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Canary Islands Film: “We are animation” Inspiration for an Animation Cluster
On 26th February 2019 the Association of Czech Animation Film (ASAF) organised a meeting with representatives of an animation cluster from the Canary Islands at the Spanish Embassy in Prague. “Tourists are the main source of income for our economy. However, the government realises the need to diversify the economy and offer a perspective of interesting application to young people too, so in 2015 it decided to focus on the animation industry. This sector has a future. In addition, it is an environmentally friendly industry, which is important for our little paradise on earth here, ” as Natascha Mora explains the motivation behind establishment of Canary Islands Film. The organisation is established and run by government agencies represented by Natacha Mora (Government of the Canary Islands, Culture Sector), Pila Moreno (PROEXCA agency for the internationalisation of the Canary Islands and attracting strategic investments) and Sabita Jagtani (Canaria ZEC agency promoting investment within the Canary Islands tax zone). The main objective of the Canary Islands Film is to create favourable conditions for animation production, e.g. through film incentives in the amount of 40% to support the outsourcing of local studios or tax advantages for setting up new companies or subsidiaries. As […] ...
Record Number of Czech Animated Films at CEE Animation Forum 2019
The seventh edition of the CEE Animation Forum (formerly known as Visegrad Animation Forum) will showcase thirty-three animated projects in development in three categories: short films, series / TV specials and feature films. The majority of selected teams are coming from Central and Eastern Europe – the Czech Republic 6x, Hungary 3x, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Romania 2x, Slovenia, Latvia or Ukraine 1x. After the successful first edition of the feature films pitching competition, the organizers decided to open a regular call for this category. “Receiving many feature animated film entries to this year’s call is a confirmation to us that the animation industry in the region and in the EU has a bright future as the level of the quality of projects in development is quite high. We intend to support all of the projects in pitchings, including feature projects, with a boost towards building international coproductions, pre-sales and promotion to access international markets,” explains Matija Šturm, Executive Director of CEE Animation. The winning project of the CEE Animation Forum 2018 was Of Unwanted Things and People, which was recently presented at Cartoon Movie and received the Eurimages Development Coproduction Award. This year, the CEE Animation Forum have […] ...
Czech Producers Visiting Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart
In connection with the Association of Czech Animation Film’s long-term strategic focus on increasing the competitiveness of Czech animation and the economic performance of individual subjects, an excursion to the Animation Media Cluster Region in Stuttgart, Germany, took place at the end of last year. Stuttgart is one of the most industrialised areas in Europe. Thanks to Mercedes and Porsche car manufacturers, many tens of thousands of people work in the automotive industry and employment in the area is predominantly dependent on this industrial commodity. The government of the German state of Baden-Württemberg is therefore trying to develop other industries too and, similarly to economists in places like South Korea, are turning their attention to the “leisure economy”: the development and production of audiovisual works, especially animation and digital postproduction. Representatives of the creative industry in cooperation with the public sector (government of Baden-Württemberg) aim to set up a cluster of companies that will offer high-quality animation and visual effects services to clients from all over the world. The idea to visit the cluster in Stuttgart (AMCRS) stemmed from a growing need to bring new impulses and trends to animation in the Czech Republic, particularly from developed markets. As the […] ...
“Of Unwanted Things and People” is the winner of the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at Cartoon Movie
The project “Of Unwanted Things and People” by David Súkup, Ivana Laučíková, Leon Vidmar & Agata Gorządek and co-produced by Maur Film (Czech Republic), Artichoke (Slovakia), ZVVIKS (Slovenia) & WJTeam/Likaon (Poland) was awarded the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at the Cartoon Movie (Bordeaux, France) on 7th March 2019. The story of two orphans and a magical cat is a modern, short puppet film set in the present day, based on Arnošt Goldflam’s book Of Unwanted Things and People. The four-country coproduction won the first animated feature film pitching award at the CEE Animation Forum 2018 (formerly Visegrad Animation Forum). The success of this project was confirmed by receiving Nespresso Audience Award. The Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund has joined forces with ten co-production markets all over the world – and Cartoon Movie is one of them once again this year – in order to award the Eurimages Co-production Development Award. This cash-prize of €20,000 has been created to promote the Fund’s role in encouraging international animated co-production from the initial stages of a project. The project has to be designed from the outset as an international co-production for cinema release and initiated by a lead producer based in a Eurimages country willing to […] ...
