With the opening of its call for entries, the Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards have launched their ninth edition, with the awards ceremony taking place on April 17 next year in the city of Santa Cruz on the Island of Tenerife.
Created in 2018, these awards seek to highlight the talent and industry of Ibero-American animation, as well as to promote professional networks on both sides of the Atlantic and contribute to the development of an Ibero-American animation market. The ninth edition of the Quirino Awards is sponsored mainly by the Tenerife Council through Turismo de Tenerife and the Tenerife Film Commission.
Aimed at works with a majority production from any of the 23 Ibero-American countries, the call for entries includes seven main categories: Feature Film, Series, Short Film, School Short Film, Commissioned Work, Video Game Animation, and Music Video. In addition, the works nominated in these categories will be eligible for awards in three technical areas: Visual Development, Animation Design, and Sound Design and Original Music.
The films submitted must have been released between June 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025. Registration of films must be done through the Festhome platform before December 1 at 11:59 p.m. (Mexico City time), as stated in the rules available at this link.
An international committee will preselect six works per category from among all the entries, which will be announced in February next year. Subsequently, an international jury will choose three nominated works per category to compete for the awards. The winners will be announced on Friday, April 17, on the Island of Tenerife at a venue to be announced in the near future.
David Baute’s Spanish film “Black Butterflies” was named Best Film last year, while Brazil’s “Jorel’s Brother” received the award for Best Series, and “Capibaras” by Uruguayan director Alfredo Soderguit won the award for Best Short Film. Works from Argentina, Brazil, and Spain also received awards.
In addition to recognizing the best Ibero-American animation works, the Quirino Awards will hold a new edition of the Co-production and Business Forum as part of its industry activities. Last year, the Forum was attended by 200 professionals from 25 countries —including producers, distributors, television stations, and platforms, among others— who held more than 1,400 business meetings. Registration for the ninth edition of the Forum will open in January.
Quirino, an Ecosystem for Ibero-American Animation
Since its inception in 2018, with the main sponsorship of Council of Tenerife through Turismo de Tenerife and the Tenerife Film Commission, Quirino has been working on creating an ecosystem for Ibero-American animation made up of sustainable professional networks that generate economic and cultural value.
What started as an Ibero-American animation awards ceremony has evolved into a strategic platform with multiple components: the Quirino Awards, the Co-Production and Business Forum, the Quirino Lab (an advanced training program for executive producers), and the Futures Lab (a prospective analysis initiative developed with the Ortega-Marañón Foundation).
Quirino’s philosophy is based on three principles: recognizing creative talent, facilitating business opportunities, and developing professional skills, thus positioning animation as a strategic sector capable of influencing public policy and regulatory frameworks, while creating synergies between cultural development and international business opportunities
