28 animated projects in 4 categories were considered in the 2020 pitching event; ‘The Garden of Heart’ wins in animated shorts with a special mention to ‘The Pet Named Stress;’ ‘Igi’ wins in feature films, ‘No Happy Ever After’ takes the TV award.
The CEE Animation Forum was held online from October 6-8. The forum is a leading regional pitching, financing and co-production event focusing on the animation industry. The event aims to boost projects´ international circulation potential, visibility, and access to a wider European market. This year’s international juries, consisting of experienced film professionals, followed 28 animated projects in 4 categories. The winners were announced during an online Award Ceremony.
CEE Animation Forum AWARDs
Category feature films | 1,000 EUR
Winner:
- Igi- p. Vladimer Katcharava, 20 Steps Productions, d. Natia Nikolashvili (Georgia)
Category series / TV specials | 1,000 EUR
Winner:
- No Happily Ever After - p. Mária Móťovská, Helium film, d. Gabriela Plačková, Alžběta Göbelová (Czech Republic)
Special Mention:
- Betti and Lola - p. Drasko Ivezic, Adriatic Animation, d. Hana Tintor (Croatia)
Category short films | 1,000 EUR
Winner:
- The Garden of Heart - p. Balint Gelley, CUB Animation, d. Oliver Hegyi (Hungary)
Special Mention:
- The Pet Named Stress - p. Drasko Ivezic, Adriatic Animation, d. Laura Martinovic (Croatia)
Category XR | 1,000 EUR
Winner:
- Paperback VR - p. Giedre Burokaite, Meno avilys, d. Robertas Nevecka (Lithuania)
Audience Award | 1,000 EUR
- Baldies - p. Jiri Sadek, COFILM, scriptwriter: Eliska Podzimkova (Czech Republic)
Workshop Scholarship
- King Wray - p. Ana Maria Parvan, Studioset (Romania), d. Anton Groves, Damian Groves (Great Britain)
Animation Sans Frontieres Scholarship
- Face Recognition - p. Martinus Klemet, Animartinus, d. Martinus Klemet (Estonia)
Cartoon Forum 2020 Direct Selection (both projects have already attended Cartoon Forum 2020
- Baldies - p. Jiri Sadek, COFILM, scriptwriter: Eliska Podzimkova (Czech Republic)
- Daisy and Dot - p. Géza M. Tóth, KEDD Animation Studio, d. István Heim (Hungary)
Animarkt Stop Motion Forum Accreditation
- In Her Face - p. Ana Paula Catarino, BRO Cinema, d. Margarida Madeira (Portugal)
Kids Kino Industry Accreditation
- No Happily Ever After - p. Mária Móťovská, Helium film, d. Gabriela Plačková, Alžběta Göbelová (Czech Republic)
The jury members:
Feature Films pitching competition:
- Annemie Degryse (Lunanime / Lumiere Group, co-owner & producer, Belgium)
- Jakub Karwowski (LETKO, producer, Poland)
- Esben Toft Jakobsen (animation director & writer, Denmark)
Series / TV Specials pitching competition:
- Stefan Pfaffle (KiKA – Der Kinderkanal von ARD und ZDF, deputy head of fiction & co-Production, Germany)
- Michaela Sabolcakova (RTVS – Radio and Television of Slovakia, programme editor & buyer, Slovakia)
- Nils Stokke (Spark, producer & CEO, Norway)
Short Films pitching competition:
- Wendy Griffiths (Dark Prince, CEO & producer, United Kingdom)
- Karsten Matern (Balance Film GmbH, production manager, Germany)
- Anna Zača (Latvian Animation Association, Riga International Film Festival)
XR pitching competition:
- Milivoj Popovic (Prime Render Studios, director & producer, Croatia)
- Veljko Popovic (Prime Render Studios, director & owner, Croatia)
- Manu Weiss (freelance, XR producer & curator, Switzerland)
The CEE Animation Forum is usually held annually in the Czech Republic parallel to the International Festival of Animated Films Anifim. Due to the ongoing global situation, the event was postponed until October and finally took place online. The public could follow the program via Facebook Live or following a free registration on the online B2B platform. The pitching sessions streamed on Facebook with over 3,000 viewers, and on the MeetToMatch platform with over 700 views from 40 different countries.
The forum is also about networking with emphasis placed on 1:1 industry meeting. The organizers registered more than 350 decision-makers (producers, directors, broadcasters, distributors, sales agents, investors, representatives of festivals, film funds or national associations). Over the 3-day program, almost 300 online meetings took place.
Part of the program was dedicated to young debuting authors. A selection of six short films, made by promising young filmmakers from the CEE region, was officially introduced. The compilation called CEE Animation Talents is made by festival directors from the CEE region each year and presented at numerous animated film festivals around the world.
Source: CEE Animation
