After 12 years on the Amalfi Coast, Cartoons on the Bay, the international television animation festival organized by Rai Trade in association with Rai Fiction, is moving to Liguria where the 13th edition will be held from 2nd “” 5th April.
This is not the only new feature of the event which has been directed by Alfio Bastiancich ever since its first edition.
Interactive animation and cross-media projects are the latest two Competition categories to be added by Roberto Genovesi, the festival’s new artistic director.
“This edition will be characterized by the decision to open up to the world of multimedia because I think that animation products involve all the professional sectors: video games, comic strips, mobile media, Internet”, explains Genovesi.
The festival’s main base will be Rapallo, along with various other venues including the traditional Cartoon Village for the public, the Hotel Excelsior, the heart of the event, where the press conferences, meetings and premieres for professionals will be held, the Auditorium delle Clarisse for the retrospective shows for recipients of career awards (Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, the creators of Barbapapà , and Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of Gundam), plus other screening venues.
Round tables focusing on licensing as well as web communities and their languages will be held at Santa Margherita Ligure.
“The other new features”, continues Genovesi, “include the festival’s new animated signature tune by Musicartoon, the Italian studio of the year, with the score by Moni Ovadia.
The signature tune will now change every year and will always be realized by the latest studio of the year.
The various days of the event will be themed: for example, Friday will be Pink Day, with round tables and case histories focusing on the female target audience.”
There will be no “classical” theatrical previews only those connected with products related to TV or video games.
With regard to the Italian presence, Enzo d’Alò will be chairing the jury for the “Pitch Me!” award presented to new Italian animated projects.
Bruno Bozzetto will be in Rapallo with “Psicovip”, one of the four Rai Fiction series in Competition (“Taratabong”, “Cuccioli” and “I cartoni dello Zecchino d’Oro” are the others) along with Maurizio Nichetti, the director of “Teen Days”, another animated series from Rai Fiction which will be previewing a selection of titles currently in production.
These include, “Pipì, Pupù e Rosmarina” by d’Alò and Vincenzo Cerami, “Geronimo Stilton”, based on the popular series of children’s books, “Marco Polo”, the first Italian-Chinese co-production, and the international co-production of “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, one of the most famous, bestselling literary works in history, with an exhibition at the Castle of Rapallo featuring the early drawings used for the project.
