SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 7th May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Once again, the island of Tenerife will host the prestigious Quirino Awards, highlighting Ibero-American animation. The seventh edition is set to take place in San Cristóbal de La Laguna from 9th to 11th May, with the Cabildo of Tenerife as the main sponsor.
At a press conference held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Tuesday, the event’s organizers revealed details of this edition, which includes not only the awards ceremony but also various activities tailored for industry professionals.
Present at the event were Lope Afonso, the Vice President and Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo; Dimple Melwani, the CEO of Tourism of Tenerife; Leticia Villegas, the Councilor for Culture of San Cristóbal de La Laguna City Council; Cristina García Castro, the Territorial Director of the ICEX Office in Tenerife; and Bea Bartolomé, the director of the Quirino Awards.
A total of 25 films from seven countries will vie for the top spot across ten award categories, all of which were established to showcase and elevate Ibero-American animation. Leading with 16 nominations, Spain tops the list, followed by Brazil with seven and Chile with three. Argentina, Mexico, and Portugal each present two works, with Colombia completing the lineup with a single nomination. The winners will be announced on 11th May during a ceremony at the Teatro Leal in San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
For the first time in its history, the Quirino Awards have achieved gender balance in key categories such as Feature Film and Animated Series.
Spanish animation dominates the Best Feature Film category with three out of the four finalist works, showcasing two debut films directed by women: “Hanna and the Monsters” by Lorena Ares and “El Sueño de la Sultana” by Isabel Herguera. Also in the running are “Robot Dreams” – the debut animated feature by Bilbao’s director, Pablo Berger, which was an Oscars finalist this year – and the Argentine film noir “El Paraíso” by Fernando Sirianni and Federico Moreno Breser.
Nominations for the Best Series award are split between Spain and Brazil. The Catalan director, Silvia Cortés, returns with the second season of “Jasmine & Jambo”, the reigning Best Series from the previous Quirino edition. Spanish contenders also include “Pobre Diablo” – an adult animated series created by Joaquín Reyes, Miguel Esteban, and Ernesto Sevilla – and “Sex Symbols” by Paloma Mora and Alex Cervantes. Two Brazilian series, “O Hotel Silvestre de Ana Flor” by Andrés Lieban and Alessandro Monnerat, and “O Menino Maluquinho – Temp. 2” by Michele Massagli and Beto Gomez, complete the finalist list in this category.
Brazilians Marcus Vinicius Vasconcelos and Alois Di Leo go head to head in the Best Short Film category with “Lulina ea Lua”. Other nominees in this category include the Portuguese short film “Quase me Lembro” by Miguel Lima and Dimitrije Mihajlovic, and the Spanish entry “To Bird or Not to Bird” by Galician director, Martín Romero.
The gala will also unveil winners in Animation School Short Film, Custom Animation, Video Game Animation, and, for the first time, Animation Video Clip categories. Additionally, accolades will be presented for technical aspects such as Visual Development, Animation Design, Sound Design, and Original Music.
A THRIVING SECTOR
Beyond honouring outstanding Ibero-American animation, the Quirino Awards are organising a revamped Co-production and Business Forum, aiming to foster the production and circulation of works within this region comprising Spain, Portugal, and Latin American countries.
The event will delve into the challenges faced by Ibero-American animation and introduce various initiatives to promote its projects. Over 200 industry professionals from 25 countries are registered for the business activities, where more than a thousand meetings are expected to take place to enhance co-production and project development in animation. Among the 150 participating companies are production houses, distributors, sales agencies, TV networks, and streaming platforms.
During the Quirino framework, the third Meeting of Ibero-American public television stations will convene, aimed at discussing programming, content acquisition, and co-production policies for animated content across the Atlantic. A highlight this year will be television stations presenting their projects for the first time, alongside case studies of series that have captivated audiences. Participating stations include 3 CAT (Catalonia, Spain), Canal Capital (Colombia), Canal IPE (Peru), EITB (Basque Country, Spain), NTV/TVN (Chile), RTP (Portugal), RTVE (Spain), and TV Cultura (Brazil).
Further activities include the unveiling of IBERMEDIA NEXT, a support programme within the IBERMEDIA initiative fostering innovative co-development in animation among companies and individuals in the Ibero-American region. This initiative, in collaboration with the Quirino Awards and the Ibero-American Animation League, is funded by the Next Generation Funds from the European Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience plan under the “Spain Audiovisual Hub of Europe” component. Partners from Europe and Latin America will be in attendance for the 14 projects selected.
To address sector challenges, the Ibero-American animation associations will gather on 8th May to propose strategies that facilitate co-production across countries in the region. Representatives from APA CORDOBA and ANIMAR (both Argentina), GEMA COLOMBIA (Colombia), Casa da Animação (Portugal), Gremio Animadores Ecuador and Cluster de Industria Creativas EC (both Ecuador), ANIMACHI (Chile), DIBOOS (Spain), PERU ANIMATION (Peru), Red de Animadores Bolivianos (Bolivia), and Pixelatl (Mexico) will participate.
A collaborative session, Women in Ibero-American Animation, designed to enhance networking among women in the industry across Latin America, will also be part of the professional schedule. This session will involve representatives from women’s associations across Latin America and feature finalists of the Animation! creators mentoring programme. Representatives from Ventana Sur, the MIANIMA mentoring programme, organised by MIA, Women in the Animation Industry of Spain, will be present.
Furthermore, alongside professional events, the Quirinos have arranged various activities for the Tenerife public, such as Beerworking, a gathering between students and professionals of illustration, comics, design, animation, and video games (Espacio Aguere Cultural, 7th May), screenings of the finalist short films (Teatro Leal, 10th May), and showcases of the finalist feature films (Multicines Tenerife, 25th and 26th May).
