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Finalists Announced for 2019 Cartoon Movie Tributes

‘Funan,’ ‘Pachamama,’ ‘Chequered Ninja,’ ‘Luis and the Aliens’ among the nominees; 900 animation professionals attending Cartoon Movie will vote on the winners to be announced on March 7.

Denis Do is nominated for European Director of the Year for his movie ‘Funan,’ which was co-produced in France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Cambodia; ‘Funan’ co-production partners Les Films d’Ici, BAC Cinéma, Lunanime and ithinkasia are nominated for European Producer of the Year.

Bordeaux, FRANCE -- CARTOON MOVIE, the European pitching and co-production event for animated features, has announced the finalists for Cartoon Tributes 2019, which are awarded for outstanding contribution to the development of European animation over the last year.

Divided into three categories -- Director, Distributor and Producer of the Year -- this year’s Cartoon Tributes bring together the best of the latest European animated features as well as some of the continent’s most active companies within the industry.

The full list of nominees is shown below:

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

  • Anca Damian (Romania) is nominated for her long feature Marona’s Fantastic Tale (in sneak preview at Cartoon Movie 2019 – release date: September 2019 in France). Damian is the most prolific animation director from Romania. She already directed 2 animation feature films (The Magic Mountain and Crulic: The Path to Beyond – Cristal for Best Feature Film at the 2012 Annecy International Animated Film Festival). Anca Damian will also present The Island, her new project in concept mixing 2D/3D, painting and cut-out.
  • Denis Do (France) is nominated for his movie Funan (release date: March 2019 in France). It is at the heart of a dramatic historical event, the Khmer Rouge revolution, that Do set the scene for his first feature film. This work is a perfect example of the ability of animation to capture an adult and historical subject and make it accessible to the greatest number of people. In 2018, the movie won the Cristal (Best Feature Film) at Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the Jury Price & Audience Awards at Animation Is Film Festival and the Best Sound Design & Best Writing Awards at the Emile Awards.
  • Anders Matthesen & Thorbjørn Christoffersen (Denmark) are nominated for Chequered Ninja, a 3D movie which is the best-selling animation movie in Denmark ever, since its release date on 25 December 2018 (to date: 900 000 tickets sold). In 2019, the long feature won the Best Children/Youth Film & Best Adapted Screenplay Awards at Robert Festival, the Best Danish Film at Zulu Awards and is nominated for the Best Film at Bodil Awards.
  • Salvador Simó (Spain) for Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (in sneak preview at Cartoon Movie 2019 – release date: June 2019 in France). The movie is based on the 1932 documentary Land Without Bread, controversial at its time and now reckoned as one of the greatest films of Luis Buñuel. In 2019, the movie won the Special Jury Price at Animation is Film Festival and is nominated for the Best Film Award at Miami Film Festival. Simó is already working on a new animation film: Gabo Memoirs of a Magic Life.

EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR

  • Cinema Public Films (France) is a film distribution company dedicated to art-house cinema for a young audience. Founded in 1989 to defend and develop the cultural diversity, the company actively participated to promote worldwide cinematography. Some of the films released by the company are The Three Musketeers, The Wind in the Reeds, Marona’s Fantastic Tale, Pat & Mat, Mimi & Lisa, La Chouette, etc.
  • SC Films International (UK) is a sales and distribution company behind the international success of Yellowbird, White Fang, Ozzy, Pachamama, Dragonkeeper, Ark at 8, etc.
  • Sola Media (Germany) is a world sales agent specializing in high-quality children’s films and family entertainment with a strong focus on animation feature films for the big screen. Recent animation features include: Rabbit School, Coconut the Little Dragon, Captain Morten and the Spider Queen, Up & Away, Manou the Swift & Latte and the Magic Waterstone etc.

