The latest info for Madrid’s Cartoon Springboard; Vancouver’s Spark Animation; Bordeaux’s Cartoon Movie; South Africa’s Durban FilmMart Institute’s DFM Pitch and Finance Forum, and Greece’s Animasyros 2024 Festival.
Here’s a fast roundup of the latest news from five different events from around the world: Madrid’s Cartoon Springboard; Vancouver’s Spark Animation; Bordeaux’s Cartoon Movie; South Africa’s Durban FilmMart Institute’s DFM Pitch and Finance Forum, and Greece’s Animasyros 2024 Festival.
Cartoon Springboard
Cartoon has announced that Cartoon Springboard, the pitching and training event for young European animation talents, returns to Madrid for its 10th anniversary from October 29-31. Designed as a training initiative for students and recent graduates of animation schools, the event combines pitching sessions with a program of lectures by renowned industry professionals. Shortlisted from 58 submissions, the 22 projects in the line-up – mostly in- concept stage – will be mentored by a panel of 30 international experts to further advance into their development.
The Madrid City Council is actively involved in the city’s audiovisual industry. Both the Community and the City Council support the four projects by graduates from Madrid educational institutions: Chavales: la webserie, Out of Tune, Painting Illusions, and Battle of the Bands.
a é i o u and The Extra and Ordinary Adventures of Pod the Plankton will be presented in Madrid thanks to the support of France’s SACD - Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, while Welcome to Demonland is supported by FWB - Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles.
To learn more or register for the event, head over to the Cartoon site.
Spark Animation
The Spark Computer Graphics Society (SPARK CG) has announced that Spark Animation, the largest animation festival in Western Canada, will return for its 16th year. This year’s festival is set to be the largest yet, running from October 31-November 3 in Vancouver, Canada, with online programming extended until December 31, 2024. The event is both Oscar-Accredited and Canadian Cinema & Television-Accredited, making it one of the most prestigious festivals in the region.
The festival opens with the Canadian Premiere of Claude Barras’ ecological fable Savages. The screening is supported by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver. Other highlights include:
- The Sloth Lane – charming family drama directed by Tania Vincent & Ricard Cussó – Canadian
Premiere
- (S)KiDS – Leslie Solis’ punk rock musical, featuring all-new music by Vancouver’s Rare Americans – North American Premiere
- Sunburnt Unicorn – adventure story from Alberta’s Nicholas Johnson – BC Premiere
- Dounia: The Great White North – the continuing adventure of Dounia and her family from director André Kadi & Marya Zarif – Western Canadian Premiere
The festival will close with the Canadian Premiere of Naoko Yamada’s acclaimed film The Colours Within.
Tickets for select in-person programming are available now. More announcements are coming soon. Subscribe to the newsletter now to stay connected.
DFMI Call for Projects – Animation
The Durban FilmMart Institute (DFMI) has opened the call for animation projects to pitch at the 16th annual DFM Pitch and Finance Forum. Entries must be submitted by October 27, 2024. Applications can be made through the Durban FilmMart Institute website:
The DFMI will select approximately 8 official animation projects in development to present to a panel of film professionals consisting of potential co-producers, broadcasters, film funds, and distributors at Africa’s annual premier film finance and coproduction market.
“Over the past 3 years the Durban FilmMart has not only seen an increase in the number of applications received from animators across the continent and the quality of projects has improved greatly,” says Magdalene Reddy, Director of the Durban FilmMart Institute. “The animation industry in Africa is flourishing and the DFMI is proud to be contributing to this growth.”
Animators with projects in development from across the continent are invited to apply. The Forum is open to both series and feature-length projects and at least one of the 3 key creatives (Producer, Writer, Director) should be from Africa or African in the Diaspora (with an African passport).
Successful project participants will be invited to participate in a comprehensive mentorship programme to prepare them for their live pitch and meetings at DFM 2025. The online mentorship programme will include a series of masterclasses with leading global industry experts in January and February 2025. To present their project at the 16th DFM one representative from the project will be provided with travel and accommodation to attend the live Pitch and Finance Forum in July 2025 (travel support is only provided for one representative per project travel within Africa).
Animasyros 2024
More than 100 animation professionals from 20 countries, along with a number of international visitors, took part in ANIMASYROS 2024 powered by PPC, which ran September 23-29. The festival’s diverse program included 261 films, 8 competition sections, the International Panorama, 5 special tributes (Africa: An Animated Continent, Slovakia, Mexico, Czech Republic & Animapride), the legendary Emile Awards, films specially curated for children, educational workshops for all ages, and the Agora - an industry event that has become a key reference point for the animation sector in the East Mediterranean region. More information can be found at www.animasyros.gr.
This year’s awards are as follows:
- Grand Prize:
Beautiful Men (Nicolas Keppens, BE, 18’53”, 2023) - Students Section Award:
It's Just A Whole (Bianca Scali, DE, 10’37”, 2023) - Best Greek Student Film Award:
Echoes (Robinson Drossos, FR, 7’19”, 2024) - Best Outstanding Greek Debut Award:
The Gabardine (Kimon Papadatos, FR, 3’59”, 2024) - Best Greek Film Award:
Underground (Yiannis Christoforou, GR, 7’17”, 2024) - TV & Commissioned films Award:
A toi (Stéphane Berla, FR, 2’48”, 2023) - AnimaPride Award:
Gigi (Cynthia Calvi, FR, 13’55”, 2024) - #ThisIsEU - European Values Award:
T-Zero (Vicente Nirō, PT, 10’52”, 2023) - K.ID.S Award:
Beurk! (Loic Espuche, FR, 13’10”, 2024) - Audience Feature Award:
The Boy & the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki, JP, 124’, 2023)
Cartoon Movie
Get ready for the return of Cartoon Movie, the pitching & co-production forum for animated feature films, which runs from March 4-6, 2025, in Bordeaux, France.
Project submissions and participant registrations for Cartoon Movie 2025 are open until November 13.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
