‘Zako’ shines at Cartoon Movie showcase for European animation | News

Tigran Arakelyan’s Zako, a France-Armenia project about the painter Sargis Mangasaryan who survived the concentration camps of the Second World War by drawing portraits of his tormentors, won the Eurimages co-production award at this year’s Cartoon Movie event that closed on March 6.

Zako, a collaboration between Armenia’s OnOff Studio and France’s Sacrebleu, is now in development. The award aims to boost international co-productions intended for cinema release.

Sacrebleu producer Ron Dyens, who was also at the event with My Dad, The Truck, said he had been inspired by the creative spirit demonstrated by the filmmakers at Cartoon Movie.

“If you look at the budget of the last three animated movies that won the the Golden Globes [Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron, and Gints Zilbalodis’s Flow], you will see these are the most inexpensive animated movies in the award’s history. It proves Europeans can tell a story without a huge amount of money.

“I think this will bring a lot of hope to producers and maybe attract private investment from the US.”

Cartoon Movie gathered 838 participants from 40 countries. A total of 251 buyers attended, including 12.2% newcomers.

Among the most well-attended sessions were Lou And The Glacier’s Secret (France-Switzerland-Belgium), Absolute Surrender (France-UK), Bergeronnette (France, Hyacinthe (Belgium-France-Poland) and Rose And The Marmots (France-Italy-Portugal).

Driven by the success of Flow, filmmakers from the Latvian animation sector garnered significant attention with three projects showcased in the Baltic spotlight: Born In The Jungle by Edmunds Jansons (Atom Art), Karmic Knot by Signe Baumane (Studio Locomotive) and The Northern Star by Kārlis Vītols (Studija Kokles).

There was a notable escalate in projects aimed at adult and newborn adult viewers, rising from 18% of the total projects last year to 31% this year. This shift represents 16 adult-focused projects out of a total of 55 for this edition.

Cartoon Tributes

The Cartoon Tributes were awarded to films and companies already on release, voted on by all event participants over the two days. Most of the projects and nominees had previously passed through Cartoon.

Spain’s María Trénor won European director of the year for Rock Bottom, a 1970s-set love story inspired by the lives of former Soft Machine vocalist and drummer Robert Wyatt and his lyricist-illustrator partner Alfreda Benge. Rock Bottom screened in competition at Annecy in 2024. It is produced by Alba Sotorra and sold by Loco Films.

Paris-based Kinology won the prize for European sales agent of the year. Among its upcoming animated titles are Cecile McLorin Salvant’s musical Ogresse and Benoît Daffis and Jean-Christian

Latvia’s Dream Well Studio, France’s Sacrebleu Productions, and Belgium’s Take Five, the producers of Flow, were jointly awarded the producer of the year prize.

“These prizes recognize the companies and personalities whose major contributions in their respective fields have significantly enhanced the European animation industry over the previous year, “ said Cartoon Movie organisers.

The event also hosted an animation coaching programme in which more than 80 students and teachers from 14 European schools had the opportunity to present their work to industry professionals, receive feedback, and secure an internship or their first job in the animation industry.