Cartoon Tributes: Nominations 2023

Cartoon Tributes animation nominees 2023

Companies and personalities from 11 European countries have been nominated for the Cartoon Tributes, which recognize the most outstanding achievements of European film animation in the previous year.

The winners of these awards in three categories – Director, Distributor/Sales Agent, and Producer of the Year –  will be voted for by the professionals attending Cartoon Movie, the pitching and co-production event for European animated films that will celebrate its 25th anniversary in the French city of Bordeaux.

Nominees for European Director of the Year are Amandine Fredon & Benjamin Massoubre for “Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be” (France); Áron Gauder for “Four Souls of Coyote” (Hungary); Mascha Halberstad for “OINK ” (Netherlands); and José Miguel Ribeiro for “Nayola” (Portugal).

Regarding European Distributor/Sales Agent of the Year, candidates are Italy’s I Wonder Pictures, France’s KMBO, Spain’s Pink Parrot Media, and Greece’s Rosebud.21.
 
Finally, Les Films du Tambour de Soie, Vivement Lundi !, and Foliascope (France) / Graffiti Film (Italy) / Nadasdy Film (Switzerland) / Ocidental Filmes (Portugal) / Lux Fugit Film (Belgium) for “No Dogs or Italians Allowed”; Ulysses Filmproduktion (Germany) / Cantilever Media (UK) for “The Amazing Maurice”; Mikrofilm (Norway) / Vivi Film (Belgium) for “Titina”; and Abano Producións, and UniKo (Spain) / Autour de Minuit, and Schmuby/Borderline Films (France) for “Unicorn Wars” will be contending for the European Producer of the Year award.

The full nominees' list:

European Director of the Year
Amandine Fredon & Benjamin Massoubre for “Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be” (France)
Awarded with the Annecy Cristal for a Feature Film in 2022, “Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be” is Amandine Fredon & Benjamin Massoubre’s first film as directors. An adaptation from a popular children’s book series created by René Goscinny and illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé, the film has been hailed as “an ode to the joys of childhood”. Fredon has previously directed television series, while Massoubre has mainly worked as an editor (“Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary”, “I Lost My Body”, among others).
 
Áron Gauder for “Four Souls of Coyote” (Hungary) 
Graduated from Moholy-Nagy University in Budapest and the Universität der Künste in Berlin, film director and scriptwriter Áron Gauder has won numerous awards, including the Annecy Cristal Award in 2005 with his feature animated film “The District!”. To be presented at Cartoon Movie 2023 as sneak preview, “Four Souls of Coyote” is billed as an epic adventure tale of the Native American creation myth. 
 
Mascha Halberstad for “OINK” (Netherlands)
Dutch filmmaker and illustrator Mascha Halberstad first film “OINK” is another contender for this category. With a Roald Dahl atmosphere to it, this stop-motion film was selected at the Berlinale in 2022. Halberstad will be presenting her next film at Cartoon Movie: “Fox and Hare Save the Forest”, based on Sylvia Vanden Heede’s books. 
 
José Miguel Ribeiro for “Nayola” (Portugal)
José Miguel Ribeiro’s first feature film tells the story of three generations of women during the 25-year Angolan civil war. Graduated from the Lisbon Art School, Ribeiro has previously directed several short films, including Cartoon d'Or winner “A Suspeita” in 2000. “Nayola” was first presented at Cartoon Movie as an in-development project in 2016, and six years later had its sneak preview at the event.

European Distributor of the Year
I Wonder Pictures (Italy)
Bologna-based I Wonder Pictures distributes theatrically and digitally “the best biopics, docs and feature films from all over the world”. “Flee”, Ernest & Celestine”, “Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be”, and “Unicorn Wars” are some of the company’s most recent films distributed in Italy.
 
KMBO (France)
Animation is at the heart of the KMBO, a film distribution company created in 2007. Based in Paris, the company releases around 10 films each year, and works with both auteur and commercial animation films. “The Amazing Maurice”, “Moonbound”, “Just Super”, and “The Elfkins – Baking a Difference”, are some of the titles distributed by the company recently.
 
Pink Parrot Media (Spain)
Pink Parrot Media is an international sales company focused on animation and live-action family entertainment. Based in Madrid, the company’s core business lays in CGI animated features, but it also distributes 2D animation, animated TV series, and live action family features. Pink Parrot’s catalogue includes films such as “Valentina”, and “Trash,” and projects in production such as “Butterfly Tale”, which will be presented at Cartoon Movie 2023.
 
Rosebud.21 (Greece)
Athens-based Rosebud.21 is a boutique distribution company with more than 500 titles distributed in Greece and Cyprus, including major European animated films such as “Ooops! Noah Is Gone...”, “Where is Anne Frank?”, and “My Life as a Courgette”.

European Producer of the Year     
“No Dogs or Italians Allowed” is a co-production between France's Les Films du Tambour de Soie, Vivement Lundi !, and Foliascope together with Italy's Graffiti Film,  Switzerland's Nadasdy Film, Portugal's Ocidental Filmes, and Belgium's Lux Fugit Film. Directed by Alain Ughetto (“Jasmine”), this stop-motion film won both the Jury Prize at Annecy and the European Film Award for Best European Animated Film in 2022.
 
 “The Amazing Maurice is a co-production between Germany’s Ulysses Filmproduktion and UK’s Cantilever Media, 3D animation film is co-directed by Toby Genkel & Florian Westermann. Selected at Sundance Film Festival 2023, the film is based on a book by British author Terry Pratchett. 
 
“Titina” by Kajsa Næss is a co-production between Norway’s Mikrofilm and Belgium’s Vivi Film. As for the production companies, Oslo’s based Mikrofilm won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2007 with “The Danish Poet”. Based in Brussels, Vivi Film has participated as co-producer in highly renowned films such as “The Triplets of Belleville” and “The Secret of Kells”, and will be presenting “The Legend of Lune” at Cartoon Movie 2023.
 
Unicorn Wars” by Alberto Vázquez is a co-production by Spain’s Abano Producións and UniKo, together with Academy-awarded animation studio Autour de Minuit, and Schmuby/Borderline Films, from France. The film has also earned a double nomination for 2023 Spain’s prestigious Goya Film Awards. Abano Producións and UniKo have recently worked together on “Sultana's Dream”. UniKo and Autour de Minuit have already coproduced two of Vázquez’ short films: “Decorado” (2016), and “Homeless Home” (2020).

Winners will be announced in the Bordeaux Congress Centre on March 9 at noon.

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