Producers, sales agents and directors from ten countries were nominated for the Cartoon Movie Tributes, that seek to recognize the major achievements of European animation over the previous year. The winners will be voted by the participants attending Cartoon Movie, the pitching and co-production event for European animated films whose 27th edition will be held on March 4-6 in the French city of Bordeaux.
CARTOON MOVIE TRIBUTES 2025 NOMINEES
European Producer of the Year
– Barletta (Czech Republic), NOVINSKI (Slovakia) and Novanima Productions
(France) for “Living Large”.
– Dream Well Studio (Latvia), Sacrebleu Productions (France) and Take Five
(Belgium) for “Flow”.
– Je Suis Bien Content (France), Gao Shan Pictures (France) and ZEILT Productions
(Luxembourg) for “Into the Wonderwoods”.
European Sales Agent of the Year
– Kinology (France).
– LevelK (Denmark).
– The Playmaker (Germany).
European Director of the Year
– Claude Barras for “Savages”.
– Jean-François Laguionie for “A Boat in the Garden”.
– María Trénor for “Rock Bottom”.
Nine companies involved in three European co-productions are nominated for the Producer of the Year category.
Coproduced between Barletta (Czech Republic), NOVINSKI (Slovakia) and Novanima Productions (France), “Living Large” is a coming-of-age story about self- acceptance, love and friendship made in stop-motion, 2D, and puppet animation. Directed by first-time filmmaker Kristina Dufková, the film won the Jury Award in 2024 Annecy’s Contrechamp competition and was nominated for the European Film Awards 2024 in two categories (European Film, and European Animated Feature Film).
“Flow”, the animated fantasy adventure film produced by Dream Well Studio (Latvia) together with Sacrebleu Productions (France) and Take Five (Belgium), has already garnered widespread international acclaim, including its recognition in the European Film Awards, the Golden Globes and Annecy, among others. Directed by Gints Zilbalodis, “Flow” has also made history as the first Latvian film to be nominated for the Academy Awards (Best International Feature Film and Best Animated Feature).
France’s Je Suis Bien Content, Gao Shan Pictures and Luxembourg’s ZEILT Productions round up the list of nominees in this category with “Into the Wonderwoods” by the French duo Vincent Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord. Based on a graphic novel by Paronnaud (written under the penname Winshluss), this 3D animated film aimed at family audiences has been distributed in 45 territories after its World Premiere in Cannes. All three films were pitched in different stages of development in previous editions of Cartoon Movie.
The three companies competing in the Sales Agent of the Year category maintain strong ties with the animation industry: Denmark’s LevelK, France’s Kinology and Germany’s The Playmaker.
Copenhagen-based LevelK is an international film sales and aggregation house with an innovative approach to distribution. Among many other European animated films, its catalogue features “Mumbo Jumbo”, “Shelly and the Magic Light”, “Oink”, and the “Checkered Ninja” trilogy.
Kinology is a world sales and co-production company based in Paris representing “some of the most ambitious and innovative European feature films”. “Argonuts”, “Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds”, and the upcoming titles “Pets on a Train”, “Ogresse”, “The Faun” and “The X-Tras” are some of the animated films included in its catalogue.
Munich-based The Playmaker rounds up the nominees in this category. Focused on family entertainment – both animated and live action -, this world sales company lineup includes epic animated adventure “Ploey” and its sequel, “Ploey 2”, as well as “Pirate Mo and The Legend of Red Ruby” and “The Ogglies – Welcome to Smelliville”, among other films. The Playmaker operates within the holding company SL Group, which also provides services such as co-production, camera rental, post- production, VFX, and restoration.
The award for Director of the Year will be disputed by filmmakers from Switzerland, France and Spain.
Eight years after winning this same award with his worldwide success debut “My Life as a Courgette”, Swiss filmmaker Claude Barras is once again in the running with “Savages”. Made in stop-motion, the film is an ecological fable set at the heart of a tropical forest. “Savages” is a co-production between Switzerland, France and Belgium.
The prolific French director, screenwriter and animator Jean-François Laguionie is up for the award with “A Boat in the Garden”. Set in post-world war France, this poetic drama is the seventh feature film by Laguionie (“The Prince’s Voyage”, “Louise by the Shore”, “The Painting”), often hailed as one of the pioneers of French animation.
Inspired by the music and life of British cult musician and composer Robert Wyatt, “Rock Bottom” is the debut film of Spanish screenwriter and director María Trénor. The film builds on Wyatt’s homonymous album to tell the self-destructive love story of a young couple of artists caught up in the creative maelstrom of the hippie culture of the early 70s.
About Cartoon Movie
Since its first edition in 1999, 487 films have been financially supported by Cartoon Movie for a total budget of 3.2 billion EUR. Organised by CARTOON, Cartoon Movie is an annual forum aimed at strengthening the production and distribution of animated feature films in Europe. The event has the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA, CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée), Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux Métropole, Pôle Image Magelis and France Télévisions.
CARTOON – European Association of Animation Film is an international non-profit association based in Brussels that organises Cartoon Movie, together with Cartoon Forum, a co-production forum for animated TV series, and the training seminars Cartoon Springboard, CartoonNext, and Cartoon Business.
CARTOON Director: Annick Maes