01/03/2016 - The European co-production forum kicks off in Lyon tomorrow; more than 750 professionals and 56 projects are making their way there

Robinson Crusoe [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Vincent Kesteloot will have the honour of opening the 18^th edition of Cartoon Movie, which gets under way in Lyon tomorrow for three days with more than 750 professionals from the animation industry (producers, investors and 240 buyers, including 120 distributors and international sellers) hailing from 40 countries. There are 56 projects on the menu this year: 22 at the concept stage, 21 in development, ten in production and three finished films.

In terms of trends, this edition of Cartoon Movie is a record breaker, with 33% of the selected projects aimed at a teenage/adult audience. Standing out among them are three projects being staged by Paris-based outfit Les Films d'Ici: The Siren by Sepideh Farsi, which is set in 1980 in the middle of the Iran-Iraq War, and Heart of Darkness by Rogério Nunes, which will be a futuristic Brazilian adaptation of the work by Joseph Conrad – both of which are at the concept stage – and Funan, The New People by Denis Do, which revolves around a woman trying to survive with her son during the Khmer Rouge revolution, which is currently in production.

Also of note are two titles that plunge into the Angolan Civil War: Another Day of Lif [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raul de la Fuente
film profile]e [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raul de la Fuente
film profile] by duo Damien Nenow and Raul de La Fuente, which retraces the epic voyage undertaken by journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski in 1975 (the film is in production, staged by Poland’s Platige Image together with Hungary, Germany, Spain and Belgium), and Nayola by José Miguel Ribeiro and Jorge Antonio, which paints a portrait of women who have been severely hurt by the conflict (the project is in development via Filmes da Praça).

Standing proud in the “concept” section are projects by filmmakers who have already made a huge name for themselves, such as Canaan by Belgium’s Jan Bultheel (Tondo Films), A Skeleton Story by Italy’s Alessandro Rak (Mad Entertainment and Ellipsanime), Marona's Fantastic Tale [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Romania’s Anca Damian (Sacrebleu Productions and Aparte Films), Old Man Coyote by Hungary’s Aron Gauder (Cinemon Entertainement) and Ada & Alex by Danish director Esben Toft Jacobsen (Copenhagen Bombay).

Within the category of titles at the concept stage, which buyers are particularly on the lookout for, we could also mention A Childhood of Martha Jane Canary by Rémi Chayé (Maybe Movies), Little Jules Verne by Régis Vidal (Enormous Pictures and Caribara Production), The Khmer Smile by Fabrice Beau (Animalps Productions), Little Bastards by Spaniard Manuel Sicilia (Rokyn Animation), the Dutch psycho-thriller project Mind My Gap by Rosto, the Czech project Biofilm by Marké Kubatova (Maur Film), the Polish project Privisa (Platige Films and Juice) and The Sea Monster Who Couldn't Swim by Norway’s Lise Osvoll (Maipo Film).

In the "in development" category, which is also piquing a lot of interest, we should highlight Tulipe by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli (Folimage and Lunanime), the Dutch-Belgian co-production Hieronymus by Erik van Schaaik, The Prince of the City of Sand by Italy’s Enzo d’Alò (staged by Luxembourg’s Iris Productions), Moustique, cigale et cambriole by Cédric Babouche (Dandelooo), Samsam the Tiniest Superhero by Tanguy de Kermel (Folivari), The Faun by Augusto Zanovello (JPL Films, Unité Centrale and Aparte Films), and Second Génération by Xavier Picard and Véra Belmont (Stephan Films and PMMP).

Lastly, standing out among the films already in production are Louise en hiver [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jean-François Laguionie (JPL Films and Unité Centrale), Cinderella the Cat [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alessandro Rak
film profile] by Italy’s Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Alessandro Rak and Dario Sansone (Mad Entertainment), I Lost My Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jérémy Clapin
film profile] by Jérémie Clapin (Xilam), Mutafukaz [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Guillaume Renard, Richard the Stork [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Reza Memari and Toby Genkel (Knudsen & Streuber), and the Dutch-British co-production Loving Vincent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dorota Kobiela
film profile] by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman.

This plethora of projects will surely make up the European animation landscape of tomorrow, a panorama of very high narrative and artistic quality, which is nevertheless marked by a competitive environment that has become cutthroat in theatres, and by a state of uncertainty in terms of funding, owing to the fact that TV channels are still hesitant to commit wholeheartedly to projects that are not targeted at family audiences.

(Translated from French)