15 Movies to Track at Cartoon Movie ‘21

One of the most exciting aspects of France’s Cartoon Movie pitching and co-pro event, which takes place March 9-11 this year, is that we are treated to a great snapshot of what European animation filmmakers are working on in the years ahead. Here is a sampler of 15 titles that piqued our interest. We’ll be watching their progress closely and hopefully we can all get to see them in a theater or on a streaming service in the near future. (Please check our website for full coverage of the event in March.)

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

The official synopsis for this adaptation of short stories by Haruki Murakami is as intriguing as you can imagine from the brilliant Japanese writer of award-winning books such as Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and 1Q84.“A lost cat, a giant talkative frog and a tsunami help a banker, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant save Tokyo from an earthquake.” First-time writer-director Pierre Földes, who has many credits as a composer (L.I.E., Babylon Fields) is the talented man in charge of this 2D-animated French-Belgian-Canadian co-production. (Cinema Defacto, Miyu Productions, Doghouse Films, Micro_scope, Unite Centrale and Cinema De Facto).

Caramel’s Words

European Film Award winner Salvador Simó (Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles) is back with another fascinating adaptation of a book by Gonzalo Moure. The plot centers on a deaf child who lives in a refugee camp in the Sahara and forms a friendship with a camel by reading the animal’s lips. Spanish company Koniec Films is producing this poignant tale about a young poet’s coming of age.