Germany is the host country at the international animation festival Cartoons on the Bay in Salerno, Italy / Seven German programmes announced as official selections for the Pulcinella Award / Berlin-based Cartoon Film named Studio of the Year

Berlin/Salerno, 19 April 2007 – 'Focus on Germany' – Germany is the featured country at the international animation festival in Salerno, Italy which gets underway today and continues until Sunday.

The festival released the following statement: "Every year Cartoons on the Bay highlights a particular country that has shown significant growth and development in the field of animation. For this year’s edition Germany was selected because of its long artistic, technological and industrial traditions. This special 'Focus on Germany' will devote particular attention to independent German producers, public institutions and other top players in German animation by means of presentations of their activities, perspectives and strategies as well as round tables discussing the potential of institutional agreements, funding and co-production possibilities. So far over 15 German production companies have registered."

'Cartoons on the Bay – il Festival Internazionale dell'Animazione Televisiva' is Italy's most distinguished international animation festival and one of the most important in the world. This year's will mark the eleventh edition of the festival. The gala will present animated television programme and film premieres and include workshops, a conference, various informational events and round table discussions. One of the festival's mainstays is the Pulcinella Awards, distinctions granted solely to international animated television shows. This year 280 programmes were submitted from 36 countries. Of these, seven German works were chosen in one of eight categories of the Pulcinella Award‘s official selection. "School of Vampires”, a production of Berlin's Hahn Film, received a Pulcinella Award nomination in the category TV Series for Children. In the Studio of the Year category, which was announced in advance, Berlin-based Cartoon Film and Italy's Maga Animation Studio took home Pulcinella Awards, joining previous winners, among them studios such as Aardman and Pixar.

“Focus on Germany” is organized in collaboration with the VdAP, the German animation producers' appearance at Cartoons on the Bay is supported by the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern. The VdAP extends a heartfelt thanks to its partner


More about Cartoons on the Bay at www.cartoonsbay.com