ATHENS — Raúl de la Fuente and Damian Nenow’s “Another Day of Life,” the hybrid animation-live action adaptation of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski’s harrowing account of the Angolan Civil War, led the pack with five nominations at the second annual European Animation Awards, which were announced Thursday morning in Athens.
“Chris the Swiss,” Anja Kofmel’s part-animated documentary investigation into her cousin’s mysterious death during the Yugoslav War, and “Funan,” Denis Do’s heart-wrenching account of the horrors of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime, each received four nominations in the feature film category.
“The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe,” by Christian Bøving-Andersen and Eva Lee Wallberg, and “The Highway Rat,” by Jeroen Jaspaert, led the TV nominations with four apiece.
The Emile Awards, as they’re widely known, were launched last year to celebrate the best in European animation. Along with prizes for best direction in both feature films and TV shows, the Emiles offer a range of kudos honoring work in background and character design, character animation, storyboard, soundtrack and editing. This year’s ceremony will take place Dec. 7-8, in Lille, France.
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Thursday’s announcement of the nominees highlighted what Peter Lord, president of the European Animation Awards (EAA) Association, described as a “brave and ambitious agenda” on the eve of the second edition.
“Our aim is to celebrate excellence in animation…across the whole animation sector, and across the entire continent,” he said. “It comes from a deep love of animation…[which] has a particular ability to jump national boundaries, which makes it such a special form of communication.”
The selection of Athens to host the unveiling of this year’s nominees points to a concerted effort by the organizers to broaden the awards’ horizons. Along with adding two additional categories and increasing the number of nominees for each prize from 3 to 5, the Emile Awards are looking to spotlight emerging territories that have signaled a strong intent to develop their animation industries.
CREDIT: Kanaki Films
“Greece is maybe not yet a well-known, established country in the field of animation production, but it is obvious this country is developing artistic talent [and] creativity…as well as strong political commitment to support and develop TV series, short films, and animated features, and also creating necessary tools to achieve this goal,” said EAA general secretary Jean-Paul Commin.
Greek deputy minister of digital policy, telecommunications and media Lefteris Kretsos celebrated what he called a “new start” for the country, while stressing “how important it is for the European animators and the European creative industry to expand its collaboration, to expand its networks.”
He continued, “It’s not a question if we need creative industries to be central in our economic and cultural polices. The question for people like me is how we can facilitate this, and how we can do this in a way that provides more scope, more space, and opportunity for European collaboration.”
The second edition of the Emile Awards is being held with the support of the French region of Hauts-de-France, which is an important animation hub, as well as its film-TV-audiovisual support arm, Pictanovo; France’s CNC film and TV board; and FFA, the German Federal Film Board. Partners from the private sector include Hiventy, a French firm providing technical services in the audiovisual industry; Mediawan, the French special-purpose acquisition company; Montreal-based animation software company Toon Boom; and French toon company Xilam Animation.
The event has been expanded this year to include an industry program that will look to capitalize on the arrival of hundreds of European animation professionals in Lille. The program will include a roundtable led by Animation Europe, a new producer’s association based in Brussels; another led by the French Screenwriter’s Guild on writing for animation in Europe; and a masterclass from Peter Lord, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Aardman Studios.
Along with prizes in 18 categories, the Lotte Reiniger Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Claire Kitson, longtime commissioning editor for animation for the U.K.’s Channel 4, who Lord said “worked creatively and passionately with filmmakers across Europe” and was “hugely influential within the industry.”
This year’s award ceremony will be followed by a screening of George Dunning’s “Yellow Submarine,” which is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a restored version.
“We believe that the 2018 awards ceremony will be better, bigger, slightly shorter as well,” said Lord. “We’ll capture again the true joyous spirit of European animation.”
CREDIT: Anja Kofmel
The nominees are:
Best Student Film
“A Love Letter to the One I Made up,” Rachel Gutgarts (Israel)
“Bless you!”, Paulina Ziolkowska (Poland)
“Enough,” Anna Mantzaris (U.K.)
“Petits Poissons,” Noémie Buffat (France)
“Pura Vida,” Nata Metlukh (Estonia)
Best Direction in an Animated Short Film
“Bloeistraat 11,” Nienke Deutz (Belgium, Netherlands)
“Egg,” Martina Scarpelli (France, Denmark)
“Fest,” Nikita Diakur (Germany)
“Musical Traumas,” Miloš Tomić (Serbia)
“This Magnificent Cake!”, Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels (Belgium, France, Netherlands)
Best Background and Character Design in an Animated Short Film
“Cat days,” Jon Frickey (Germany)
“(Fool) Time Job,” Gilles Cuvelier (France)
“Have Heart,” Will Anderson (U.K.)
