Filip Mašek’s Acorn’s Adventure won the Eurimages Co-Production Development award, with a €20,000 cash prize, at European animation pitching forum Cartoon Movie. The Bordeaux event ran March 3-5.
Mašek, a VFX supervisor and cinematographer whose work spans animation, digital post-production and video games, makes his feature directing debut with this story about Quido — a boy fashioned from acorns and twigs by a child. Brought to life, Quido sets off on a daring rescue adventure that gradually leads him to uncover the purpose of his own existence.
It is produced by Czechia’s Pure Shore in co-production with Germany’s Fabian&Fred.
The Eurimages award is designed to promote international co-production from the earliest stages of a project. Cartoon Movie is one of nine markets where the prize is awarded.
Tribute Awards
The director of the year prize went to Reza Memari for The Last Whale Singer. The animated family fantasy marks Memari’s second feature following A Stork’s Journey, which he co-directed with Toby Genkel and which premiered in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus in 2017.
The Last Whale Singer centres on Vincent, the orphaned son of the ocean’s last Whale Singer, who must overcome his fears and find his own voice to help save the seas. The project was first presented at Cartoon Movie at concept stage in 2018, returning in development in 2020 and again in production in 2025.
The Germany–Czech Republic–Canada co-production has secured sales in more than 30 territories. International sales are handled by Munich-based Global Screen.
Paris-based Les Films du Préau was named distributor of the year. Founded in 2000 by Emmanuelle Chevalier and Marie-Agnès Bourillon, the independent outfit specialises in films for young audiences and has built a catalogue of more than 200 titles. Its releases include Kristina Dufková’s body-swap comedy Living Large and Max Lang and Jakob Schuh’s Oscar-nominated The Gruffalo.
The producer of the year tribute went to the production team behind Allah Is Not Obliged; Special Touch Studios and Creative Touch Studios (France), Paul Thiltges Distributions (Luxembourg), Yzanakio (Canada), and Belgium’s Need Productions and Lunanime. Sold by mk2, the project is an adult animated war drama based on the novel by Ahmadou Kourouma about Birahima, a streetwise child soldier navigating the conflicts of West Africa with biting humour and unfiltered honesty.
The Cartoon Tributes, voted by industry professionals attending the event, recognise companies and individuals who have made a significant impact on European animation over the past year.
At the closing press conference, Cartoon general manager Annick Maes highlighted the record number of submissions received this year despite the challenging economic climate. She also pointed to the high number of projects engaging with meaningful themes. “Global realities such as war, exile and migration. It was interesting to see that these projects were addressed to a wide range of audiences, from young adults to families,” Maes noted.
Maes also underlined the increasing number of co-productions, even among In-Concept projects (those at the earliest stages of development).
31 of the 50 projects presented at Cartoon Movie featured at least one main female character. 34% of the line-up was produced by female producers, and 27% were directed by women, according to Maes.
Maes also heralded an “upcoming generation” of talent from Central and Eastern Europe, citing projects such as Michaela Pavlátová’s Night Tram, Hungarian duo Tibor Bánáffy and Zsófia Tábor’s The Wild And The Tame, and Eurimages co-development award winner Filip Mašek.
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