25th Anniversary Celebration: Cartoon Movie Presents the Best European Animated Films
Cartoon Movie celebrates its 25th anniversary in the French city of Bordeaux with 58 new feature-length animated films looking to find new partners and speed up their production and international distribution. At different stages of production, the projects will be presented before the 881 professionals – including producers, distributors, sales agents, investors, video game companies, book editors, streamers, and film funds – attending the event. This year, Cartoon Movie’s spotlight will be on Ukrainian animation.
Hailing from 16 countries, the selected projects add up to an overall duration of 81 hours and a total budget of 422.4 Mio EUR, while the average cost per film stands at 7.3 Mio EUR. Twenty of the projects are already co-productions among two or more European countries, and 6 are co-productions involving non-UE countries: Brazil, Canada, China, Israel, Tunisia, and UK.
With 25 projects, France leads the line-up, followed by Germany with 8 projects, Spain and Italy with 5 projects each, Belgium with 3, and Denmark with 2. Armenia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine round up the list with 1 project each.
Among the pitching sessions, the sneak preview of 8 films will be held at the event, including “Bim” by Tom Van Gestel (Belgium), “Chicken for Linda!” by Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach (France), “Dragonkeeper” by Salvador Simó & Li Jiangping (Spain), “Four Souls of Coyote” by Áron Gauder (Hungary), “Mars Express” by Jérémie Périn (France), “Richard the Stork 2” by Mette Tange & Benjamin Quabeck (Germany), “Rosa and the Stone Troll” by Karla Nor Holmbäck (Denmark), and “The Inseparables” by Jérémie Degruson (Belgium).
Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, host to the event, participates with 9 projects, 7 of which have been supported by the Region: “Alpha Two’s Dreamed Journey”, director to be confirmed (produced by Olé Film- und Fernsehproduktion - DE, co-produced by Godo Films - FR). “Beausoleil” by Xabi Molia & Fanou Lefebvre (produced by Moteur S’il Vous Plaît), “Chicken for Linda!” by Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach (produced by Dolce Vita Film), “Happy End” by Marie Amachoukeli & Vladimir Mavounia-Kouka (produced by Miyu Productions), “Jim Queen” by Marco Nguyen & Nicolas Athane (produced by Bobbypills), “Mars Express” by Jérémie Périn (produced by Everybody On Deck), and “The Hermit and the Bear” by Marine Blin (produced by Tant Mieux Prod).
“Beausoleil” and “Mars Express” are also supported by the Département Charente.
Bordeaux Metropole and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region are represented by three projects: “Betty’s Dream” by Liam Engels (produced by Sun Creature France), “Long Time a Girl: An Endless City Adventure” by Cédric Babouche (produced by Umanimation), and “The Hermit and the Bear” by Marine Blin (coproduced by Sun Creature France).
Prevailing Trends
Cartoon Movie’s line-up reflects the diverse range of themes, target audiences, and graphic styles in current European animation industry. Adventure and comedy films prevail in terms of genre, in a selection that also includes fantasy films, dramas, musicals, and documentaries. With 15 projects based on adaptations of books and comics, literature remains a major source of inspiration for animated feature films.
Audience-wise, family films remain at the top with a solid 59% of the selection and 34 projects, while films aimed at Young Adults/Adults come in second with 13 projects. Finally, the selection features 10 projects for children and one for pre-school audiences.
Regarding animation techniques, 3D films come at the top spot with 28 projects (44.8%), followed by 2D films (27.5%), while projects combing both techniques reach the 22.4%.
The active role of Cartoon in the development of European animation speaks for itself: 6 of the projects selected this year have previously participated in Cartoon Movie in the concept or development stages, while 2 others were pitched at Cartoon Springboard, an event focused on young talents.
Spotlight on Ukraine
Cartoon Movie will spotlight Ukrainian animation this year, thus paying tribute to all the artists, creators, and producers in this country who are now living and working against all odds to protect their lives, their art, and their industry.
With a long animation history going back almost a century, Ukrainian animation industry delegates will be in Bordeaux looking for international partners and co-producers. For the third time in the history of Cartoon Movie, a Ukrainian project has made it into the line-up: “Roxelana” by Oleg Malamuzh, a 3D animated film for family audiences produced by Animagrad Studio - FILM.UA Group.
Cartoon Movie’s Spotlight on Ukraine is organised with the support of Ukrainian Association of Animation (UANIMA), LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, and Animagrad Studio.