Finalists Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation 2021

After Spain, with 11 titles, Mexico and Argentina with 6 and Chile and Brazil with 4 are the countries with the highest number of candidates for the Quirino Awards that will be announced on May 29 in La Laguna (Tenerife).

Los Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation have announced their finalists in an event held this Wednesday at Casa de América in Madrid and broadcast by streaming to the entire world.

A total of 24 works will compete in the 9 categories of these awards created to promote and value Ibero-American animation. Spain heads the list of finalists with 11 titles, followed by Mexico and Argentina with 6, Chile and Brazil with 4, Colombia and Portugal with 3, and Costa Rica with 1. The first films occupy a prominent place in the selection, reflecting the dynamism and commitment to new talents in animation from the 23 countries that make up the Ibero-American region.

The winners will be announced on May 29 in a ceremony in the city of La Laguna, Tenerife, the new headquarters of these awards sponsored by Cabildo de Tenerife through the Tenerife Film Commission. At the gala, tribute will also be paid to the Cuban cartoonist and animated film director Juan Padrón, creator of classics of Ibero-American animation such as Elpidio Valdes y Vampires in Havana.

The presentation event included the participation of José Gregorio Martín Plata, Councilor for Territorial Planning, Historical Heritage and Tourism of the Cabildo de Tenerife; Beatriz Navas, Director of the ICAA, Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts; Jorge Alvar, Director of Infrastructure, Health and ICT at ICEX; Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, Mayor of San Cristóbal de La Laguna; Elena Vilardell, Technical and Executive Secretary of the Ibermedia Program; and Jose Luis Farias, Director of the Quirino Awards, as well as representatives of the embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Portugal.

Twenty-four works in search of a Quirinus

The Spanish short film Wayback It is the work with the most nominations (3); followed by the Chilean feature film Nahuel and the magic book coproducción con Brasil; the portuguese short film How much and the Spanish short film Homeless Home, both co-productions with France; and the Chilean series Petit – 2nd season, co-production with Argentina and Colombia, with two nominations each.

With three selected works, the Mexican animation leads the Best Feature Film category with Xico's path by Eric Cabello Díaz, scary school by Leopoldo Aguilar and A costume for Nicolás by Eduardo Rivero. This category is completed with the Chilean film Nahuel and the magic book, Germán Acuña Delgadillo's debut selected in the official Annecy 2020 competition.

Series for family audiences monopolize the Best Series category, in which Spanish series compete Yo, Elvis Riboldi, directed by Javier Galán and Raphaël Lamarque that has been distributed in more than 130 territories, and The Zurfs, directed by Alex Cervantes. The Chilean Petit – 2nd season by Bernardita Ojeda, who is again a candidate after having been a finalist in 2019 with the first season of this same series, and the Brazilian Count on me, a series for preschoolers directed by Andrés Lieban and Alessandro Monnerat, complete the selection.

In the Best Short Film category, animation from the Iberian Peninsula monopolizes the nominations with the Spanish ones Homeless Home by Alberto Vázquez, which was awarded in the last edition of Annecy, and Roberto, debut feature by director and producer Carmen Córdoba González. Vázquez already won this award in 2018 with his short film Decorated. The shortlist is completed with the solo debut of Portuguese director Alexandra Ramires, How much, which has participated in some 40 international festivals.

For their part, two of the three finalists in the Best Animation School Short Film category were made at the prestigious Gobelins school in France: The Beast, co-directed by Mexican Ram Tamez, and The return of the waves, co-directed by the Mexican Alejandra Guevara Cervera and the Portuguese Francisco Moutinho de Magalhães, among others. The list is completed with the first work from Costa Rica to be a finalist in the Quirino Awards, Memories for Sale, short film directed by Manuel López and produced by Veritas University.

In addition to the categories already mentioned, the Quirino also awards Best Custom Animation and Best Video Game Animation, as well as three technical categories: Best Visual Development, Best Animation Design, and Best Sound Design and Original Music (complete list of finalists here).

After selecting the finalist works, the jury composed of the Frenchman Jean François Tosti (TAT productions), the Portuguese Joana Toste (animator and director), the Brazilian Paula Taborda (Planeta Junior) and the Spanish Sergio Jiménez (Pinkman.TV) will also be in charge of defining the winners in each of the categories.

La Laguna, new headquarters

Located on the island of Tenerife, the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna will be the new headquarters of the Quirino Awards starting with this edition. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, La Laguna is one of the island's cultural references.