“Last Stop is the Moon,” Birute Sodeikaite (Poland, Lithuania)
“The Fruits of Clouds,” Alžběta Skálova (artistic director) & Kateřina Karhánková (director) (Czech Republic)
Best Commissioned Film
“A most precise and nuanced look into the life of the man legend and visionary – Martin Luther,” Magnus Igland Møller (Denmark)
“BBC Winter Olympics ‘The Fearless Are Here,’” Smith & Foulkes (U.K.)
“Better Humans,” Moth Studio (U.K.)
“Dancing on Ice,” Goodbye Kansas Studios (U.K.)
“Lystfiskeren,” Sara Aunbirk (Denmark)
Best Direction in a TV/Broadcast Production
“Ariol – Dracuriol,” Hélène Friren (France)
“Ella, Oscar & Hoo – Nhooël, Nhooël,” Emmanuel Linderer (France)
“Esther’s Notebooks – The Hundred Years War,” Riad Sattouf & Mathias Varin (France)
“Hey Duggee – The Space Badge,” Grant Orchard (U.K.)
“The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe,” Christian Bøving-Andersen & Eva Lee Wallberg (Denmark)
Best Writing in a TV/Broadcast Production
“Angela’s Christmas,” Will Collins & Damien O’Connor (writers) (Ireland)
“Max & Maestro – The Supersonic Ear,” Agathe Robilliard (writer) (France, Italy, Germany)
“Nate is Late – The Invaders,” Simon Lecocq (writer) (France, Australia)
“The Highway Rat,” Jeroen Jaspaert (co-directors) (U.K.)
“Vitello – Vitello Gets a Yucky Girlfriend,” Kim Fupz Aakeson & Ida Mule Scott (writers) (Denmark)
Best Storyboard in a TV/Broadcast Production
“A New Kind of Magic – A Fish out of Water,” Stéphane Annette (storyboard artist) (France)
“Ella, Oscar & Hoo – The treasure map,” David Berthier (storyboard artist) & Emmanuel Linderer (storyboard supervisor) (France)
“Nate is Late – The Invaders,” Joseph Herbelin & Jeremy Guiter (storyboard artists), Edouard Kuchiman (storyboard supervisor) (France, Australia)
“The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe,” Kenneth Ladekjær & Eva Lee Wallberg (storyboard artists) (Denmark)
“The Highway Rat,” Tim Dillnutt & Jeroen Jaspaert (storyboard artists) (U.K.)
Best Character Animation in a TV/Broadcast Production
“Ella, Oscar & Hoo – Nhooël, nhooël,” The animation team led by Emmanuel Linderer (director) & Erik Simon (animation supervisor) (France)
“Nate is Late – The Invaders,” Matthieu Giner & Mireille Tran (co-animators) (France, Australia)
“Rolling with the Ronks! – Take it to the field,” Jean-Christophe Dessaint (animator) (France)
“The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe,” Tina Lykke Thorn, Henrik Sønniksen, Mikkel Vedel & Eva Lee Wallberg (co-animators) (Denmark)
“The Highway Rat,” Quentin Vogel (animator) & the Triggerfish animation team (U.K.)
Best Background and Character Design in a TV/Broadcast Production
“Ariol – Dracuriol,” Caz Murrell, François-Marc Baillet & Marc Boutavant (co-designers) (France)
“Claude – Rampaging Robots,” Angeliki Charenia (art director) & the Claude art team (U.K.)
“Esther’s Notebooks – The Hundred Years War,” Charlotte Cambon de Lavalette, Caz Murrell, Tom Viguier & Riad Sattouf (co-designers) (France)
“Petit Malabar – The Greedy Algae,” Bastien Dupriez, Armelle Prunier, Hélène Younous & Rémi Juillet (co-designers) (France)
“The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe,” Mikkel Sommer & Birk Von Brockdorff (co-designers) (Denmark)
Best Soundtrack in a TV/Broadcast Production
“A Man is Dead,” Yan Volsy & Pablo Pico (composer & sound designer) (France)
“Angela’s Christmas,” Darren Hendley (composer) (Ireland)
“AnimAnimals – Ameise,” Christian Heck (composer & sound designer) (Germany)
“Rita Og Krokodille – Blueberries,” Tanera Dawkins (composer) (Denmark)
“The Highway Rat,” René Aubry (composer) (U.K.)
