Irish Animators Praised At Italian Festival

An Irish animation company has been officially recognised in two categories at the prestigious showcase festival event.

The Cartoons on the Bay Festival to be held this week in Rapallo, Italy.

Kavaleer Productions' animated series Garth & Bev is one of the 33 animations from around the world to be recognised in the TV Series for Preschool category.

Having first premiered on RTE 2, the animation is currently enjoying its second screening on BBC's CBeebies channel.

The series has been noted in the same group as popular cartoons such as Dora the Explorer and classics like Fire Man Sam and Noddy in Toyland.

The 2009 short film Hasan Everywhere is also up for Best Educational & Issues Film at the ceremony.

This is not the first nomination for the short film which was scripted and directed by Andrew Kavanagh, Chief Executive Officer of Kavaleer and produced by Ciara Gillan.

The film won two Digital Media Awards in February and received an Irish Film and Television Award nomination earlier this year.

Andrew Kavanagh, Chief Executive Officer of Kavaleer Productions commented: "Cartoons on the Bay is a very well respected and prestigious festival and we are proud to be featuring in both film and television categories.

"It is a great endorsement of the work our studio is creating and hugely encouraging to the talented teams who brought these projects to life."

Gary Timpson, Managing Director of Kavaleer added: "I'm delighted to hear that Garth & Bev and Hasan Everywhere have been officially recognised in two categories at the Cartoons on the Bay.

"Hats off to the creative and production teams who worked so passionately over the last two years," he said.

(BMcN)