Over 800 professionals attending Cartoon Movie will be in charge of selecting the winners who will be announced in Bordeaux, France on 10th March.
CARTOON MOVIE, pitching and co-production event for animated features, has announced the finalists for Cartoon Tributes 2017, the awards 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. Over 800 professionals attending Cartoon Movie will be in charge of selecting the winners who will be announced in Bordeaux, France on 10th March.
European Director of the Year
Michael Dudok de Wit (the Netherlands) is nominated in the category “European Director of the Year” for the film “The Red Turtle” (released in June 2016) which received “Un Certain Regard Special Prize at Cannes Film Festival 2016 and was nominated for European Film Awards 2016, Césars Awards and Academy Awards 2017.
Claude Barras (Switzerland) is nominated for his long feature “My Life as a Courgette” (released on 19 October 2016 in France – 737,830 admissions). This film received several awards at festivals including the César Awards for Best Animated Feature and for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Cristal Award for Best Feature and the Audience Award at Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2016, the Best European Animated Feature Film prize at European Film Awards 2016 and was nominated for Academy Awards 2017.
The third nominee is Jean-François Laguionie (France) for “Louise by the Shore” released in November 2016 in France. This year, Jean-François Laguionie will present “The Prince’s Journey” which will be made in studios in Angoulême (under the aegis of the Pôle Image Magelis) and distributed by Gebeka Films.
European Distributor of the Year
Three companies will compete for “European Distributor of the Year”:
– MUBI (United Kingdom), a global SVoD player available in over 200 territories in the world and with 8 million subscribers – “A Town Called Panic”, “Waltz with Bashir”, “The Three Robbers”;
– Angel Films (Denmark) – distributor in Scandinavian countries of “My Life as a Courgette”, “Phantom Boy”, “Ernest & Celestine”, “Pinocchio”, “Tad, The Lost Explorer”;
– Urban Distribution International (France), sales agent of “Long Way North”, “Cafard” and of two films which will be pitched at Cartoon Movie 2017; “Zombillenium” in production and “Canaan” in development.
European Producer of the Year
The shortlist for “European Producer of the Year” includes:
– Knudsen & Streuber Medienmanufaktur, Ulysses Filmproduktion (Germany), Walking The Dog (Belgium), Melusine Productions (Luxembourg) & Den Siste Skilling (Norway) for “Richard the Stork” (which will release in May 2017 in Germany), directed by Reza Memari (also screenwriter) and Toby Genkel (“Ooops! Noah is gone…”), which has been already sold to more than 100 countries and which celebrated its World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival (Feb. 2017) in the Kplus section;
– Lupus Films & Melusine Productions (United Kingdom/Luxembourg) for “Ethel & Ernest” (released at the end of October 2016 in UK), a graphic novel and animated film by English author and illustrator Raymond Briggs;
– Rita productions (Switzerland), Blue Spirit Productions & Gebeka Films (France) for “My Life as a Courgette”.