MAUR film Brings to Cartoon Movie Three Coproduction Animated Feature Projects
For the third time, Cartoon Movie, the international event devoted to animated feature films, will take place in Bordeaux. 66 projects from 25 countries have been selected to be pitched: 28 of them are in concept, 24 in development, 7 in production and 7 in sneak preview. The Czech Republic will be represented by 3 projects by MAUR film. The four-country coproduction Of Unwanted Things and People (Maur Film, CZ / Artichoke, SK / ZVVIKS, SI / WJTeam / Likaon, PL) won the first animated feature film pitching award at the CEE Animation Forum 2018 (formerly Visegrad Animation Forum). The success of this project was confirmed by receiving Nespresso Audience Award. The story is based on Arnošt Goldflam’s book Of Unwanted Things and People and is supported by Creative Europe MEDIA and Czech Film Fund. “After a successful presentation in Třeboň last year, the project got not only very positive and important feedback from both the audience and jury, but also a commitment. We are working intensely on the final versions of scripts, while deeply immersed in artwork, schedules and budgets at the same time. Just to synchronise the order of applications for all kinds of national and international funds with the […] ...
MASTERCLASS / ANIMATION – ACTOR IN FOCUS
With the CEEA MASTERCLASS the Slovak Association of Producers of Animated Film (APAF) presents an exciting opportunity to receive training and meet internationally-renowned animated film professionals – for the third consecutive year! Presented in co-operation with CEE Animation, the Academy of Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU), and Fest Anča International Animation Festival, the masterclass continues to create a bridge between studying and the professional world – helping students and young professionals navigate their careers. In 2017 production pipeline experts attended the masterclass, and last year we covered artistic aspects of script development. This year will see a balance between artistic and practical – because good animation film-making also needs confident production managers, creative directors and skilled animators. At this year’s “Animation: Actor in focus” we’re looking forward to welcoming Ed Hooks in Bratislava, who’s known for unveiling the mysteries of acting to animators around the globe. Both novice and experienced animators will benefit from discovering how to apply acting techniques to create believable characters in their work. Both actors and animated characters need a well-organized production to keep a project on track and budget. This is especially true of complicated co-productions, such as last year’s winner of the European Film Academy […] ...
Czech Animation Is Looking for a Common Ground with the Israeli Film Industry
Richard Němec, member of the Board of the Czech Film Fund, describes the emergence of a bilateral treaty with Israel, its potential for Czech cinematography and especially animation. He admits the situation of Czech animation is not ideal, but everything that can be done is being done to improve the conditions and to grant the local authors once again the position they used to enjoy in the past. What stands in the way of establishing international cooperation? There is no universal answer to this question. A necessary precondition for cooperation is the existence of an international treaty, because each country has its special rules for entering co-productions. For example, the terms of the individual funds are connected to the country’s minimum shares in funding and budget, the priority being, naturally, the promotion of the country’s own production. The problem therefore occurs when the conditions are mutually exclusive making it impossible to meet the individual criteria. For example, you can’t make 60% of a film in one country and 70% in the other at the same time. Within the European Union we can co-produce on the basis of the Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production, which has been adopted to addresses these situations. […] ...
Animated Documentary – A Hundred Years Old and Still Alive
Last year, it was one hundred years since The Sinking of the Lusitania by Winsor McCay, considered by historians to be the first animated documentary. Since then, this hybrid and sometimes controversial genre has changed and evolved. Popular films include the recent Another Day of Life or Waltz with Bashir released some years ago. Czech animation is represented by Diana Cam Van Nguyen, whose short film Apart will compete at the prestigious Rotterdam festival. This year’s Anifilm, the International Festival of Animated Film will also focus on this unusual film format. In the last few years, animated documentaries (or anidoc as this format is sometimes called) have been growing in popularity among creators. They offer the director a wide range of options of self-expression. Movies are often based on actual events. The combination of animation and documentary allows for a metaphorical representation of things, situations, memories or traumatic experiences, while the unlimited possibilities of animation grant the authors artistic freedom. Cinema attendance points to another phenomenon. Animated documentaries bring adult viewers to the screen and break down the prejudices of animated film being only for children. Successful feature-length animated documentaries include a film about a Polish reporter in the Angolan […] ...
What’s on the Menu for Czech Animation in 2019
The year 2018 did not yield any box office hit in the field of Czech animation, yet festival showings and achievements abroad imply that our creators are not resting on their laurels. There are a number of interesting feature films, series, and TV bedtime-story animations in development or production. They will also include this year’s anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 50th birthday of Lucky Four or one hundred years since the death of historical Czech figure Rastislav Štefánik. And How Did Czech Animated Production Do Last Year? Four feature films by Czech filmmakers came to cinemas. One of them made it among the top 50 most visited: Pat & Mat: Winter Adventure, directed by Marek Beneš, attracted nearly 88,000 viewers, while the American animated Hotel Transylvania 3: Monster Vacation brought in nearly half a million. The highly anticipated and latest film by Jan Švankmajer Insects was released after seven years of production and nominated for the Film Critics’ Awards. In December, cinema-goers had a chance to see the Christmas story of Mimi & Lisa: Christmas Lights Mystery (directed by Ivana Šebestová and Katarína Kerekesová). Famous personalities such as Dagmar Pecková, Arnošt Goldflam, Linda Rybová or David Prachař supported its creation […] ...
