Last week, 56 animated projects from 20 European countries were the subject of panels, screenings and financing talks at the 15th edition of Cartoon Movie, the co-production forum takes place each year in Lyon, France. More than 700 animation professionals from the record number of 40 countries had the opportunity to discover many European feature films in various stages of development, including the latest projects by renowned directors such as Sylvain Chomet, Torill Kove, Enzo d’Alò, Raúl García, Jannik Hastrup, Jean-François Laguionie, and Patrice Leconte.
According to the organizers, the pitching sessions for the various titles attracted record number of attendees. Here is the list of the top 10 most attended feature presentations:
1. Louise in the Winter (directed by Jean-François Laguionie)
2. MUSIC! (Patrice LeConte)
3. Rise of the Zelphire (Arthur Qwak)
4. Beyond Beyond (Esben Toft Jacobsen)
5. The Island of Lost Children (Dominique Etchecopar)
6. CAFARD (Jan Bultheel)
7. My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill (Marc Boréal & Thibaut Chatel)
8. The Prince and the Demon Kings (Pascal Morelli)
9. Capture the Flag (Enrique Gato)
10. Loulou’s Secret (Eric Omond)
The majority of the films were targeted at family audiences though there was also a sample of choices for adults (16%) and preschoolers (7%). The dominant technique in Europe remains 3D computer (48%) with a continuing presence of movies in 2D (23%) and stop-motion (11%). Stereoscopic 3D starts to show signs of fatigue in Europe, falling to 25% of the total, compared to 38% last year.
France led the list of countries with 17 projects, followed by the Nordic Countries (10), Germany (5), Spain (4), and the United Kingdom and Poland with 3 films each. The projects had a total budget of 303 million Euros and 75 hours of animation.
During the 15th Cartoon Movie, participants voted the winners of the Cartoon Movie Tributes 2013, the awards for outstanding contribution to the development of European animation film over the last year. The winners were Peter Lord for European Director of the Year (The Pirates! Band of Misfits), TF1 International for Euro Distributor of the Year (The Rabbi’s Cat, Aya de Yop City) and Les Armateurs for Producer of the Year (Kirikou and the Men and the Women, Ernest & Celestine).
The Rhône-Alpes Region also gave a special Personality of the Year award to Benjamin Renner. Trained at La Poudrière – the prestigious animation school located in Valence—the director won the Cartoon d’Or award with his short A Mouse’s Tale (2008) and debuted with César-winning Ernest & Celestine.
