3 is the lucky number: For the third time the European Film Academy will present an award in the category EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY ANIMATED FEATURE FILM in this year’s European Film Awards.


A jury consisting of EFA Board Members Per Holst (producer, Denmark) and Antonio Saura (producer, Spain) as well as representatives of CARTOON, the European Association of Animation Film, Patrick Caradec (France), Heikki Jokinen (Finland), and Thilo Rothkirch (Germany) decided to nominate the following three films


LE CHAT DU RABBIN (The Rabbi’s Cat, France ) by Antoine Delesvaux & Joann Sfar is set in Algiers in the 1920s and tells the story of Rabbi Sfar, his beautiful teenage daughter and his parrot-killing cat that has just started talking. The delivery of a box from Russia further complicates things when a painter is discovered inside, more dead than alive. He is on a quest for a hidden tribe and its mythical city in Africa. Convinced that the city exists, he sets off on an incredible adventure, taking with him the Rabbi, his cat, a wise old Arab Sheikh and an eccentric Russian millionaire.


CHICO & RITA (Spain/Isle of Man) by Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal & Fernando Trueba is set in Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero – brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas, two passionate individuals battle impossible odds to unite in music and love.

UNE VIE DE CHAT (A Cat in Paris, France/Belgium) by Jean-Loup Felicioli & Alain Gagnol tells the story of a cat and its secret double life: It spends its days with Zoe, the daughter of a police chief, but at night it accompanies a cat burglar on the rooftops of the city. One day, while Zoe's mother is investigating a series of night burglaries, a criminal kidnaps the little girl.

Find out more about the nominated animation films including trailers, film stills and more here

The nominated films will now be submitted to the 2,500 EFA Members to elect the winner who will be presented at the European Film Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 3 December, in Berlin.