* The award ceremony will be held on Saturday, August 29th in La Laguna (Tenerife) and retransmitted online.
* Spain leads the list of finalists with 11 participating titles, followed by Mexico and Argentina with six each.
* Quirino Awards activities for professionals promote new business in the field.
The island of Tenerife will once again become the capital of Ibero-American animation, hosting the Quirino Awards, an initiative launched in 2018 to promote and recognize the quality of animation produced in the 23 participating countries in the region. A total of 24 works will compete in nine award categories, with the leading support of the Council of Tenerife through the Tenerife Film Commission. Spain heads up the list of finalists with 11 participating titles, followed by Mexico and Argentina with six pieces each, Chile and Brazil with four, Colombia and Portugal with three, and Costa Rica with one. The award ceremony gala will be held in the city of La Laguna on the island of Tenerife and streamed on the Quirino Awards’ Facebook Live channel.
With three selected works, Mexican animation leads the Best Full-Length Film category with “El camino de Xico” (Xico’s Journey) by Eric Cabello Diaz, “Escuela de Miedo” (Cranston Academy: Monster Zone) by Leopoldo Aguilar and “Un disfraz para Nicolás” (A Costume for Nicholas) by Eduardo Rivero. A debut piece by German Acuña Delgadillo, a Chilean work selected for the official competition of Annecy 2020, “Nahuel y el Libro Mágico” (Nahuel and the Magic Book), completes the category nominees.
Shows for family audiences dominate the Best Series category, where two Spanish productions — “Yo, Elvis Riboldi” (I, Elvis Riboldi), directed by Javier Galan and Raphael Lamarque, and “Los Zurf” (The Zurf), directed by Alex Cervantes — compete with a Chilean series, “Petit – 2ª temporada” (Petit – 2nd Season) by Bernardita Ojeda — returning to the competition after being a finalist in 2019 with the first season of the series — and a Brazilian series aimed at preschoolers, “Conta Conmigo” (Count on Me), directed by Andres Lieban and Alessando Monnerat.
In the Best Short Film category, animation from the Iberian Peninsula takes the top spots, with the Spanish short “Homeless Home” by Alberto Vazquez — a director who won this same category in 2018 with “Decorado” (Décor) — up against a debut project from Spain by Carmen Cordoba Gonzales, “Roberto”, and a Portuguese solo debut project by Alexandra Ramires, “Elo”.
In the Best Animation School Short category, two of the three finalists come from France’s prestigious Gobelins school: “La Bestia” (The Beast), co-directed by Ram Tamez from Mexico, and “Le retour des vagues” (The Return of the Waves), co-directed by Alejandra Guevara Cervera from Mexico and Francisco Moutinho de Magalhaes from Portugal, among others. Costa Rica’s first finalist in the Quirino Awards, “Memories for Sale”, directed by Manuel Lopez, completes the list.
Beyond the aforementioned categories, the Quirino Awards also recognize projects for Best Commissioned Animation, Best Video Game Animation, and in three technical categories: Best Visual Development, Best Animation Design, and Best Sound and Original Music Design. (A complete list of finalists is available here).
A jury made of up Jean Francois Tosti from France (TAT productions), Joana Toste (animator and producer from Portugal), Paula Taborda from Brazil (Planeta Junior), and Sergio Jimenez from Spain (Pinkman.TV) will be tasked with selecting winners in each of the categories.
Awards for the Industry
Since the first edition in 2018, the Quirino Awards have become a valuable platform for promoting the Ibero-American animation industry, as well as favouring the development of networks amongst professionals in the field. In addition to recognising the year’s outstanding projects, the Quirino Awards include a series of activities, such as the Co-Production and Business Forum, held this year in a hybrid format with both online and in-person phases. The first meeting spanned two days between May 18-19, bringing together more than 90 professionals from 18 countries for some 400 business meetings. The second phase of the forum will be held in-person in La Laguna, with several animation producers, buyers, distributors, television channels, and investors participating. The Co-Production and Business Forum is supported by ICEX, Animation from Spain, and PROEXCA.
From May 10 to the 28, the Quirino Awards also offer a wide array of scheduled parallel activities, including round table discussions, master classes, projections, workshops, tributes, and presentations.
Among the remaining events, noteworthy appointments include a master class by Igor Heras (Monsters Pit Studio), “Concept Art for Animation and Video Games” to be offered on May 27. Also on Thursday the 27th, Silvia Padron will lead a tribute to her father, Cuban illustrator and director Juan Padron, during which she will announce various new initiatives aimed at promoting the conservation of her father’s work.
That same day, the working groups organized on May 13-14th to explore possible new lines of assistance for digital art through the Ibermedia programme will present their conclusions.
Lastly, the Cultural Industries Presentation will include the latest news on the support promoted by the General Direction of Cultural Industries, Intellectual Property, and Cooperation of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport, including Assistance for Cultural Action and Promotion, Assistance for Modernization and innovation in cultural and creative industries through digital and technological projects, and a new line of assistance for video games and digital creation. The presentations will be streamed over Quirino Awards’ Facebook Live channel.
About the Quirino Awards
With the main sponsorship of the Tenerife Council through Tenerife Tourism and the Tenerife Film Commission, the Quirino Awards confirm the island’s substantial bet on Animation, also including specific actions to support the local industry, participate in the main international markets, and promote the industry brand of Tenerife, Cartoon Island.
The initiative is also sponsored by the Council of San Cristobal de La Laguna, ICEX Spain Exports and Investments, Canary Islands Film, and PROEXCA, with cooperation from ICAA, the Ibermedia Programme, RTVE, Tangram Solutions, HP, WELAW, Retina Latina, Filmin, Casa de America, and Culturamania. Support is also provided by DIBOOS, SAVE, Pixelatl, Ventana Sur Animation!, Weird Market, La Liga de la Animación Iberoamericana, La Mesta, Pantalla, the Canaries Audiovisual Cluster, and Annecy Festival, as well as APA (Association of Animation Producers of Cordoba, Argentina), Animar Cluster (Argentine Animation and VFX Cluster), ABCA (Brazilian Association of Animated Cinema), Animachi Chile, the Network of Bolivian Animators, GEMA Colombia (Animation Industry Trade Group), Animation Costa Rica, Union of Animators of Ecuador, ACDMX (Mexican Association of Digital Creatives), Paraguay Animation, Peru Animation, and the Casa de Animacao of Portugal.
The awards are named after the creator of the first full-length animated film in history, “El Apostol” (The Apostle), an Argentine production directed by the Italian-Argentine illustrator Quirino Cristiani in 1917.
