“Oscars for Animation” will Visit China International Cartoon & Animation Festival (CICAF) Next Year

@ Annecy, France  11 Chinese Animation Works Shortlisted in the Competition

From June 10 to 15, the 43rd Annecy International Animation Film Festival (“Annecy Festival” for short) kicked off in Annecy, France, which is also known as the “Oscars for Animation”.

Founded in 1960 and held every June, Annecy Festival is the world’s oldest international animation film festival.

Annecy Festival takes stock of the world’s top animation works and holds related forums every year, attracting animation practitioners and enthusiasts from all over the world. Different from Hollywood, its award criteria are more balanced and open, allowing creators to make bold artistic creations, thus bringing us a variety of excellent animation works every year.

This year’s Annecy Festival received a total of 3,069 animation works from 94 countries, of which more than 200 were shortlisted for the official selection. At the closing award ceremony on the evening of June 15, the Crystal Award for a Feature Film  went to French animation “I Lost My Body,” which also won the Audience Award.

It is worth mentioning that this year, a total of 11 Chinese works were shortlisted, including White Snake and Kungfood. The number of works shortlisted in the “In Competition” from Asia reached 26, which set a new record in the history. The animation companies from Hangzhou also performed impressively. On the “China Animation Promotion Conference”, some original works from Hangzhou such as Dayu, God of War Kuan Kuong and Rainbow Chicks were introduced on the spot, enjoying great popularity.

     The CICAF, together with other outstanding animation enterprises and institutions in China, formed the China joint booth to participate in the Annecy Festival. Representatives of the CICAF and Michael Marin, CEO of Annecy Festival organizer CITIA, exchanged views on the continued in-depth cooperation between the two sides, further consolidating the cooperative relationship. Annecy Festival, as an important member of the International Cartoon & Animation Alliance Hangzhou Summit, will attend and participate in the 16th CICAF to be held in Hangzhou in 2020.

The First Person Wining Tezuka Award in Mainland China is from Hangzhou

Recently, Hands2, a contracted cartoonist of FanFan Comic Culture & Art Co., Ltd. in Hangzhou, won Tezuka Award, a cartoon newcomer selection contest held by Japanese publisher Shueisha, with his work 21g, thus becoming the first winner of the award in Mainland China. The 20-year-old Hands2 will receive a million-yen prize and get the chance to publish his winning work on the supplement magazine to Weekly Shonen Jump.

Tezuka Award is named after Osamu Tezuka who known as the “God of Comics”, and has been held annually since 1971. It is the top selection competition for new manga artists in Japan. Previous winners include Tsukasa Hojo, Togashi Yoshihiro, Takehiko Inoue, and Eiichiro Oda who are now world-renowned cartoonists.

There is no first place in this year’s competition and Hands2, who won the second place, became the de facto NO. 1 (tied with the other two from Japan).

Judge Takehiko Inoue (representative works include Slamdunk and Vagabond) praised Hands2 when commenting on his work: “The story is detailed and flawless, and the performance of each character is convincing and impeccable.” Judge Toriyama Akira (representative works include Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump) said: “The story is always focused on the storyline. I like the way the author directly and imperturbably narrate around the topic.”

Hands2 stood out in the 12th Supernova Awards last year, winning both the Bronze Award of Junior Comics and the Shueisha Award with his work REPLACE. Last year, the Chinese comic group “Yi Gu Yi Shu” formed by Ou Shukun and Liao Yubin, which also debuted in the Supernova Awards, won the first prize of “Jump Universal Manga” sponsored by Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump.

     After 13 years of development, the Supernova Awards has become one of the most professional and authoritative high-level cartoon contests in China, providing an opportunity for newcomers who are committed to cartoon creation. At present, the 13th Supernova Awards is in the process of draft application. You can register for it by logging into http://xxb.fanfannet.com.

@ Casablanca, Morocco

China International Cartoon & Animation Festival Comes to Africa for the First Time

How great will it be when Morocco, a glamorous country in North Africa, has an encounter with China, the ancient civilization in Asia?

On June 27, the Moroccan Shopping Festival themed with “Chinese Year” opened in Morocco Mall, the largest shopping center in North Africa. As the country’s biggest annual shopping festival, it focuses on promoting Chinese food, art and culture this year, creating a strong Chinese festival atmosphere through traditional Chinese performances, and inviting people from all over the world to appreciate the elegant demeanour of such a strong oriental country as China. Hangzhou, China’s “capital of animation”, also displayed its unique charm for the first time in North Africa, leaving a profound impression on the locals.

This is the first time that Hangzhou and the CICAF have landed in Africa, bringing Chinese animation culture to Morocco for the first time and demonstrating the charm of Chinese cartoon.

A wide variety of derivatives of “the animation capital” – Hangzhou, including personalized 2019 cartoon lucky bags, cartoon postcards themed on “Home in Qiantang” with West Lake scenery, mobile phone shells and hats featured with the mascot “Lele”, and environment-friendly bags of CICAF and NONO Cartoon, made the exhibition booth with antique style particularly conspicuous, thus attracting many Moroccan citizens and tourists to stop and watch. The most popular item is environmental-friendly bags, and almost everyone took a few as a souvenir.

“I’m always keen on Chinese culture. It’s a surprise to see Chinese cartoons. There are few opportunities to see exhibitions like CICAF in Morocco.” Inas, a student at Casablanca Hassan II University, said while happily pocketing cartoon postcards from Hangzhou.

“China’s growing soft power and the stronger purchasing power of Chinese tourists have made the world see more and want to know more about China. That’s why the Morocco Mall, which receives a large number of Chinese tourists every year, has offered to host CICAF.” Dr. Chen Dongyun, Cultural Counsellor of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of Morocco, said, “We welcome and look forward to continued international cultural exchanges in Morocco, including CICAF and China’s intangible cultural heritages.”

“Morocco is an important market linking Europe and Africa. It has a great influence on Africa and southern Europe both economically and culturally.” Chen Ying, General Manager of Zhejiang Time’s International Exhibition & Service Co., Ltd., said, “This visit to Morocco is not only the CICAF’s first tour to North Africa, but also offers a chance to show many Moroccan young people’s love for the mascot “Lele” and their yearning for CICAF.”

@Kecskemét, Hungary

Eight winning works of “Golden Monkey King” Award debuted

From June 19 to 23, CICAF was invited as a partner to participate in the 14th Kecskemét Animation Film Festival (KAFF), Hungary’s largest animation film festival.

KAFF, which began in 1985, enjoys a high reputation in Europe. This year, KAFF’s main activities include the opening ceremony of the event, animation film competitions and exhibitions, cocktail reception, etc. During the concurrent 11th European Animation Film Festival and 11th European Television Film Festival, more than 300 films were screened in eight venues. Moreover, there were professional activities such as animation film competitions and exhibitions, master classes, poster exhibitions and book release.

Eight Chinese animation short films, including The Sparrow Waiting For A Train, The Plum Blossom and Matchmaker, won the “Golden Monkey King” Award and were also screened at the event.

The representative of CICAF exchanged views with KAFF President MIKULáS Ferenc on continuing their deep cooperation and invited MIKULáS Ferenc to attend the CICAF 2020 and International Cartoon & Animation Alliance Hangzhou Summit.