrate Its First Major Event Of The Year At Cartoon Movie
Skwigly
A new generation of European animated films will be presented at Cartoon Movie’s 23rd edition, that will be exceptionally held online from 9 to 11 March. The 55 selected projects will be put on show to over 850 professionals – including around 290 buyers and investors – through a digital platform that will host pitching sessions, as well as spaces for networking. A total of 467 companies will be present at this professional forum, 20,3% more than the previous edition.
The selection brings together projects at different stages of development interested in speeding up their financing through the search for new partners from both inside and outside Europe. With 40% of the projects, French animation plays a prominent role in this event, organised annually in the city of Bordeaux since 2017. This year’s line-up will feature projects in concept, in development, and in production. A sneak preview of three films already completed and ready for distribution will also be presented. The projects in the line-up represent 76 hours of animation and 297 million euros in budget and involve studios from 16 European countries.
CREATIVE SCOPE
The selection features a variety of genres ranging from comedy to adventure, dramas, horror, Sci-Fi, documentaries and coming of age stories, among others. This diversity is also reflected in the issues addressed by the stories, as well as in the time frames and settings in which they take place.
Three films will be presented as sneak preview, a category reserved for completed films to be distributed this year: Norway’s “Christmas at Cattlehill”, a Christmas movie directed by Will Ashurst; the animated documentary “Flee”, a co-production between Denmark, France, Sweden, and Norway directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen; and “The Island”, an animated musical by Romanian director Anca Damian (“Marona’s Fantastic Tale”).
Books and comics remain an important source of inspiration for European animation. The selection includes films based on works by authors such as Haruki Murakami (“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman”), Amélie Nothomb (“The Character of Rain”), Marie Desplechin (“Seraphine”), Josefine Ottesen (“Rosa and the Stone Troll”), John Chambers (“Granny Samurai – the Monkey King and I”), Johan Pilet & Jean-Michel Darlot (“Ninn”), Cezar Petrescu (“The Adventure of Fram the Polar Bear”), Pierre Rabhi (“The Fire Keeper”), and Stephen Collins (“The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil”), among others. The developing relationship between the publishing sector and animation is reflected in the more than 20 publishers who will be attending the event.
The bound between documentary film and animation also continues to strengthen, combining innovative storytelling with factual stories as in “Adil” by Adil Khan & Julian Nazario Vargas, “Flavours of Iraq” by Léonard Cohen, or “Red Jungle” by Juan José Lozano & Zoltan Horvath.
Projects aimed at the Young Adults/Adults audience increased from 21% to 27% of the total compared to the previous edition. “Black Is Beltza II: Ainhoa” by Fermin Muguruza, “Uncanny Stories” a collective film directed by Benoit Razy, Fabrice Luang-Vija, Jean-Loup Felicioli, Hefang Weï, Alain Gagnol, Izù Troin and Morten Riisberg Hansen, “White Plastic Sky” by Tibor Bánóczki & Sarolta Szabó, and “Your Spotted Skin” by Daniel Nocke, Stefan Krohmer & Thomas Meyer-Hermann are among the projects included in this segment.
The line-up features also the upcoming works by renown directors such as Ben Stassen (“Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness”), Denis Do (“Sorya”), Salvador Simó (“Caramel’s Words”), Jiří Barta (“Golem”), and Anca Damian (“The Island” and “Starseed”), as well as first-time directors.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, welcoming host to the event, also plays an active role in the line-up with several projects produced or co-produced by studios based in Bordeaux – such as Midralgar [Marmitafilms] (“My Grandfather’s Demons” and “Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope”), and in Angoulême, including Schmuby Productions (“Shadows” and “The Midnight King”), and Les Films du Poisson Rouge (“Tsitili”). Other films such as “The Character of Rain” and “Marie-Louise, My Little Princess” are made in this region, that can boast about having the number one support fund for animation in France.
CEE countries reinforce their presence with 6 projects, half of which hail from Romania; while Georgia’s “Igi” was selected as part of the agreement between CARTOON and CEE Animation to promote Central and Eastern European animation.
PARALLEL ACTIVITIES
Cartoon Movie will also host a number of parallel activities aimed at promoting European animation. One such event is the Eurimages Co-production Development Award, a 20,000 € cash-prize awarded by The Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund to one of the selected projects. Ten shortlisted projects will be competing for this award: “Bear Park” (Finland), “Golem” (Czech Republic); “Granny Samurai – The Monkey King and I” (Germany / Denmark), “Hanna and the Monsters” (Spain / Belgium), “Lucie’s Frightful Adventures” (Belgium / Luxembourg), “Shadows” (France / Belgium), “Sheba” (France), “Sorya” (France / Luxembourg), “The Fire Keeper” (France), and “Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope” (Spain / Chile / France).
Cartoon Games and Transmedia, a meeting that seeks to promote synergies between the animation, video games & transmedia industries, and Cartoon Movie’s Coaching Programme, which will give 90 animation students and teachers from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region the opportunity to learn first-hand about the industry and Cartoon Movie’s dynamics, are also among the parallel activities to be held virtually.