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INDUSTRY France

Cartoon Movie surfs wave of success

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With 700 participants from 35 countries, including 210 buyers and 95 distributors, the 13th Cartoon Movie, which kicks off today in Lyon, has reached a new attendance record. This enthusiasm confirms the dynamism of the European animation sector, which is currently turning more and more towards films aimed at teenagers and adults. Opening with Spanish film Chico & Rita [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Javier Mariscal, Tono Errando
film profile
]
, the event has this year selected 56 feature film projects (including 12 in 3D), from the concept stage to the finished film, hailing from 21 countries.

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Highlights among the films in production are three French/Belgian co-productions: Jung and Laurent Boileau’s Approved for Adoption (see news); Patrice Leconte’s The Suicide Shop; and Jean-François Laguionie’s Le Tableau (“The Painting”). Also worthy of mention are Óskar Jónasson’s Icelandic title Legends of Valhalla - Thor (3D); Danish film Ronal The Barbarian (3D); Spanish director Ignacio Ferreras’s Wrinkles; and Raúl García’s Extraordinary Tales (mainly co-produced by Luxembourg and France).

Standing out among the 17 projects in development are Tim Ollive’s 1884: Yesterday's Future (with Terry Gilliam as executive producer); Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost by Brit director Kim Burdon; Mexican helmer Carlos Carrera’s Spanish co-production Ana (3D); Phantom Boy by French duo Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli; and Soul Man (3D) by fellow French director Guillaume Ivernel. There are also two projects helmed by Finland’s Kari Juusonen: Niko 2 - Family Affairs, co-directed with Jørgen Lerdam (Finland, Germany, Denmark and Ireland are already collaborating on the development); and his solo directorial outing The Sampo.

Other noteworthy titles include The Jungle by Hungary’s Tibor Banoczki; Nameless' Adventures in Windland (3D) by Italy’s Sergio Manfio; The Strange Case of Dad's Missing Head by Víctor Maldonado, Adrià García and Alfredo Torres; Frank Chiche’s French/Luxembourg co-production I Have Understood You; Simon Rouby’s French/German project Adama; Guillaume Renard’s Mutafukaz [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
; and Benoît Feroumont’s Belgian/French co-production Majorettes!.

On Friday, the Cartoon Movie Tributes 2011 will be awarded. In the Director of the Year category, nominees include France’s Pierre Coffin for Despicable Me, Germany’s Sinem Sakaoglu and Denmark’s Jesper Møller for The Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Spanish trio Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal and Tono Errando for Chico & Rita.

In the Distributor category, nominees are 6 SALES (Spain), Gutek Film (Poland) and StudioCanal (France). Finally, vying for Producer of the Year are Constantin Film, Copenhagen Bombay and France 3 Cinéma.

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(Translated from French)

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