Every year at Cartoon Movie, producers, investors, broadcasters, and distributors gather in Bordeaux, France, at the heart of the animation-friendly Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, to discover the latest animated features being developed in Europe.
For this 27th edition, fifty-five feature-length projects from sixteen countries will pitch, with the aim of finding financing as well as distribution and exhibition opportunities. Since its inception, Cartoon Movie has helped 486 films with a total budget of 3.2 billion euro to advance towards completion.
This year, we’re highlighted four promising pitches in the young adult/adult animation target group, which is still a relatively small segment of the European animation market. This edition has a record 33% of the projects targeted to that demographic, while 45% are aimed at family audiences and 22% at children. Ahead of the pitches, Cartoon Brew spoke with the directors and producers behind these films.
Bergeronnette
Country: France
Studio: Miyu Productions
Length: 80 minutes
Technique: 2d computer & painting
When he grows up, Pierre will be a shepherd, like his father, and he’s proud of it! A shepherd is someone serious, solid and authoritarian, but Pierre is quite the opposite…
“At the heart of Bergeronnette was the idea of making a feature film for my own daughter”, Lucrèce Andreae, director and comic book author told Cartoon Brew. “[It’s] also the opportunity to weave a delicate connection between the animated films that exalted my childhood and the values of the adult I’ve become. My ambition is to combine everything that makes a classic animated feature so wonderful — adventure, emotion, magic — with a reflection on the rigidity of the roles we are asked to play in society. I think a slight escape from the norm can be a breath of fresh air, and this project tackles the concept of hero’s marginality with tenderness and poetry.”
Andreae, who received the César for animated short in 2018 for her film Grandpa Walrus/em>, will continue to push the limits of 2d animation to achieve this project. But, as she explained, the challenges of this feature also lie in her specific approach to sound and music. “Our little hero can imitate birds to perfection and converse with them, while the language of Rita the witch is a mixture of beastly grunts and croaking. To create the teaser we will present at Cartoon Movie, we went in search of people who could imitate birds, as well as a birdcall maker who knew by heart the melodies and intonations typical of each species. I’d like the music to include sparrow songs, woodpecker drumming and heron trumpets!”
Miyu Productions is no stranger to such unique projects. The French studio, co-founded by Emmanuel-Alain Raynal and Pierre Baussaron, already distinguished itself last year at Cartoon Movie with Ogresse. Miyu’s latest features Ghost Cat Anzu and Chicken for Linda! also share the same 2d adventurousness promised by Bergeronnette.
“We’re currently completing the development phase of the film, and have a script, a graphic bible, and a teaser at our disposal,” said Raynal, who will be on stage at Cartoon Movie with the director. “We’ll be officially launching the film’s financing at Cartoon Movie, and are currently looking for partners: distributors, international sales agents, broadcasters, and any other partners willing to get involved alongside us to bring this magnificent project to life.”
Condenaditos
Country: Germany, France
Studios: Studio Seufz, Ikki Films
Length: 80 minutes
Technique: 2d computer
In the magical land of Bolivia, Kiki’s tranquil life with her cursed mother is disrupted when she encounters Domitilo, a victim of the Bolivian dictatorship, which brings Kiki to mysteriously inherit her family’s curse.
“The film is loosely based on the history of my family,” co-writer and director Matisse Gonzalez told Cartoon Brew, explaining in greater detail:
Around 2018, I found out that my grandfather was minister of finance in Bolivia during the military dictatorship of René Barrientos Ortuño (1964 to 1969), and I also found out that he and Barrientos were half brothers. You can probably imagine that it is very late for someone to find out these facts about their country and about their family, but it is because this subject has always been a big taboo in my family. Until this day nobody in the family wants to admit that my grandfather was the half brother of the dictator, even though there are many history books that show that they were related.
Condenaditos also draws on a famous Bolivian myth – La Maldición del Che – which suggests that Che Guevara has cursed everyone who was complicit in his death, and Gonzalez and her co-writers Jack Pendarvis and Sophie Lodwitz have woven this into Kiki’s fictional story.
Ultimately, she said, “I want to explore the complex relationship that one has with their family, the traumas and guilt inherited, but most importantly the love that takes place in broken families. Because it’s first and foremost a love story. We want to tell this story through lightness and absurd humor, in a Bolivia filled with magical realism, with the hope that anyone with a ‘cursed’ family can relate to our film.”
