04/03/2015 - The European co-production forum gets under way today in Lyon, with over 750 professionals and 60 projects due to attend

Shaun the Sheep by Richard Starzak and Mark Burton

Animation, which is naturally inclined towards co-productions, has, over the years and following all the success it has seen in theatres and on the export market, assumed a key role in ensuring the rude health of the European film industry. Benefiting from the world-renowned expertise of its technical and creative teams, European production can easily draw in very young audiences, children and families, or even venture into more adult territory, lending a new dimension to ultra-modern subjects. This incredibly rich wealth of talent is reflected perfectly by the selection of 60 projects on the menu of the 17th edition of Cartoon Movie (read the interview with the chief executive of the event, Marc Vandeweyer), which kicks off today in Lyon and lasts three days, with over 750 animation professionals (producers, distributors and investors) from 40 different countries due to attend. The platform has already proven its effectiveness: since it was founded, 229 of the feature films presented have secured their funding there.

The films being showcased include eight completed movies (including Shaun the Sheep [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile], screened as the opening film), ten in production, 21 in development and 21 at the concept stage. Geographically speaking, France is still the key hub for European animation, boasting 26 projects on show, followed by Germany (nine), the United Kingdom (four), Denmark (three), Norway (three), Belgium (two), Ireland (two) and Italy (two). The other countries involved, with one project each, are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, Serbia and Spain.

Featuring among the most prominent in-development titles this year are Les mousquetaires du tsar by Gaëtan and Paul Brizzi, Les As de la Jungle [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by David Alaux, Pachamama by Juan Antin (staged by Folivari, Didier Brunner’s new outfit), Les Hirondelles de Kaboul by Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mevellec, La Fameuse invasion de la Sicile par les Ours by Italy’s Lorenzo Mattotti, Noël au Balcon by Arthur Qwak and Didier Tronchet, and the Franco-German co-production Vic le Viking by Eric Cazes. An impressive number of tantalising projects stand out among the concepts, including several that are aimed at adult audiences – but we should also mention the Dutch-Belgian project Vincent (about the life of Van Gogh). Of note among the titles in production are Dofus - Book I [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Anthony Roux and Jean-Jacques Denis (including some early images of this spin-off of the famous video game – read the news) and three films that will be presented as sneak previews: Cafard [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jan Bultheel, Adama [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Simon Rouby, and Fearless Child. Dedicated to Iqbal [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Michel Fuzellier and Babak Payami. There will therefore be a huge amount of potential on show in Lyon that will certainly not fail to pique the interest (and could attract more than just interest, if they’re lucky) of the myriad distributors and international sales agents attending the gathering.

(Translated from French)