The distributors network zoomed in on films such as Niko: Beyond the Northern Lights, Living Large, The Most Precious of Cargoes, Flow and Hola Frida!

A moment from the meeting

As independent distributors continue expanding their catalogue of animated titles, they must navigate the unique challenges of releasing these films, particularly in positioning them to reach the right audience.  Competition with major American studios becomes even tougher when it comes to the animation industry, so timing always plays a pivotal role, as does building strong partnerships with the right stakeholders to increase visibility and audience engagement, notably among parents and schools. Likewise, producing appealing merchandise and organising family-oriented events can make a real difference. On a broader level, collaboration and open communication between distributors are always key to tackling these challenges and learning from each other’s experiences.

Strengthening its long-standing partnership with Cartoon Movie, Europa Distribution hosted a dedicated workshop during the 27th edition of Europe’s leading animation market and pitching event, held in Bordeaux from 4 to 6 March. Over 20 distributors from across Europe met for a private session during the French gathering, where designated speakers presented case studies from recent animated releases, aiming to inspire colleagues from different territories while offering practical examples on audience targeting, promotional efforts, and innovative ways to position animated films in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Monica Felea from Romania’s Bad Unicorn kicked off the session by sharing their experience releasing Niko: Beyond the Northern Lights, directed by Kari Juusonen and Jørgen Lerdam, one of the first animated titles in their catalogue, excluding Japanese anime. After several previews, they released the film on 6 December, coinciding with St Nicholas Day in Romania, given the film’s Christmas theme. While this period is generally favourable for animation and family films, they faced fierce competition from big studio releases like Moana 2, Gladiator II, and Wicked. “We believe that when it comes to animation, timing and context are everything,” Felea explained. One of their first marketing decisions was slightly adapting the film’s title to boost its local appeal and Christmas connection: Niko, Micuțul ren Niko și sania lui Moș Crăciun (which translates to Little Reindeer Niko and Santa’s Sleigh), as well as adjusting the original artwork accordingly. In terms of promotion, the Romanian outfit went for a mix of standard marketing materials, in-cinema and outdoor advertising. One of their most effective strategies was producing school materials and cinema giveaways to engage audiences in advance. They also created a dedicated landing page for the film (as they tend to do for all their releases), funnelling all online advertising there, where audiences could find full screening details and buy tickets directly. The movie ran in cinemas for 10 weeks, performing exceptionally well between Christmas and New Year’s. It became Bad Unicorn’s highest-grossing release, their first acquisition to surpass 100,000 viewers, and the only independent title to rank among Romania’s top films of the year. “Timing is crucial. You need to understand when the perfect moment is to launch an animated film if you want to achieve the best results,” Felea concluded.

Next was Jan Slanina from Aerofilms (Czech Republic), who outlined their release strategy for Living Large [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Dufková
film profile] by Czech director Kristina Dufková. Slanina explained that working with a local title made promotion in the Czech market significantly easier, as the filmmaker and producer played a major role in the marketing campaign, participating in promotional activities and attending screenings throughout the country. The film had its world premiere in Annecy before heading straight to Karlovy Vary, where it became one of the best-received films by the public. Following a three-month campaign, the film was released in Czech cinemas in October 2024. Aerofilms produced a wide range of merchandise, including a cookbook inspired by the film’s story, which revolves around food, created in collaboration with a well-known local food blogger. The Czech publisher also launched a successful partnership with Skibi, a children’s shop chain. “We had a Living Large corner in every single store they own in the Czech Republic, where our promotional materials were displayed. We also created some merch together and gave away their products at our events, which resulted in a successful collaboration,” said Slanina. Another key asset for the film’s promotion was the involvement of the director’s husband, a very popular musician in the Czech Republic, who composed a song for the film that went viral. However, given his status and prominence in the country, it was challenging to balance his involvement without overshadowing the film itself, which ended up achieving fairly good results at the box office.

Before diving into the specific release strategy for The Most Precious of Cargoes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michel Hazanavicius
film profile] by Michel Hazanavicius, Thomas Verkaeren from Belgium’s O’Brother Distribution pointed out that, while they typically handle Benelux rights for most of their acquisitions, in this case, they only had the Belgian rights to the film. One of the key strengths of the campaign was the reputation of its director, Oscar winner for The Artist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michel Hazanavicius
film profile] in 2011, as well as his willingness to take an active part in the promotion and attend avant-premieres. However, on the downside, the film deals with a complex subject (the story revolves around a Holocaust survivor), making it difficult to target the right audience, while the current political climate might deter some viewers. The primary target audience was people over 55 concentrated in the main urban areas, with secondary audiences mainly consisting of cinephiles and animation fans. To support the release, O’Brother established several partnerships, including the largest French-speaking media outlets in the country, as well as cultural and Jewish organisations, working around the commemoration of the Shoah. On social media, they followed the “three-phase strategy,” as Verkaeren explained: “First, we aimed to reach the broadest audience possible. Then, we retargeted those who engaged with our posts. Finally, we retargeted for conversion, directing engaged users to online ticketing services with direct links to cinemas screening the film.” The Most Precious of Cargoes was released in Belgium in December 2024, following its French release, and the results exceeded the initial expectations based on previous benchmarks. Their targeting strategy proved highly effective, with Brussels and Liège, the two largest cities in French-speaking Belgium, accounting for 60% of total admissions. Looking at cinema types, the trend was also clear: arthouse and independent cinemas made up 65% of total admissions.

