The peripatetic Cartoon Forum landed in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, this year. Participants are warmly greeted at the beautifully appointed welcome dinner inside a medieval building. All Forum images © 2004 Cartoon.

Fifteen years on and Cartoon Forum continues going from strength to strength. The first edition of the European co-production event was staged on the Spanish island of Lanzarote back in 1990. Moving from country to country each time, this 15th anniversary brought it back to Spain and the medieval Galician town of Santiago de Compostela.

The format of the Forum is now well established -- and it works. Producers apply with a project -- of which around 70 are selected to participate. Each is given a 40-minute slot -- with presentations taking place simultaneously throughout the event in three separate rooms. Broadcasters, distributors, investors and all those with an interest in a project come along for the pitch.

It’s a system that provides a serious shortcut in the process of putting together co-production partners -- with a simultaneous pitch to all potential partners. Producers also get a chance to look at other development projects that might be suitable to partner on. And with 8000 animation professionals sharing an extremely pleasant three days, it certainly makes for the best networking event in the European calendar.

The innovative Fast Film won the prestigious Cartoon D’or for best animated short. © Virgil Widrich Film -- und Mutimediaproduktions GmbH & Minotaurus Film Luxembourg, 2003.

Over the past 14 years, 301 of the 966 projects presented have gone on to be fully financed. Allowing for the fact that a number of projects from the past two years are still assembling their financial package, this represents a healthy one-in-three success rate. The total value of series produced after starting at Cartoon Forum comes to around a billion euros.

This year, 69 projects were presented from 15 different European countries -- including two from new member states Poland and Slovenia -- representing a total 461 hours of programming.

“This year was a great success. Many of the participants told us it was the best Cartoon Forum ever. The venue, the projects and the weather all contributed to its success,” says joint managing director Marc Vandeweyer.

As in previous years, the final night was also time for the Cartoon D’Or -- Europe’s top award for animation shorts. Nominees come from festivals staged over the previous 12 months so it pretty much represents the best of the best. This year’s jury was made up of Joanna Quinn (U.K.), Francis Nielsen (France) and Piet De Rycker (Belgium).

The winner was Fast Film from Austrian filmmaker Virgil Widrich. A remarkable homage to movie history, it combines elements from live-action films with printed and folded objects in a fast-moving and highly original production. Some asked whether it was animation. But who cares when the results are as powerful and original as this.