18/07/2008

Cartoon – the European Association of Animated Film – has just announced the five finalists for the Golden Cartoon Award, which will be presented on September 18 at the Cartoon Forum, set to be held in Ludwigsburg (Germany).

A total of 32 productions were originally vying for the prize, pre-selected from films that have received one or more awards at the nine major European animated film festivals. Fifteen countries were represented, with a strong French and UK presence.

Since the award was created in 1991, France and the UK have dominated the prize list. As expected, these two countries feature among the 2008 finalists, with Benjamin Renner’s La Queue de la Souris (“The Mouse’s Tail”, France), Matthew Walker’s John and Karen (UK) and Pierre-Luc Granjon’s Le Loup Blanc (“The White Wolf”, France).

This year’s only two Belgian contenders are also among the finalists. Vincent Bierrewaerts’ Le Pont (“The Bridge”) jointly won the Best Belgian Film Award at the latest Brussels Short Film Festival. Moreover, the film – which tells the story of a father and son who are cut off from the world – divided critical opinion at the festival.

Arnaud Demuynck’s Breakout picked up the ACE Award at the latest Anima Festival in Brussels. Breakout is the third and final instalment of a trilogy described as “choreographic”. The first two films – Signes de vie (“Signs of Life”) and A l’ombre du voile (“In the Shadow of the Veil”) – were acclaimed at numerous festivals, including Cannes and Clermont-Ferrand.

These two Belgian titles were produced by La Boîte…Productions, which was founded 11 years ago by Demuynck. The company aims to promote animated film, in particular through the creation of the first VOD site devoted entirely to animated shorts.

La Boîte…is also keen to develop an international network of producers of animated shorts, centred around France and Belgium. Present members are based in Liège, Antwerp, Valence, Rennes and Paris.