Quirino Awards Announce 265 Entries, Plan In-Person Event In May

A total of 265 works have been submitted to this year’s Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards, which honor animation from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. This marks a 21% rise from last year, but falls just short of the record 273 entries at the awards’ inaugural 2018 edition.

This year’s entries came from 17 (out of 23 eligible) countries. The best-represented country is Spain, a major European animation producer with a tendency to dominate at the Quirinos: it accounts for 28% of the submitted works. Next come Argentina (16%), Brazil (12%), Mexico (11%), Colombia (9.5%), and Portugal (6.5%).

Works from Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela have also qualified.

Entries are distributed across nine categories: features, series, shorts, student shorts, commissioned films, video game animation, sound design and original music, visual development, and animation design. Notably, 124 shorts were submitted this year — a 59% increase on last year.

Six nominees per category will be announced in February, and these will later be refined to three finalists. The award ceremony is due be held on May 29 in a new venue on Tenerife, the Spanish island that has traditionally hosted the event.

The organizers are also planning to hold, on May 27–29, an in-person edition of the co-production and business forum that normally accompanies the awards. Last year, the Quirino Awards and Forum were hosted virtually due to the pandemic.

The event was set up to boost the animation sectors in the territories it covers, and help forge co-productions and other partnerships across the Atlantic. It has swiftly become an influential business and research platform. Read our report on the 2019 edition here.