A Few Belgian Notes From Cartoon Movie 2025
As Anima lingers in my mind, trying to get back on track with all the work and the Belgian animation news!
Animation is wonderful, and it brought me to tears two times in the last weekend.
First was when I attended the Meet the talents with Raman Djafari, the amazing artist/filmmaker/illustrator behind Anima’s poster this year. An artist who, has they were talking about their work on Coldplay’s feelslikeimfallinginlove, underlined the importance of community in animation. In a world where things tend to tear us apart and drive us away from each other, Raman got emotional about the feeling of community, care and support they always felt in the animation world, and that truly moved me. Almost as much as their “thank you post” that followed the festival.
Thank you Raman, and thank you animation.
Second was when, on the last day of Anima, I finally re-watched Flow for the first time since last June. As it happens, it was also the first time I saw it in a proper cinema, having had to watch it at home pre-Annecy for review purposes.
And seating in the huge Studio 4, with more than 800 people for what was the most packed screening at the festival this year. I mean, the film had been out for two months in Belgium, it was 20 degrees outside, and to still see so many people from all ages gather to watch such animation? Even now, I’m still shaken by this very feeling.
Animation is community, animation brings us together, animation is life.
Meanwhile, last week also was Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux, the annual professional gathering for all European animated features, where producers, directors and partners meet to pitch their projects for the future of animation.
This year, Belgium was represented with three projects, all of which ended up in the top 5 projects receiving the most attention from buyers and attendees alike.
Lou and the Glacier’s secret
A co-production between France (Gao Shan Pictures), Switzerland (Cine 3D) and Belgium (Need Productions), Lou and the Glacier’s secret topped the “most attention from the buyers” category for projects in development & production stages.
Helmed by Frédéric and Samuel Guillaume, two Swiss directors and illustrators, the film follows the story of Lou, a 12-year-old goat, who lives with her brother Koa and her mother Zoé, a storyteller, in a mountain hamlet. During the autumn migration, a storm sweeps Zoé away. Determined to find her, Lou ventures alone into the snowy heights, where she bonds with a mysterious creature who reveals the mountains secrets and the world of Spirits to her. This journey of initiation unveils Lou as the new storyteller, ready to carry on her mother's traditions and those of her community.
With this project, Need Productions continues to impress with beautiful coproductions, while also producing projects such as Melvile and developing a new feature film from Belgian director Sarah Carlot Jaber La colline du thym, despite the financial difficulties of producing animation in Belgium. Need Productions is also part of other major international projects such as Allah is not Obliged with Paul Thiltges Distribution (LU), Les Films d'ici (FR) and Belgian animation studio Lunanime, currently in production.
Hyacinthe
Number two on the buyers’ list also had more than a bit of Belgium in it. Gerlando Infuso, an animation director based in Brussels already saluted for his short The Proposal in 2019 at the Magritte du Cinéma, make his feature debut with this stop-motion tale of young baker Hyacinthe, who flees his village on the eve of the annual ball where he’s expected to choose a life partner, as a strange plant-like starts growing inside him. As he sets off on this journey, he meets Noé, a carefree and wild faun, who becomes both guide and companion in what unveils as a tale of love, acceptance and the healing power of magic in a world torn apart by fear and ignorance.
A pitch that resonates with what I talked about in the intro of this newsletter, helmed by Belgian producer Wrong Men, French studio Foliascope (No Dogs or Italians Allowed, The Inventor) and Polish co-producer Likaon WJT.
Wrong Men will make its feature animation debut with this project, although the company as great live-action credentials such as Leos Carax’s Annette, Baloji’s Augure and Alexis Langlois’ Les Reines du drame, already one of my favorite films of the year.
Black Wolf
You may remember that we re-started this Belgian animation journey a few weeks ago with Little Ox, by Patrick Vandebroeck and Raf Wathion.
Three years after this film, Raf Wathion dazzled Cartoon Movie with the great landscapes of Black Wolf, a Belgian project backed by French coproducer Special Touch Studios.
A story about a wolf trying to become a wolf with all its challenges in the harsh environment of snowy wilderness, Black Wolf is a nature-drama animation written by Raf Wathion and Flemish multi-awarded director and screenwriter Koen Mortier (Skunk, Ex-Drummer). The project received script and development support from Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) and was well attended at Cartoon Movie, both from buyers (5th) and general audience (4th).
It features a new level of 3d cg animation such as the one we discovered in Little Ox, and with the writing level of the duo, one can expect a very exciting and visually striking film.
A Tribute and An Oscar
Flying back from Los Angeles in a marathon-turned-startour, Flow producer Gregory Zalcman (Take Five) received the Cartoon Tribute for European Producer of the Year along with co-producers Ron Dyens (Sacrebleu Productions, France) and Matīss Kaža (Dream Well Studio, Latvia). Zalcman and Dyens both attended — despite what must have been a tremendous amount of fatigue — Cartoon Movie 2025, where they were awarded the tribute.
Latvia, as it happens, was also the country in focus this year at the event, a definite momentum for the country where animation is now fully under the spotlight. Upcoming Latvian projects pitched at Cartoon Movie include Born in the jungle by Edmunds Jansons (Atom Art), Karmic Knot by internationally acclaimed director Signe Baumane (Studio Locomotive), and The Northern Star by Kārlis Vītols (Studija Kokles).
Overall, 55 projects of feature movies from 16 European countries were presented this year at the buzzing Cartoon Movie event.
Next year, it will unfold from March 3 to March 5, which is great because Anima also announced its dates, way earlier in February, so I’ll get to attend both!
More animation, more community, more stars in the eyes.
Next month, The Polar Bear Prince, a Belgian co-production which I discovered last year at Cartoon Movie, will get its Belgian release! Below, you can watch its French trailer. A family adventure filled with wonderful landscapes, in which you can lose yourself before the next newsletter.
Have a great animated weekend!
Kevin
