Dec 24, 2020

Cartoon Films: 5 impressive feature projects coming to the event next year

Cartoon Movie, the premier co-production forum for European animated features, was one of the last events to be held before the coronavirus shut everything down. If the organizers have their way, it may be one of the first to take place in the vaccine age. As things stand, the next edition is due to happen in person in Bordeaux, France on March 9–11, 2021.

In any case, the participating features, which are in various stages of development and production, have been unveiled. As ever, the line-up contains dozens of projects with great potential. Some we've covered before, including the Haruki Murakami adaptation Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman and the unusual Georgian title Igi. Most are entirely new to us.

Explore the full list here, and read on to discover five projects that caught our eye…

Director: Nuno BeatoProducer: Sardinha em Lata (Portugal); co-producers: Caretos Film (Spain), Midralgar/Marmitafilms (France)Status: In production

We've had our eye on this curious mixed-media production for some time. The trailer on the producer's website shows the deliberately incongruous segue from slick 2d to earthy stop motion that follows the protagonist's mid-life U-turn.

Director: Anca DamianProducer: Aparte Film (Romania)Status: Concept

The prolific Damian is attending this year's event with not one but two feature projects. This one is in its early stages, so we know little about its graphic direction (other than that it mixes 2d and cgi) - given Damian's tendency toward graphic experimentation, it could go anywhere. But the quirky synopsis alone has us hooked…

Directors: Maciek Szczerbowski, Chris LavisProducer: Autour de Minuit (France); co-producers: Micro_scope (Canada), Schmuby (France)Status: Concept

Under the name Clyde Henry Productions, Szczerbowski and Lavis have directed consistently interesting commercials, music videos, vr projects, and shorts, the most famous of which is 2007's Oscar-nominated Madame Tutli-Putli. For their first feature, they are venturing outside their preferred medium of stop motion and into 2d animation; their regular collaborator, the musician Patrick Watson, is co-writing.

Director: Denis DoProducer: Special Touch Studios (France)Status: In development

Do's first feature Funan premiered with a bang, taking the top prize at Annecy, before flopping at the French box office and making little impact elsewhere. But the Cambodia-set historical drama was admired by many who did see it. We're curious to see what Do does with his sophomore effort, in which he returns to the country - his mother's homeland.

Director: Sarah Van Den BoomProducer: Little Big Story (France); co-producers: JPL Films (France), Tu Nous ZA Pas Vus (France)Status: In development

Raymonde or the Vertical Escape, Van Den Boom's deliciously oddball stop-motion short about a lonely spinster owl, is still fresh in our memories, and we're delighted to see that she's making the transition to feature filmmaking. Politically flecked historical narratives are all the rage in European animation, but this is the first feature we've seen tackle the revolutionary Paris Commune and its aftermath.