Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation film, short film and television studio based in Kilkenny. Their project titled Julian is one of five animations to be selected for Cannes Annecy Animation Showcase, held on May 18th.
The Cannes’ Annecy Animation Showcase is an annual event that builds anticipation to June’s Annecy Animation Festival. The event is co-organised by the Marché du Film and Annecy Animation Festival. The five titles to be highlighted at its 2025 edition have been revealed. The event is held on May 18th as part of Cannes’ Animation Day.
The Annecy Animation Showcase is a curated selection of today’s most promising animated projects. The creative teams behind each project are invited to attend Cannes to pitch their ideas and present their concepts in front of potential sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
One of the five titles includes Julián, a project by Kilkenny based studio Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner). Julián is adapted from the picture book Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love.
According to the synopsis: “Julián follows a wide-eyed young boy through a summer of discovery, imagination and transformation. With Louise Bagnall (“Late Afternoon”) at the helm and produced by the Oscar-nominated Cartoon Saloon (“The Breadwinner,” “Wolfwalkers”), this coming-of-age tale mixes whimsy and depth in equal measure, promising a story that explores identity, family and the power of self-expression.”
The fill list of selected selected titles:
Julián by Louise Bagnall (Ireland, U.K., Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg)
Sunny by Michael Arias (Japan, U.S.)
Ana, en passant by Fernanda Alves Salgado (Brazil, Portugal)
Dante by Linda Hambäck (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
Mu Yi and the Handsome General by Julien Chheng (France)
