The 2016 Cartoon d’Or award has been bestowed on French director Gabriel Harel for his freshman film, Yúl and the Snake. Juried by producer Clément Calvet (Superprod), director Mark Burton (Aardman) and director Alessandro Rak (MAD Ent.), the prize for outstanding European animation was announced at an awards ceremony held September 15 during the Cartoon Forum event in Toulouse, France.
Harel’s film was selected out of five finalists, beating out Alike by by Daniel Martínez Lara & Rafa Cano Méndez (Spain), Machine by Sunit Parekh (Denmark), Peripheria by David Coquard-Dassault (France) and Under your fingers by Marie-Christine Courtès (France) for the 10,000 EUR prize from Creative Europe-MEDIA.
Yúl and the Snake is a 2D short produced by Kazak Productions that combines dramatic and fantastical elements, while being inspired by the director’s childhood in the Southern Alps. The film received the Andre Martin Award at Annecy last year and has been selected for 10-plus international festivals.
Also honored at the ceremony were the 2016 Cartoon Tributes awardees, selected by 950 animation professionals attending the Cartoon Forum. The winners were: Broadcaster of the Year – M6 Metropole Television / M6 Kid (France); Investor/Distributor of the Year – CAKE Entertainment (U.K.); and Producer of the Year – Autour de Minuit (France).
