European animation pitching forum Cartoon Movie returned this week (March 8-10) after a two-year absence, and Screen was on the ground to hear about 57 projects at different stages of concept, development and production.
Here are five which got the crowds talking at Bordeaux’s Palais des Congrès:
Melvile (Bel-Fr)
Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier’s 2D and 3D computer-animated Melvile won the Cartoon Movie Eurimages co-production development award at lunchtime on Thursday; which meant a packed room for its pitch, which was already scheduled for shortly afterwards. It recorded the highest number of attendees of any pitch at the event with 225 delegates in the room. Produced by Anne-Laure Guegan for Belgium’s Need Productions and Sebastien Onomo for France’s Special Touch Studios and Creative Touch Studios, the film is based on Renard’s 2020 award-winning graphic novel, and centres on a man who returns to the town where his friends died in an accident over 20 years ago; now he must confront the tragedy of his past. It participated as a concept project two years ago at Cartoon Movie. It is now in development as one of three projects at this year’s event from producer Onomo.
The Migrant (Fr)
France’s Xilam Animation picked up awards across the circuit for 2019’s I Lost My Body; the production house is back at Cartoon Movie with Kan Muftic’s The Migrant, a horror title about a pregnant Syrian refugee forced to take a treacherous journey to Europe, on which she is held hostage by a terrifying figure called The Mute. Muftic himself was a refugee from the Bosnian War in the 1990s; he is also the film’s graphic author, working from Vivienne Harvey’s script. Xilam has a strong relationship with Netflix, which picked up I Lost My Body after its Cannes-awarded debut and has picked up several short animations from the company; the streaming giant will be one of several vying for The Migrant. Narrative connections to this year’s awards favourite Flee are balanced out by a strong genre thrust. “If there is one thing we learned from I Lost My Body, it’s that introducing supernatural elements in a harsh reality generates another level of depth in the character’s journey as well as a stronger emotional experience for the audience,” said Xilam CEO Marc Du Pontavice, who produces again here.
Darling (Bel-Can)
Described by its team as a Hitchcock-inspired psychological thriller, Bruno Forzani and Helene Cattet’s Darling is at concept stage, and searching for minority co-producing partners – especially from France and Switzerland, where several of the creative team are based. It is also out for broadcaster backing and international sales representation. Set in New York in the early 1960s, it follows a young painter, who is attacked and raped one night by a mysterious figure. This crime pushes her towards self-destruction; so she decides to search the city for the man. Bernard Devillers of Belgium’s Gapbusters leads production, with Michael Solomon co-producing for Canada’s Les Films Band with Pictures. Darling is based on a 1956 story by late US writer Iris Owens, who wrote under the pseudonym Harriet Daimler at that time. Cattet and Forzani’s previous work includes 2013 live-action thriller The Strange Colour Of Your Body’s Tears, which debuted at Locarno and went on to Toronto and the BFI London Film Festival
Ellie And The Christmas Creep (Lux)
Christmas-themed family titles are a reliably rich vein for the animation industry; Ellie And The Christmas Creep, directed by Caroline Origer, is looking to emulate the likes of Arthur Christmas, The Grinch and 2019’s Klaus. The story centres on the Christmas Creep, the frustrated twin sibling of Santa Claus, who is tempted out of his angry existence by a sprightly young elf named Ellie. Luxembourg’s Fabrique d’Images produces the Ooops! feature series and has developed Ellie in-house through producer Mark Mertens. Sean McCormack, co-director on the Ooops! films, wrote the story for Ellie, with a screenplay by US writer David Freedman and voice actress Jules de Jongh, and original artwork by Bruno Murer. The 3D computer animation project is in development with France’s KMBO Films as a co-producer; it has a €10m (£8.4m) budget, and is looking for an international sales agent and broadcast partners.
America (Pol)
Polish writer-director Piotr Dumala is invested in the literary greats; having previously made shorts including 1992’s Franz Kafka and 2000’s Crime And Punishment, he is now preparing his first feature America, based on an unfinished novel by Kafka. The story centres on a young man who is sent from Europe to America to avoid a family scandal; and finds a strange and ruthless world in an unknown country. Influenced by German expressionism, the 2D hand-drawn animation is looking to raise a €3m (£2.5m) budget, to start production in 2024. Piotr Furmankiewicz leads production for Fumi Studio, with Agnieszka Kowalewska-Skowron co-producing for Momakin – both companies hailing from Poland.
Cartoon Movie 2022 winners
Melvile, mentioned above, won the Eurimages Co-Production Development award with €20,000 (£16,789) cash prize. It was one of eight titles up for the prize, alongside Netherlands-France co-production Young Vincent and Latvia-France-Germany co-production Flow. For Melvile, the three-person jury responded to a “dark and intricate story which fully immersed them in the world of the protagonist.”
Cartoon Movie’s traditional Tribute awards were given to Flee filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen, for director of the year; French firm Charades, which has already boarded two titles at this year’s event with discussions underway for more, for distributor of the year; and producers Fresh Films (Czech Republic), Les Films du Cygne (France), Cinemart SK (Slovakia) and Animoon (Poland) for producer of the year, for Even Mice Belong In Heaven.
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