Werner Herzog’s The Twilight World, the German director’s first feature animation and new projects from leading animation directors including Anca Damian, Alain Ughetto, Filip Pošivač, Vincent Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord, will be among the projects presented at European co-production and pitching event Cartoon Movie, taking place in Bordeaux, France, from March 4-6.
Additionally, Chloé Nicolay’s Brume, based on a script written by Celine Sciamma and produced by French animation powerhouse Folivari, is being showcaed as a film in development. It is a 2D coming-of-age film for children about a feisty seven-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a powerful witch. When a thick fog envelops her village, she begins a journey accompanied by her best friend Hugo and her pet pig Hubert.
The Twilight World, at concept stage, is being made as a French-German co-production between Psyop Media Company Germany and Sun Creature France. Based on Herzog’s novel of the same name, it follows the true story of World War II intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda, the last Japanese soldier to surrender, who continued fighting a personal, fictitious war in the Philippines jungle for 30 years.
Ughetto, director of the Annecy-winning No Dogs Or Italians Allowed, will present Rose And The Marmots, about a 12 year-old girl living with her blind grandfather in 1910. The France-Italy-Portugal co-production is being sold by French sales outfit Lucky Number.
The Axolotls is the new project by Czech illustrator-animator Filip Pošivač, who won the Contrechamp strand at Annecy 2023 with Tony, Shelly And The Magic Light. The Czech-Norwegian co-production is in development and follows mysterious lake-dwelling creatures whose home is threatened by pollution.
Romanian director Damian will present the adult animation Short Stories About Love And Space. The 3D and motion capture production is set in 2032 where an attempt to control the weather for a virtual show around Seattle’s Space Needle leads to an unexpected shift in reality, intertwining the lives of four characters. Damian, whose credits include Marona’s Fantastic Tale, is also producing via her own label Aparte Films.
Meanwhile, France’s Paronnaud, who co-directed Marjane Satrapi’s multi-award-winning Persepolis, will be at Cartoon Movie to present Treasure Island with his regular creative partner Alexis Ducord, whose credits include Zombilennium. The “loose adaptation” of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel is set in the 1950s when a 13-year old discovers a treasure map belonging to a US Navy deserter. French studio Je Suis Bien Content is the producing the project which is at concept stage.
Major showcase
Of the 55 feature projects being showcased at Cartoon Movie, 32 are in development, 17 are in concept, three are in production. There will be ‘sneak preview’ screenings of three completed films.
Riding high on the awards-season success of Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow, which debuted at Cannes 2024, Latvia is the country spotlight at Cartoon Movie. The Latvian Animation Association will present Edmunds Jansons’s Born In The Jungle, Signe Baumane’s Karmic Knot and Marlis Vitols’s The Northern Star to potential international partners in Bordeaux.
“The success of Flow is a fine example of European co-production, highlighting an industry in full swing,” said Cartoon director Annick Maes. “Animation has been one of the spearheads of the Latvian audiovisual landscape for decades, where there is a real tradition of image. This is the first time that a Baltic country has been spotlighted at Cartoon Movie.”
The event will award two prizes: the Eurimages co-production development award, to support early-stage co-productions, and the Cartoon Movie tributes, voted for by attendees that will recognise best European producer, sales agent, and director of the year from features released throughout the year including Claude Barras’ Savages and María Trénor’s Rock Bottom.
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