In addition to the awards gala, which will be held at the emblematic Teatro Leal, the Quirinos will once again bring together animation professionals at the Ibero-American Co-production and Business Forum, which will take place between May 27 and 29. In 2020, this industry activity brought together representatives of a hundred companies from 19 countries - including production companies, sales agencies, channels and distributors - who held more than 800 B2B meetings. Registration to participate in the forum will open soon on the page web of the Awards.

Quirino Awards 2021 Finalist

Quirino Award for Best Ibero-American Animated Feature Film

Xico's Path, directed by Eric Cabello Díaz. Produced by Cristina Pineda Antúnez (Mexico)

A disguise for Nicolás, directed by Eduardo Rivero. Produced by Photosíntesis Media, co-production with Péek Paax (Mexico)

School of fear, directed by Leopoldo Aguilar. Produced by Ánima (Mexico, co-production with the United Kingdom)

Nahuel and the magic book, directed by Germán Acuña Delgadillo. Produced by Carburadores, co-production with Levante Films and

Punkrobot Animation Studio (Chile, co-production with Brazil)

Quirino Award for Best Ibero-American Animated Series

Conta Comigo, dirigida por Andrés Lieban & Alessandro Monnerat. Producida por 2DLab (Brasil)

Petit 2nd Season, directed by Bernardita Ojeda. Produced by Pájaro, co-production with Pakapaka, Signal Colombia and Non Stop (Chile, co-production with Argentina and Colombia)

Yo, Elvis Riboldi, dirigida por Javier Galán & Raphaël Lamarque. Producida por Peekaboo Animation, coproducción con Watch

Next Media, Wuji House, Insomne Animation Studio and Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (Spain, co-production with France)

Los Zurf, directed by Alex Cervantes. Produced by Hampa Studio and Gallego Bros, co-production with À Punt Mèdia (Spain)

Quirino Award for Best Ibero-American Animated Short Film

Elo, directed by Alexandra Ramires. Produced by Bando à Parte and Bap Animation Studios, co-production with Providences (Portugal, co-production with France)

Homeless Home, directed by Alberto Vázquez. Produced by Uniko and Autour de Minuit (Spain, co-production with France)
Roberto, directed by Carmen Córdoba González. Produced by Carmen Córdoba González (Spain)

Quirino Award for Best Short Film from the Ibero-American Animation School

La Bestia, dirigida por Ram Tamez (México), Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt & Marlijn Van Nuenen. Gobelins l’Ecole de l’Image (Francia)

Memories for Sale, directed by Manuel Lopez. Veritas University (Costa Rica)

Le retour des vagues, dirigida por Alejandra Guevara Cervera (Mexico), Manon Cansell, Edward Kurchevsky, Francisco Moutinho de Magalhães (Portugal) & Hortense Mariano. Gobelins l’Ecole de l’Image (Francia)

Quirino Award for Best Ibero-American Custom Animation

Pixelatl 2020, directed by Francisco Zamudio. Produced by Exodo Animation Studios (Mexico)

Routes, directed by Alejandro Imondi. Produced by Osa Estudio (Argentina)

Stormzy – Superheroes, directed by Taz Tron Delix. Produced by 2 Veinte (Argentina, co-production with the United Kingdom)

Quirino Award for Best Ibero-American Video Game Animation

Adore. Developed by Cadabra Games (Brazil)

GYLT. Developed by Tequila Works (Spain)

The antimatter child. Developed by Cosmic Brew Studios (Argentina)

Quirino Award for Best Visual Development of Ibero-American Animation Work

Elo. Produced by Bando à Parte and Bap Animation Studios, co-production with Providences (Portugal, co-production with France)

Petit 2nd Season. Produced by Pájaro, co-production with Pakapaka, Signal Colombia and Non Stop (Chile, co-production with Argentina and Colombia)

Wayback. Produced by User T38 (Spain)

Quirino Award for Best Animation Design of Ibero-American Animation Work

Homeless Home. Produced by Uniko and Autour de Minuit (Spain, co-production with France)

Nahuel and the magic book. Produced by Carburadores, co-production with Levante Films and Punkrobot Animation Studio (Chile, co-production with Brazil)

Umbrellas. Produced by Bígaro Films and Moukda Production (Spain, co-production with France)

Wayback. Produced by User T38 (Spain)

Quirino Award for Best Sound Design and Original Music of an Ibero-American Animation Work

Alebrijes. Produced by María Posada Mylott, Luis Salas, Purapost and Guateque Cine (Colombia)

Loop. Produced by Uniko (Spain, co-production with Argentina)

Wayback. Produced by User T38 (Spain)