Notícias

Animayo, Spain’s leading animation festival, is celebrating its 18th edition with the help of Disney legend Andreas Deja who will be presenting his independently-produced short, “Mushka.” “Having Deja choose Animayo to debut his film in Spain is the greatest honor,” said Damian Perea, founder-director of the festival, which unspools May 3-6 on the island of Gran Canaria.

A hand-drawn 2D animated story about an unlikely friendship between a young girl and a Siberian tiger in 1970s’ Soviet Union, “Mushka” is Deja’s directorial debut. His lauded Walt Disney Animation Studio credits include “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

Other notable Spanish premieres at Animayo include that of Jan Bubenicek and Denisa Grimmova’s “Even Mice Belong in Heaven,” about two mortal enemies, a mouse and a fox, who after an accident, find themselves in animal heaven.

Animayo will also treat attendees to...

Urban Sales has nabbed world rights to “Hug Me – The Movie,” an English-language animated feature directed by Anna Błaszczyk. The pre-school movie is produced by Animoon, the Polish company behind “Even Mice belong in Heaven.”

Urban Sales, the Paris-based banner previously known as Urban Distribution International, will host the market premiere of the movie at Cannes’ Marché du Film.

An eco-friendly tale, “Hug Me” follows the adventures of a bear cub and his papa bear as they search for honey to prepare a birthday cake for the little one. With the den’s honey reserves and surrounding hives running out, Teddy convinces papa bear sets off to find the Golden Land which is believed to harbor an endless source of honey. “Hug Me – The Movie” is co-produced by the Polish outfit FixaFilm and Chinese company Animex, with the support of the Polish Film Institute.

The film marks the feature debut of Błaszczyk,...

The 20 producers will take part in a five-day programme on the 19-23 May at the festival

The producers of Cannes competition title Ahed’s Knee and César-nominated animation Even Mice Belong In Heaven are among those selected for European Film Production’s (Efp) networking platform Producers On The Move.

The 20 producers will take part in an in-person five-day programme running May 19-23 at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as an online pre-festival programme of speed meetings, roundtables and pitching sessions.

Among this year’s selection is Judith Lou Lévy, who produced Nadav Lapid’s Ahed’s Knee, which won the jury...

Returning to in-person gatherings after last year’s online event, this year’s Cartoon Movie pitch and co-production forum saw the teams behind 57 animated features pitch their development projects before 930 European industry delegates from 19 countries. Running over March 8 – 10 in the southwest city of Bordeaux in France, this year’s forum saw both international buyers (totalling 297 overall – a 12% increase from the previous edition) and adult skewing projects notch upward – two facts not wholly unrelated.

Whether on purpose or by some happy twist of fate, the four beneficiaries of this year’s Cartoon Movie Tribute Awards reflected a pair of key industry trends.

At an event where one third of the pitch projects were based on preexisting material, it was thus fitting that adaptation “Even Mice Belong in Heaven” — directed by Denisa Grimmová & Jan Bubeníček, co-produced by Czechia’s Fresh Films, France’s Les Films du Cygne, Slovakia’s Cinemart and Poland...

This year’s ceremony was uncharacteristically devoid of controversy after politically-charged editions in 2020 and 2021.

Xavier Giannoli’s costume drama Lost Illusions was the big winner at the 47th Cesar awards of France’s Academy of Cinema and Arts and Sciences on Friday evening (25), winning best film, adapted screenplay, costume and supporting actor among others.

The adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s19th-century novel premiered in competition at Venice last year. It was the frontrunner at the nomination stage, making it into 15 of the 24 César categories.

The other big winner of the evening was Leos Carax’s English-language musical Annette. Carax won best director,...

Ceremony for awards voted on by 4,363 members of the César academy will take place on February 25.

Xavier Giannoli’s literary adaptation Lost Illusions is the frontrunner in the nomination stage of the 47th edition of France’s César awards, followed by Leos Carax’s Annette and Valérie Lemercier’s Aline.

France’s Academy of Cinema and Arts and Sciences unveiled the nomination list online on Wednesday morning (January 26), ahead of the ceremony scheduled to take place on February 25.

Giannoli’s adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s eponymous 19th-century novel, which premiered in competition at Venice last year, was nominated in...

Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Jasmila Žbanić’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” Florian Zeller’s “The Father,” and Juho Kuosmanen’s “Compartment No. 6” are the five nominees for best film at the upcoming 34th European Film Awards, which see no clear frontrunner this year.

The more than 4,100 academy members will now vote for the winners, who will be honored at a Dec. 11 ceremony in Berlin.

And the nominees are: European Film

“Compartment No. 6,” Juho Kuosmanen

“Quo Vadis Aida?” Jasmila Žbanić

“The Father,” Florian Zeller

“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino

“Titane,” Julia Ducournau

European Comedy

“Nijababy,” Yngvild Sve Flikke

“The Morning After,” Méliane Marcaggi

“The People Upstairs,” Cesc Gay

European Documentary

“Babi Yar. Context,” Sergei Loznitsa

“Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen

“Mr Bachman and his Class,” Maria Speth

“Taming The Garden,” Salomé Jashi

“The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,” Stina Gardell

European Animated Feature Film

“Even Mice Belong in Heaven,...

The European Film Academy has announced nominations for the 34th European Film Awards which will be handed out in Berlin on December 11. Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Titane; Florian Zeller’s 2020 drama and double Oscar winner The Father; and Jasmila Zbanic’s Quo Vadis Aida?, which was nominated for an Oscar at the 93rd edition, are tied with four mentions each.

Titane is the Oscar submission from France this year and, likewise, several other candidates for the International Feature Academy Award figure at the EFAs. They include Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6, from Italy and Finland, respectively. Each of those films, alongside the titles above, is nominated in the European Film 2021 category, and both figure in three races.

Ducournau, Zeller, Zbanic and Sorrentino are all up for European Director 2021 while Radu Jude rounds out the field for his Bad...

"I don't want a fox stalking me, even after death!" Goldwyn Films has unveiled an official US trailer for a stop-motion animated film from Czechia titled Even Mice Belong in Heaven, a fun little story about a mouse and a fox. This premiered at the 2021 Annecy Film Festival this year, and also played at the Karlovy Vary, Shanghai, and Edinburgh Film Festivals. A film about two mortal enemies - a little Mouse and a Fox, who after an unfortunate accident, meet in animal heaven. They lose their natural instincts and become best friends. Their wish to stay together after they return to Earth comes true, but they are reborn into opposite roles, learning about the true power of friendship. "The film is about hope, a quest for love and courage, and about overcoming prejudices and old pains." The story reveals that everything that seems to be at an end is the beginning of something else,...