Cartoon Saloon To Receive Honorary Award At 23rd Seville Film Festival

Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon will receive an Honorary Award at the 23rd Seville European Film Festival, becoming the first animation studio to receive the festival’s distinction.

The award will be presented as part of a special program organized by the festival and the Embassy of Ireland in Spain, marking Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The festival, one of the final influential European stops during awards season, runs November 6-14.

Animation will have a significant presence at this year’s festival, which also includes Annecy winners The Violinist and Blaise, as well as opening film Viva Carmen. Directed by Sébastien Laudenbach (Chicken for Linda!), Viva Carmen is a loose animated adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, itself based on Prosper Mérimée’s novella. Appropriately for the festival’s opening night, the film is set in Seville, where a group of street children attempts to save Carmen from her foretold fate.

Founded in Kilkenny in 1999 by Paul Young, Tomm Moore, and Nora Twomey, Cartoon Saloon has earned five Oscar nominations across a feature filmography that includes The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner, and Wolfwalkers. The Seville program will also include a special screening of Julian, the studio’s latest feature, directed by Oscar nominee Louise Bagnall and adapted from Jessica Love’s children’s book Julián Is a Mermaid.

“For more than two decades, Cartoon Saloon has redefined the possibilities of animation,” said festival director Manuel Cristóbal. “Their films combine artistic originality, emotional depth, and a profound respect for storytelling traditions.”

Irish ambassador to Spain Brian Glynn said the collaboration offered an opportunity to highlight Ireland’s creative contribution to Europe, adding that Cartoon Saloon has shared stories inspired by the country’s heritage with audiences worldwide.