Following the style she used in her Annie Award-nominated short Gravedad, Gonzalez’s project will be 2d computer animation, with flat, simple, and minimalistic characters. Gonzalez is collaborating with art director and background designer Maya Merigeau (Genius Loci) to establish the film’s look. “Backgrounds will be painted in watercolor and then we will risograph-print them, to match the look of printed media that me and Maya love. To put it all together, we also hired Marvin Sprengel, who will integrate both styles using new tools that he developed specifically for this project in Nuke. We think that we found a beautiful and unique look that both has the lightness of my simple designs and the depth of Maya’s works. This will help to tackle one of our big challenges: telling a heavy, existential story with a light-hearted, optimistic attitude.”
Condenaditos heads to Cartoon Movie at the development stage of the project, as the team recently finished a teaser and will have a new script in June. They are currently looking for distributors and broadcasters to launch the financing, as well as co-producers to join the two production companies — Studio Seufz (Germany) and Ikki Films (France).
Faya – Journey to Freedom
Country: Netherlands, France
Studios: Submarine Animation, Special Touch Studios
Length: 90 minutes
Technique: 3d computer
When Surinamese resistance fighter and anti-colonialist author Anton de Kom returns to Suriname in 1933, he is brutally imprisoned by the colonial government. In jail, he finds a gateway to a mythological rainforest where he must find the inner strength to help his people by undergoing a life-threatening journey.
“Our project Faya is based on a part of de Kom’s life, a figure who fought for people suffering under colonial oppression in the Northern Amazon”, Patrick Chin said. “These were my ancestors. Although he was treated like a terrorist by the Dutch authorities and killed by the Nazis in 1945, his work contributed to the independence of the Surinamese people in 1975. I find it very inspirational to know that all efforts to change the world for the better are important. I think we need these kinds of stories now more than ever.”
Depicting de Kom’s dark fantastical journey to find what stories he needs to tell to help his people, Chin’s team create a new mythology filled with both well-known and new creatures. This arena will allow them to bring many cultural influences from all over the world together in a part of the world that is close to the director’s heart, with many opportunities to create something visually unique.
“We’ve chosen to work in cg because this gives us the opportunity to create this detailed fantasy world, steeped in cultural richness. Working in cg can get complicated and expensive quickly, you need a lot of highly skilled and specialized people. Besides that, the workflow can sometimes be frustrating because it takes a long time to see what you’re actually making. I’d love to do a longer period of story and cinematographic development with a small team in something like Blender’s Eevee, a bit like Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow process. The relatively small feature budgets we have in Europe pushes us to be smart and creative.”
According to producer Janneke van de Kerkhof, the script is in its last stages, with a little fine-tuning and polishing still to be done. Applying for production funding at the Netherlands Film Fund is their next step. “We have found a great co-production partner in Sebastian Onomo (Special Touch Studio, France). We hope to find a third co-production partner during Cartoon Movie, but also get the interest from an international sales agent, distributors, and broadcasters”, van de Kerkhof said.
Mu Yi and the Handsome General
Country: France
Studios: Studio La Cachette
Length: 90 minutes
Technique: 2d computer & drawing
Mu Yi, a clever 14-year-old girl, lives in the Village of the Ancients, a community of women forbidden to men. But the encounter with a traveling opera troupe will shake the order of things, awakening ancient spirits, and unraveling spirits of the past.
“This feature is a love letter addressed to the landscapes, the characters, the sounds, the music, and the deep feelings that I experience in front of the cinema that I love”, said director, graphic author, and producer Julien Chheng. “It’s an original story, anchored in the raw and light reality of the Chinese mountains, where survives a community of women forbidden to men in which Mu Yi, the heroine, grows up. This region has seen the birth of many myths, strong characters, and survivors. I’m making this film for them.”
The project, entirely crafted in 2d animation, is a sensitive rendering through which it is possible to feel the drawing done by hand by the teams at La Cachette. “When I was at Les Gobelins”, commented Chheng regarding his former school, “we were told that 2d was over and had no future. And that’s why, after I started my professional career at the Disney studios, I returned to France and founded Studio La Cachette, with the aim to create in-house 2d quality animation projects.”
The story takes place in China, the cradle of calligraphy. According to Chheng, his characters will roam the landscapes of Chinese period wall frescoes, allowing for great creativity and freedom for the artists. “It’s a demanding technique, and it must be carefully controlled to achieve a quality result within the given budget. The film evolves in a very reduced economy”, added Chheng, “and I absorb a maximum of positions such as author, producer, director, etc…”
At Cartoon Movie, La Cachette’s team is mainly looking for tv broadcasters to supplement their financing. The project is already supported by the French PACA South Region for the development and production stages, as well as support from the CNC and a potential deal with MK2 as international sales agent.
“We’re at the end of the pre-production stage”, said Chheng, “and we’ll enter the production phase this spring with a delivery expected in early 2026. Things are happening very quickly!”
