07/03/2016 - The French filmmaker has won with his Long Way North, while Best Distributor went to Denmark’s SF Film

Rémi Chayé (second from right) and the other winners of the Cartoon Movie Tributes

Handed out at the 18^th edition of Cartoon Movie, which brought together more than 750 animation professionals from 2-4 March in Lyon, the 2016 Cartoon Movie Tributes (which serve to reward a leading figure or company that has had a dynamic and positive influence on the European animated feature-film industry) saw French director Rémi Chayé claim victory in the "Director of the Year" category. The feature debut by the filmmaker, Long Way North [+see also:
trailer
film profile], won such accolades as the Audience Award at the Annecy Film Festival last year and the Young Audience Award at Anima in 2016. Produced by Sacrebleu Productions and Maybe Movies, and co-produced by 2 Minutes, France 3 Cinéma and Danish outfit Nørlum, the film, which is sold abroad by UDI, has been showing in French theatres since 27 January (courtesy of Diaphana Distribution – it has taken a total of 157,000 admissions in five weeks). It will be released in Spain next Friday.

Interestingly, the new project by Rémi Chayé, A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary, was pitched in the "Conceptual" category at this year’s edition of Cartoon Movie. The film, which is once again being staged by the duo of companies Sacrebleu Productions and Maybe Movies, will portray a youthful adventure of the future Calamity Jane.

The Cartoon Movie Tribute for Distributor of the Year was bestowed upon Danish company SF Film, which last year brought out titles such as Paddington [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile], Shaun the Sheep [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile], Song of the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tomm Moore
film profile] and Asterix: The Land of the Gods [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile].

The Cartoon Movie Tribute for Producer of the Year shone the spotlight on the partnership of four European firms (Germany’s Ulysses Filmproduktion, Luxembourg’s Fabrique d'images, Belgium’s Grid Animation and Ireland’s Moetion Films) for Ooops! Noah is Gone... by Toby Genkel and Sean McCormack, which has been sold all around the world and has notched up 521,000 admissions in France (distributed by Paradis Films).

With regard to the 56 projects presented at Cartoon Movie, it is worth noting that the pitch that attracted the highest number of professionals was that for Tulip by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli. With production being handled by France’s Folimage and Belgium’s Lunanime, the third feature (currently in development) by the popular duo behind A Cat in Paris [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (nominated for the 2012 Oscar for Best Animated Feature) and Phantom Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (presented at the Toronto Film Festival last September) will revolve around an 11-year-old girl with the power to see mysterious creatures that are invisible to everyone else. Aided by a boy of the same age, she will discover that it is a family secret which lies behind this skill of hers, which opens up an enormous array of possibilities for her...

(Translated from French)