EUROPEAN PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

  • Folivari / O2B Films / Doghouse Films / Kaïbou Production for Pachamama (France / Luxembourg / Canada). The movie takes the public on an amazing trip through the cultural and artistic splendor of the great pre-Columbian civilisation. It is the first animation film ever made about the conquest of America from the point of view of the natives. The movie is mixing 2D-3D computer, stop-motion, puppets & cut-out techniques. It is directed by Juan Antin (Mercano the Martian). It was nominated in the Best Animated Film Animation category at César Awards 2019.
  • Les Films d’Ici / BAC Cinéma / Lunanime / ithinkasia for Funan (France / Luxembourg / Belgium / Cambodia), a story about the survival and the struggle of a young woman during the Khmer Rouge revolution, to find his 4-year-old son, taken from his family by the regime. In 2018, the movie won the Cristal (Best Feature Film) at Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the Jury Price & Audience Awards at Animation Is Film Festival and the Best Sound Design & Best Writing Awards at the Emile Awards.
  • Submarine (Netherlands), as the premier animation studio in the Netherlands, creates compelling and visually-stunning stories for both the big and small screen. Submarine is nominated for (co-)producing 6 animated films today: Coppelia (directed by Jeff Tudor, Steven de Beul & Ben Tesseur), Fox & Hare save the Forest (directed by Mascha Halberstad), Where is Anne Frank? (directed by Ari Folman), Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (directed by Salvador Simó), My Grandfather used to say he saw demons (directed by Nuno Beato) and In the Forest (directed by Joris Bergmans & Cédric Babouche).
  • Ulysses Filmproduktion / A. Film Production / Fabrique d’Images for Luis and the Aliens (Germany / Denmark / Luxembourg) – nominated at the Emile Awards 2018, category Best Character Animation -- released in June 2018. It is an animated adventure sold in 150 countries, telling the story of an 11-year-old boy who makes friends with three lovable little aliens.

Eurimages Co-Production Development Awards

The Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund has joined forces with ten co-production markets all over the world in order to award the Eurimages Co-production Development Award. This cash prize of €20,000 has been created to promote the Fund’s role in encouraging international co-production animations from the initial stages of a project. The winner in animation will be announced Thursday, March 7 during Cartoon Movie.

The eight projects in development selected at the Cartoon Movie 2019 and nominated for the Eurimages Development Award are:

  • Comrades (85 minutes)
    France/Germany/Poland
    Blick Productions/Donten & Lacroix Films, Belle Epoque Films, Donten & Lacroix Films
  • Ghostdance (90 minutes)
    Luxembourg/Canada
    a_BAHN, Melusine Productions, Terre Innue, URBANIA
  • My Grandfather Used To Say He Saw Demons (80 minutes)
    Portugal/Netherlands/Spain
    Sardinha em Lata, Submarine, Basque Films
  • No Dogs or Italians allowed (70 minutes)
    France/Italy/Switzerland
    Les Films du Tambour de Soie, Vivement Lundi!, FOLIASCOPE, GRAFFITI DOC, NADASDY FILM
  • Of Unwanted Things and People (80 minutes)
    Czech Republic/Slovakia/Slovenia/Poland
    Maur Film, Artichoke, ZVVIKS, WJTeam/Likaon
  • The Secret of Birds (65 minutes)
    France/Switzerland
    Folimage, Nadasdy Film
  • Tre Infanzie (70 minutes)
    France/Italy
    Offshore, Minimum Fax Media
  • Yuku and the Flower of the Himalayas (75 minutes)
    Belgium/France
    La Boîte, ...Productions, Les Films du Nord, Nadasdy Film, Folimage

Since 1999, more than 333 films pitched at Cartoon Movie, with a total budget of 2.2 billion Euros, have secured their financing and have been released thanks to this annual forum aimed at strengthening the production and distribution of animated feature films in Europe.

Cartoon Movie is organized by CARTOON with the support of Creative Europe - MEDIA, CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée), Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, Bordeaux Metropole, INVEST Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the City of Bordeaux and le Pôle Image Magelis.

CARTOON – European Association of Animation Film is an international non-profit association based in Brussels that organises Cartoon Movie, together with Cartoon Forum, a co-production forum for animated TV series, Cartoon Master training seminars and Cartoon connection, a program intended to explore ways of reinforcing cooperation between EU and non-EU animation professionals.

Source: CARTOON – European Association of Animation Film

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.