More than half of the 42 feature projects selected for this year's Cartoon Movie market (March 14 - 16) to be presented to investors and distributors come from animation production companies from France, Spain and the UK.

As the leading centre for animation in Europe, France leads the field with 10 projects by such studios as Teva (The Painting, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea) and Les Armateurs (The Evolution Man, Belphegor), followed by Spain with nine projects - ranging from BRB Internacional's Romeo & Juliet to Milimetros Dibujos Animados' Dragon Hill - and the UK with seven projects submitted by such production houses as Cosgrove Hall Films (Thunder Pilots) Red Kite Productions (Maud) and Cool Beans Productions (Saintly).

Cartoon Movie, which is backed by the European Union's MEDIA Programme, Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung and the Berlin and Brandenburg investment banks IBB and ILB, is being held at the Babelsberg studios outside Berlin for the fourth time. In 2001, the event was attended by 221 producers, 112 investors and 51 distributors.