Ahead of the Cartoon Movie‘s live event return in Bordeaux, France March 8-10, organizers have revealed a dozen nominees for this year’s Cartoon Movie Tributes. Created in 2001, the awards recognize the work of European animation professionals in the categories of Producer, Distributor and Director. Most of the nominated films have gone through the pitching and co-production confab in their development or production stage, reasserting the importance of Cartoon Movie to the local industry.
The Cartoon Tributes were last awarded in 2020, honoring Zabou Breitman & Éléa Gobbé-Mévellec (The Swallows of Kabul) as Directors of the Year, Lumière (Belgium) as Distributor of the Year, and France’s Xilam Animation / Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma as Producers of the Year for I Lost My Body by Jérémy Clapin. Because the 2021 Cartoon Movie was held virtually, due to the pandemic, the Tributes were not organized last year.
But, 2022 will at last see the 21st edition of the Cartoon Tributes. During Cartoon Movie attendees can hear a few words from all the nominees before the vote starts. All participants on site will have the possibility to vote for their peers during dedicated timeframes for each of the three categories. The result of the votes will be announced on Thursday, March 10 at the end of the closing day lunch.
The 2022 nominees are:
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
- Lardux Films / MIDRALGAR (France) for The Neighbors of My Neighbors Are Neighbors of Mine. Together with Bordeaux-based MIDRALGAR, Lardux created a sort of Nouvelle Vague in animated cinema for this film.
- Julianne Films / Folivari (France) / Mélusine Productions (Studio 352) (Luxembourg) for The Summit of the Gods. An adaptation of the manga by Jiro Taniguchi and Baku Yumemakura, the animated film is a great cinematographic expedition. Nominated at the César & at the Annie Awards for Best Animated Film 2022; Winner of the Prix Lumière Best Animated Film 2021.
- Purple Whale Films / Walking the Dog (Belgium) / Samsa Film / Doghouse Films (Luxembourg) / Bridgit Folman Film Gang (Israel) / Submarine (Netherlands) / Le Pacte (France) for Where Is Anne Frank?. Based on the successful graphic novel, the movie was a major new step for this emblematic story. Renowned Israeli director Ari Folman created the graphic novel and directed the animated movie.
- Fresh Films (Czech Republic) / Les Films du Cygne (France) / Cinemart SK (Slovakia) / Animoon (Poland) for Even Mice Belong in Heaven. The fully European team shared creative enthusiasm for making a beautiful stop-motion film for the whole family. Nominated for the 2022 César.
DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR
- Charades (France) | Carole Baraton, Yohann Comte and Pierre Mazars founded Charades in January 2017, following successful tenures as head and VPs of International Sales at Wild Bunch, Gaumont and StudioCanal, respectively. A dynamic sales company based in Paris with a global reach, Charades offers a fresh perspective and wealth of experience in international sales, packaging and distribution. Charades wishes to promote the singularity of each film and the plurality of cinema. Their catalog includes eclectic and prestigious animated movies such as The Queen’s Corgi and I I Lost My Body.
- Folkets Bio (Sweden) | An art-house distributor in Sweden that has been in business since 1973. Every year Folkets Bio releases around 25 feature films and 15-20 short films theatrically. Its latest animation releases are Latte Igel and the Magic Waterstone, Shooom’s Odyssey, Wolfwalkers and The Breadwinner.
- New Europe Film Sales (NEFS) (Poland) | A Warsaw-based boutique world sales company selling quality-feature films and shorts from all over the world. The company’s catalog includes award-winning and widely-sold films Gordon & Paddy and Jacob, Mimmi & the Talking Dogs, among others, as well as the upcoming new movie from Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent director Dorota Kobiela, The Peasants (coming in 2023).
- Spamflix (Portugal) | Created in 2019, Spamflix is a VOD streaming platform focused on avant-garde and cult films that are difficult to frame into one precise genre. Recent additions to its animated offerings include A Town Called Panic, Birdboy: The Forgotten Children and The Old Man Movie.
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
- Michaela Pavlátová for My Sunny Maad (Czech Republic) | Pavlátová started her career directing short animation movies, and this is her first feature-length animation. She won the short film Cristal at Annecy 2012 for Tram, which was also shortlisted for an Oscar. In 2021, My Sunny Maad won the Annecy Jury Award for feature film.
- Florence Miailhe for The Crossing (France) | Miailhe is a visual artist, painter and engraver at the school of Decorative Arts in Paris. She makes pictorial and personal animated short films. Her work has garnered many awards, including an Honorary Cristal at the 39th Annecy Festival in 2015, and a special mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 for Conte de quartier. The Crossing is the first feature animated entirely by oil painted on glass; it won the Jury Distinction in Annecy 2021.
- Jonas Poher Rasmussen for Flee (Denmark) | His latest film Flee, an animated documentary about a close friend, was officially selected for Cannes 2020, won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, the Best Doc Prize at Gothenburg, the Annecy Cristal for a Feature Film and the Gan Foundation Award for distribution. It is nominated in three categories at the 2022 Oscars — Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature — further demonstrating animation ability to go beyond its traditional boundaries.
- Julien Fournet for The Adventures of Pil (France) | Julien, screenwriter and director, worked for several years on the series The Jungle Bunch to the Rescue, for which he wrote or directed more than 50 episodes. Convinced by his talent, TAT asked him to develop his first animated feature film.
Learn more about Cartoon Movie 2022 and register to attend at cartoon-media.eu.
