Last week, Valencia once again hosted Cartoon Springboard (26-28 October), one of Europe’s most important events dedicated to young animation talents. 20 creative teams from European animation schools pitched their animated series and feature projects in front of a panel of audiovisual experts. The sessions took place in the Alfonso Roig auditorium of the Polytechnic University of Valencia’s Faculty of Fine Arts.

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Here, we present an overview of some of the most interesting projects presented during the gathering: 

Am’Rote – Claire Matz (France)
This feature-length project, produced by Yabunousagi, challenges our lifestyles based on consumerism and is set in an alternate world where Sabine and Marcello’s main activity is to recover materials and artefacts from the underwater ruins of an extinct civilization. One day, they rescue Étienne, who barely speaks the same language and struggles to adapt to Sabine and Marcello’s culture.

Astrid and the School of Astronauts – Federica Carbone and Anita Verona (Italy)
The 52x7 series project, presented on stage by Federica Carbone of Lumiar, follows Astrid, a brilliant 7-year-old albino girl with a passion for space and a secret dream: to be an astronaut. Throughout the show, Astrid and her friends will be involved in fun adventures, among planets and solar systems to explore, laws of the universe to learn and pirates to defeat. 

Chakra Warriors – Claudia Giancola, Alen Timofeyev, Marco Auddino and Sushant Sudhakaran  (Italy)
The 30x22 series, targeted at audiences aged 15-24, is set in a world where seven kingdoms are unequally provided with water and power by the Satyadham river. The lead character, Shakti, wants to find out what caused the water pollution of their homeland but ends up causing a fatal accident for their sister. Stricken with guilt, Shakti can only seek hope in an old legend: a wish will be granted to seven “Chakra Warriors”, individuals who gained supernatural skills after unlocking their chakras.

My name is... - Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez (Germany)
This 26x5.30 preschool series, produced by Blaue Pampelmuse and targeted at children aged 4-6, aims to teach them – in a humourous, light-hearted manner – how to deal with emotions such as fear, joy, envy and sadness. After showing a first trailer, Plocieniak-Alvarez explained that she is developing her project in co-operation with pedagogists and mental health experts.

Riot 5 – Violeta Fellay (Denmark)
A graduate of the Animation Workshop at VIA University College, Fellay presented her 26x24 series project revolving around Cherry, a college graduate stuck in the typical after-college limbo, anxious about her future. When she meets Griz, the boisterous 30-year-old who sees Cherry skating by the seaside, drags her to roller derby practice and convinces her to join the titular all-female (and very diverse) team.

The World of Las – Francesca Floris and Fabrizio Di Palma (Italy)
The family-orientated adventure flick, staged by Sardinian outfit Flora’s Room, tells the story of a girl who wants to get rid of a bad memory that keeps her chained to the past. Las lives in a world where the soul is defined with the name of “Sacred Body” and is treated with the same criteria with which a normal body is medicated. Las would like to become an artisan of Golden Scars but she is unable to fulfil her dream because of her childhood trauma. Thus, the girl will embark on a journey where she will retrace past events and meet magical creatures.

Fishing Stars – Giona Dapporto (Italy)
A Foore Animation presentation, this feature is set in a time when stars weren’t in the sky reflecting onto the water, but were into the water and reflected into the sky. In this world, their hunting is forbidden in order to preserve the species, but human greed still puts their existence at stake. Jane, Mike, Rambo and Paul embark on a quest to save them.

Kira and Prokki – Cedric Engels and Manuel Zilleken (Germany)
This 12x22 humorous series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have gone extinct and follows the adventures of two young cockroaches, called Kira and Prokki. Kira is a fun-loving inventor, who wants to live out her wild 20s, whilst Prokki is an idealistic archaeologist fascinated by the ruins and the artefacts of the once dominant species. Filled with dark humour and produced by TWENTYTWO Film, the series’ main target audience are adults and young adults.

Senior Crush – Orsolya Richolm and Andrea Ausztrics (Hungary)
This adult-orientated feature, staged by ULab, centres on Red, a sixteen-year-old girl living in Budapest in the 2000s. After her mother’s demise, she has been raised by her extroverted father Arthur, who has a strong personality and despises all the “losers.” Red admires her father and seizes every opportunity to be the centre of attention. One day, she gets the opportunity to appear on a TV show. To do this, she needs the technical help of the school’s grumpy IT guy, Mr. Toad. Their relationship turns into a deep crush for Toad, who chases her away in a humiliating way.

Tales of Provence – Claire Charvolin (France) 
An alumna of Lyon’s Emile Cohl Atelier, Charvolin’s project is a 6x5 family-orientated series. In it, the Devil befriends the powerful Mistral, the impetuous wind that blows over the lands of Provence. In each episode, they will tell a traditional tale and lead us through the past and present of Provence’s local folklore.

You can find the full list of selected projects here.