Sabine Hofmann from Polyfilm (Austria) took the floor to discuss their release of what was arguably the biggest European animation of the year: Flow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
interview: Red Carpet @ European Film …
film profile], the Oscar-winning sensation by Latvia’s Gints Zilbalodis. Similarly to other territories in Europe, the film was given an extended title in Austria: Wie die Katze ihre Angst vom Wasser verlor (How the Cat Lost Its Fear of Water), in an attempt to make it more attractive to local audiences. The Austrian publisher, which releases a high number of films compared to the average independent distributor (around 40–50 titles per year), has extensive experience working with animation: some of their recent releases include The Boy and the Heron, Memoir of a Snail, and The Sloth Lane, among others. They acquired Flow in Cannes, sublicensing theatrical rights from the German distributor MFA, and released it on 7 February 2025, right in the middle of the international awards season, when the film emerged as one of the most celebrated titles of the year. Regarding promotion, Polyfilm successfully applied to the Films on the Move programme, securing additional funding for P&A. They partnered with Gruvi to set up a dedicated landing page, which allowed them more time to develop various collaborations, including partnerships with veterinarians, cat cafés, and children’s playrooms across Austria, providing them with promotional materials and even a specially produced board game. “It’s all about merch and cooperation,” as Hofmann put it. Polyfilm also leveraged its strong social media presence, both on its channels and those of Filmcasino, the Vienna-based arthouse cinema they run. Positive reviews and international nominations helped boost the campaign, which also benefited from Austria’s large community of animation and cat lovers. “It’s not easy for European animation to compete with the big American titles, but this one is doing pretty well. What we learned is that we initially focused on children, but more and more adults turned out to be interested in the film,” Hofmann noted.

Offering a different perspective, João Paulo Abreu from the Portuguese company Films4You provided insight into their experience with the same title. They had previously released Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
film profile] (2019), Zilbalodis’ first feature film, with “reasonably good results” during the pandemic. In this case, expectations were high, as Flow had become an international success and the most-watched film in Latvian history. However, the main challenge was how to position the film. To address this, they organised a series of test screenings with schoolchildren, and the results strongly suggested that it was better suited for kids over 10 years old. “We faced a similar situation when we released another animation with no dialogue at the end of December, just two months ago. It was quite difficult to keep the children in their seats for more than 20 minutes, as they started joking and playing. That’s one of the issues. When there’s no dialogue, it’s quite difficult to keep kids engaged,” Abreu explained. The Portuguese distributor focused heavily on social media during promotion, working with digital influencers. They organised giveaways in partnership with cinema chains, as well as special screenings and even an animation masterclass. The film was released on over 50 screens on 20 February and has continued to gain momentum thanks to the Oscars buzz. Abreu was particularly impressed by the film’s performance in arthouse cinemas, which accounted for only 10% of the total screens but delivered surprisingly good results.

Wrapping up the session, French distributor Laure Caillol from Haut et Court presented their case for Hola Frida!, directed by André Kadi and Karine Vézina, based on the life of the famous Mexican artist and icon. The film is a co-production between Haut et Court and Canadian company Tobo Média, which had previously collaborated on Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2023). “It was originally a TV series based on a book, and we worked with them to develop a full feature film, incorporating some French elements,” Caillol explained. One example was casting French singer Olivia Ruiz as the voice of adult Frida Kahlo, who also recorded a song for the film and helped with the promotion. It was vital for the team to get the approval of the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico as well as the painter’s family, who commended the project. It was released on 12 February across 150 screens in France. Despite strong competition due to the holiday season, the French distributor aimed to attract families with children, fans of Mexican culture, and educational communities. “We also worked with associations like Handicap International,” Caillol noted, as part of an effort to raise awareness around disability and discrimination, which are key themes in the film, focusing on six-year-old Frida’s experience with polio. Similar to previous cases, the distribution company produced a lot of merchandising and print advertising, as well as educational materials for teachers. The book was also released in France through a partnership with a local publisher, which helped reinforce the campaign. Eventually, the film performed remarkably well in cinemas, and Caillol was confident it would have a longer lifespan through national school programmes. Interestingly, they also released a Spanish-language version, which was well received by exhibitors.

After each presentation, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and engage in in-depth discussions about specific figures and aspects of the campaigns, reflecting on how these strategies could be adapted to different markets. Europa Distribution’s workshop in Bordeaux has established itself as a highly valued and useful platform where distributors come together to refine their approach to releasing independent animation, learning from both the successes and mistakes of their counterparts in other countries. As animation continues to play a more prominent role in independent distributors’ line-ups, finding the right positioning, engaging audiences, and building fitting partnerships remains essential. Events like these not only help professionals navigate the unique complexities of animation distribution but also encourage collaboration across different territories.

Beyond the workshop, Europa Distribution members attended Cartoon Movie’s pitching sessions and networking activities throughout the week, eager to strengthen their presence in the animation film sector. Given the growing success of this initiative among its members, the international association of independent film publishers and distributors has also renewed its partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (10-12 June) and will be hosting another working session focused on the distribution and exhibition of animated films in collaboration with CICAE – the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas. Moreover, the network’s activities will continue at other major industry events, including Udine and Haugesund.

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