Imagine how a completely serious and grave situation can go derailed by an improvising jazz band. Watch Jazz that nobody asked for.

The European Association of Animation Film announced the winners for Cartoon Movie Tributes 2013.

 Aardman Animation's founding partner Peter Lord (UK) won the European Director of the year award at Cartoon Movie 2013 for his stop-motion adventure comedy "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" in stereoscopic 3D.

 Cartoon Movie participants elected TF1 International (France) as European Distributor of the year. The company co-produced its first animation feature film in 2011, "The Rabbi's Cat", followed by "Santa's Magic Crystal" and "Aya of Yop City".

Finally, Didier Brunner's Les Armateurs (France) is the European Producer of the Year, having released two major films the same year: "Kirikou and the Men and the Women" by Michel Ocelot, and "Ernest & Celestine",César award for Best Animated Feature.

Ms Farida Boudaoud from the Rhône-Alpes Region gave a trophy to the Rhône-Alpes' Personality of the Year to highlight the local animation talent.

The winner is Benjamin Renner, former student of La Poudrière, who co-directed "Ernest & Célestine".

See all the nominees:

European Director of the Year award:

• Enzo d'Alò (Italy) - director of Pinocchio [info-trailer]
• Peter Lord (UK)  - director of the Academy Award-nominated The Pirates! Band of Misfits
• Michel Ocelot (France)  - director of Kirikou and the Men and Women [info-trailer]

European Distributor of the Year:

• Pro Film, distributor of independent films in Bulgaria which has recently introduced several European animation films in the country like "Ronal the Barbarian", "Niko and the Way to the Stars", "Freddy Frogface", "Moomins" and "Lotte and the Moonstone", and planning to release soon "Niko 2", "Thor 3D" and "Gladiators of Rome"
• TF1 International, first animation feature film in 2011, "The Rabbi's Cat", followed by "Santa's Magic Crystal" and "Aya of Yop City" (info)
•  Universum Film, independent film distributors in Germnay and co-producer of animated films such as "Niko & Way to the Stars", "Moonman" and "Knight Rusty".

European Producer of the Year:

• Anima Vitae (Finland) production (Niko & The Way to the Stars, "Niko 2 - Little Brother, Big Trouble)
• Les Armateurs (France) production Kirikou, Belleville Rendez-Vous, Ernest & Celestine
•  El Toro Pictures, Lightbox Entertainment & Ikiru Films (Spain).  Production: Tad, the Lost Explorer
  

The 15th Cartoon Movie, regarded as one the main showcases to promote European animation,  presented 56 new projects for animated films from 20 countries across Europe to over 700 sector professionals.

An experimental playing with Pablo Neruda. Watch The Me Bird by 18bis studio, Brasil.

The European Association of Animation Film, has announced the finalists for Cartoon Movie Tributes 2013,  Prominent European directors and production companies are nominated.

The Dutch feature film in development Hieronymus, based on the life and art of the celebrated painter Hieronymus Bosch is now in pre-production stage.

Pixar scored  a victory with the Scottish-themed Brave, and the Disney animator John Kahrs won the best animated short for the retro-looking Paperman in the 2013 award ceremony.

 The charming feature film Ernest and Celestine by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier won the French César for the best animated film.

The short animated film Fresh Guacamole by the LA director, PES, is the shortest film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Approved for Adoption (Couleur de peau: miel / Skin color: honey) by Jung and Laurent Boileau  is a welcome study of a neglected area in child development, but minimizes all the harsh edges of the adoption predicament it describes.

A Serbian allegorical animated film wins the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival (Generation 14Plus).

A tender film about our relationship with the past from the Croatian director Veljko Popović. Watch Dove sei, amor mio.

Pixar's Brave and the documentary animation The Making of Longbird (Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson) won the BAFTA award at the feature and short animated film respectively.

The Oscar®-nominated short Adam and dog by Minkyu Lee is online. Watch the film.

 The Oscar-nominated, stop-motion film Head over Heels  by Tim Reckart is now online.

16 works were selected to design the MSU media facade at Animafest, Zagreb.