CEE Animation Forum, a pitching, financing and co-production event for films originating in Central & Eastern Europe, has unveiled the official project selection for its upcoming edition, set to take place in Pilsen, Czech Republic, on November 8-9. This year’s event will introduce a new platform called the Market, which aims to provide visibility to animated projects at any stage and facilitate one-to-one meetings between industry professionals.

The project selection for CEE Animation Forum 2023 features a diverse range of animated content across various categories. The total budget of all 28 pitching projects is €29 million. Hungarian animation is the most represented with five projects, followed by Czech Republic (four), Estonia (three), Germany, Italy, Poland Spain (two each), Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Slovakia and Ukraine (one each).

The selection includes eight projects for children up to 10 years old, six projects for teenagers, eight projects for young adults, and seven projects aimed at adult audiences. A range of animation techniques is also represented: Hand-drawing leads the pack, utilized in 16 projects. 2D animation is used in 14 of the projects, while 3D and stop-motion appear in seven each.

The gender representation among directors and producers for selected projects is balanced or weighted towards women filmmakers, with the exception of the feature film category, which includes two women directors and three men.

“Every year, we witness a growing number of ambitious and high-quality projects being submitted to our event. We recognize the importance of helping them gain visibility and capture the interest of decision makers. That’s why we made the strategic decision to introduce the Market as a new feature,” explained Marta Jallageas, Managing Director of CEE Animation Forum. The objective is to create a dedicated showcase for animated projects that are still seeking partners — regardless of the stage.”

This new market offers a dedicated space within the event for professionals to engage in one-to-one meetings with decision makers. Film professionals can secure their participation in Market by purchasing the accreditation (opening in September) for their project(s) at any stage of development, production or distribution, including completed works. Early access to a reservation system allows participants to schedule meetings in advance with esteemed European professionals, including producers, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters, scriptwriters, festival programmers and market event representatives.

The design for this year’s CEE Animation Forum official artwork has been created by visual artist Vera van Wolferen, an animation director and set designer based in The Hague, The Netherlands.

“We were delighted to discover Vera’s exceptional talent during our CEE Animation Workshop. Her playful and meticulously executed paper artwork immediately appealed to us. One of our primary objectives at CEE Animation Forum is to provide visibility to emerging talents, and I hope that featuring Vera’s work can be the start of a wonderful tradition,” added Jallageas.

The event is financially supported by Czech Film Fund, Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, Audiovisual Producers’ Association (APA, Czech Republic) and Pilsen Region.

Accreditations for the CEEA Forum & Market will be available for purchase from ceeanimation.eu starting in September.