The 13th edition of Cartoons on the Bay, the International Television and Multimedia Animation Festival promoted by Rai and organized by RaiTrade in cooperation with RaiFiction and with the contribution of the Sistema Turistico Locale Terre di Portofino (Local Tourist System - Lands of Portofino), will be held from April 2-5 in the Tigullio Gulf of Italy for the first time.
Also a first, Cartoons on the Bay will open to three new areas: comics, videogames and multimedia. The festival will host exhibition with comics, show reels of multimedia products and videogames, and will feature about 200 shows from the more than 400 submitted from 45 countries.
The 44 selected works are running in nine categories: Preschool TV Target series (up to 6 years old), TV Kids series (7 to 10 years old), TV Tween Generation series (11 to 13 years old), TV Young Adults series (14 to 17 years old), Cross Media Project, TV Series Pilot, Short Film, Educational and Social Film -- Unicef Prize and Interactive Animation.
The new categories of TV series dedicated to Tween and Young Adults and the Cross Media Project and Interactive Animation that have opened up Cartoons on the Bay to the multimedia world.
During this year's Cartoons on the Bay, on April 3, there will be a "Pink Day," fully dedicated to young girls from tween to teenage. Cartoons on the Bay will offer events and meetings focusing on popular feminine public characters such as THE POWERPUFF GIRLS and HANNAH MONTANA.
"Cartoons can be a valuable tool to educate and inform the youngest," explains Alba Calia, VP of RaiTrade. "The choice to dedicate a day to the female target comes from the awareness that little girls' world deserves a special attention: the main characters of the animated series have nearly always been male, even if the trend is changing. In Rapallo the characters and series that have met a great success of public will be presented. For this reason we've decided to dedicate a specific space to the theme of the rights of young girls and children. [It's] a difficult but very current subject. There are many countries indeed where still today women's rights are at a embryonic state and cartoons may represent an extraordinary vehicle to communicate positive messages."
Tigullio will be the theatre of the world preview of PUBERTY (PUBERTAD), the Cuban TV series in the running for the Pulcinella Award, willing to talk about sexual education to young girls and children of the Caribbean island.
Cuba is the winning country of Cartoons on the Bay's special recognition for animation: the Pulcinella Award. The award will be dedicated as well to the focus on the rights of the young girls and children by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) and will be presented to Luis A. Gonzales Nieto, VP of the Cinematographic Art and Industry Institute and Esther Hirzel Galarza, Director of the Cinematographic Art and Industry Institute.
Great attention will also be paid to the market of animation with the presentation of the Doxa research targeting girls, the history of the cartoons LOULOU DE MONTMARTRE and A DANZA CON VANESSA and the presentation of the channel Raisat Smash Girls.
Show organizers also announced this week that Talus Taylor, creator of LES BARBAPAPAS, the cult 1970s TV series (still broadcasted today) will be at Cartoons on the Bay.
Together with GUNDAM creator Tomino Yoshiyuki, he will receive the Pulcinella Award to the Carrier on Saturday, April 4.
Festival guests of honor also include Enzo d'Alo, director of ZORBA AND LUCKY(LA GABBIANELLA E IL GATTO), THE BLUE ARROW(LA FRECCIA AZZURRA) and MOMO.
D'Alo will also be president of the Pitch Me! Pierluigi de Mas 2009 Award, a prize dedicated to new authors, producers and new ideas.
Nominated for Studio of the Year, Yoshiyuki's studio Japan-based Sunrise will also be recognized on the Cartoons on the Bay stage. Sunrise is one of the most famous producers of anime in the world, besides GUNDAM, successful titles include DAITARN 3, CYBORG 009, CITY HUNTER and IDEON.
