TheUK's Aardman Animations scored a double triumph by taking home two of theCartoon Movie Tributes voted on by representatives of the European animationindustry attending this year's co-production forum at the Babelsberg Studiosfrom March 9-11.

Thefilmmaking duo Nick Park and Steve Box were named Best European Director of theYear for Wallace & Gromit: The CurseOf The Were-Rabbit - just a week after being awarded the Academy Award forthe first feature-length film based on the two Plasticineheroes - while Aardman was named Best EuropeanProducer of the Year for the Wallace& Gromit feature against opposition fromSpain's Dygra Films, France's M6 Studio and thecollaboration between TV-Loonland and Happy LifeAnimation on the Pettson And Findus films.

Tributefor Best European Distributor of the Year went to French company Gebeka Films which Marc Bonny set up in 1997 to specialisein distributing quality films for a young audience and is currently enjoyingbox office success in France with its release of Kirikou And The WildBeasts. Bonny also announced at Babelsberg that he has become the Frenchpartner for X-Filme creative pool's animation production arm Animation X'sfirst feature, The Three Robbers dueto be delivered autumn 2007.

Over450 directors, producers, distributors, buyers and investors from all over Europe came to Babelsberg forthe eighth edition to discuss the potential for involvement in 46 projects from13 European countries with an overall budget of over $355.7m (Euros 300m).