Best Sound Design in a TV/Broadcast Production
“Angela’s Christmas,” Peter Blayney & Steve Maher (sound designers) (Ireland)
“Athleticus,” Célia Sayaphoum (sound designer) (France)
“Oggy and the Cockroaches – Zmen to the rescue,” Anne-Sophie Coste, Manuel Drouglazet & Nicolas Maia (sound designers) (France)
“Pipas & Douglas – The Princess and the Dragon,” Romain Anklewicz & Alexandre Lormeau (sound designers) (France)
“Sounzee – Rickle Pick,” Adrian Kollar (sound designer) (Hungary)
Best Direction in a Feature Film
“Another Day of Life,” Raúl de la Fuente & Damian Nenow (Poland, Spain, Belgium, Germany)
“Captain Morten and the Spider Queen,” Kaspar Jancis, Henry Nicholson & Riho Unt (Estonia, Belgium, Ireland, U.K.)
“Funan,” Denis Do (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cambodia)
“Teheran Tabu,” Ali Soozandeh (Germany, Austria)
“The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey (Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada)
Best Writing in a Feature Film
“Another Day of Life,” Raúl de la Fuente, Damian Nenow, David Weber, Amaia Remirez & Niall Johnson (Poland, Spain, Belgium, Germany)
“Chris the Swiss,” Anja Kofmel (Switzerland, Croatia, Germany, Finland)
“Funan,” Denis Do & Magali Pouzol (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cambodia)
“Gordon & Paddy,” Janne Vierth (Sweden)
“Teheran Tabu,” Ali Soozandeh (Germany, Austria)
Best Storyboard in a Feature Film
“White Fang,” Simon Andriveau, David Canoville, Lian-Cho Han Jin Kuang, Ahmed Nasri & Oussama Bouacheria (storyboard artists) (France, Luxembourg)
“Dilili in Paris,” Michel Ocelot (director & storyboard artist) (France, Belgium, Germany)
“Early Man,” Ashley Boddy, Andy Janes, Richard Phelan, Michael Salter, Luis Zamora-Pueyo (storyboard artists) (U.K.)
“Gordon & Paddy,” Elinor Bergman (storyboard artist) (Sweden)
“The Breadwinner,” Giovanna Ferrari, Julien Regnard & Stuart Shankly (storyboard artists) (Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada)
Best Character Animation in a Feature Film
“Captain Morten and the Spider Queen,” Mart Kivi & Sam Turner (key animators) (Estonia, Belgium, Ireland, U.K.)
“Early Man,” Early Man character animation team (U.K.)
“Luis & the Aliens,” Jo Bub & Luis and The Aliens animation team (Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark)
“The Breadwinner,” Fabian Erlinghäuser, John Walsh, Lorraine Lordan, Jeremy Purcell, Viktor Ens, Nicolas Debray, Geoff King & Emmanuel Asquier-Brassart (animators) (Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada)
“Zombillenium,” Julien Belloteau, Arthur de Pins, Alexis Ducord, Marie-Laure Guisset, Jeanne Irzenski, David Nasser & Romain Vacher (animators) (France, Belgium)
Best Background and Character Design in a Feature Film
“Another Day of Life,” Rafał Wojtunik (art director) (Poland, Spain, Belgium, Germany)
“Chris the Swiss,” Simon Eltz, Anja Kofmel & Serge Valbert (art director) (Switzerland, Croatia, Germany, Finland)
“Funan,” Michael Crouzat (art director) (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cambodia)
“The Breadwinner,” Ciaran Duffy, Reza Raihi (art directors) & Sandra Andersen (character designer) (Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada)
“The Incredible Story of The Giant Pear,” Troels Christoffersen (production design) & Bjørn Pedersen (character model supervisor) (Denmark)
Best Soundtrack in a Feature Film
“Another Day of Life,” Mikel Salas (composer) (Poland, Spain, Belgium, Germany)
“Black is Beltza,” Fermin Muguruza & Raül Refree (composers) (Spain)
“Chris the Swiss,” Marcel Vaid (composer) (Switzerland, Croatia, Germany, Finland)
“The Incredible Story of The Giant Pear,” Fridolin Nordsø (composer) (Denmark)
“THEOX,” Dimitra Trypani (composer) (Greece)
Best Sound Design in a Feature Film
“Another Day of Life,” Oriol Tarragó (sound designer) (Poland, Spain, Belgium, Germany)
“Chris the Swiss,” Markus Krohn (sound designer) (Switzerland, Croatia, Germany, Finland)
“Funan,” Nicolas Leroy, Michel Schillings & Nicolas Tran Trong (sound designers) (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cambodia)
“Teheran Tabu,” Janis Grossmann (sound designer) (Germany, Austria)
“The Tower,” Christian Holm & Erik Clauss (sound designers) (France, Norway, Sweden)