For the 3rd time, Cartoon Forum will be putting the spotlight on a country, and in 2018 that country is Finland.
Finland ranks as a world leader in education, gender equality, innovation technology, video games industry, governance, clean air and clean water … and is also known as the country with the happiest people according to the United Nations Happiness Report for 2018.
Finland has also a very special position on the animation community with a tradition of challenging international co-productions, treaties, both the fastest and simplest 25% cash rebate you can trust, and many world famous brands.
It is only up till this Christmas as you will see the classical Moomin series turning into CGI. In cinemas worldwide, three Finnish animated features, Niko films from 2008 and 2012 and the 2016 blockbuster hit The Angry Birds Movie have remained the most successful Finnish films ever. Yes, Christmas is coming early this year. It is coming in September – and Finnanimation is making it happen in Toulouse!
It is not only three selected projects to be pitched this year at Cartoon Forum, but Finnish animation will appear as a constant thread throughout the four days in Toulouse.
- There will be presentations of total 12 Finnish animation studios and production companies at every Croissant and Coffee Shows
- There will be a Finnish hosted Farewell dinner & Party on Thursday the 13th of September
- There will be a mentoring and coaching session for students from 3 different animation schools in Finland starting on Monday the 10th of September.
The three selected Finnish projects for 2018 edition are Harry and Bip – Summer Season from Ink and Light, Momulu and Friends from Kaiken Entertainment and One Thousand and One Animals from Haruworks.
The three schools with students start their day on Monday the 10th of September include Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK / Art & Media), Aalto University (Department of Film,Television and Scenography) and Turku University of Applied Sciences (Arts Academy).
Who else is there? Interestingly a few French projects with Japanese minor co-producers, a couple of projects from Greece and from Ukraine, one from Austria and one from Serbia, many Hungarian and German projects, certainly UK and Irish projects too, and our friends from Denmark, Norway and Iceland with new animation brands. Easy to pick up your favorite from the list, and easy to get excited in the wonderlands of Midsummer Madness.