One of the founders of Cartoon Saloon, the hugely successful Kilkenny-based animation studio, Nora Twomey is no stranger to the Academy Awards. Both of the previous films she worked on, 2010’s The Secret Of Kells and 2015’s Song Of The Sea, were nominated for Oscars, narrowly missing out on both occasions. With the studio’s newest effort The Breadwinner in contention this year, Twomey is hoping it’ll be third time lucky. So was it still surprise when the news came in, or are Oscar nods now par for the course for Cartoon Saloon?

“Honestly, if anything, I suppose there was a little bit more pressure with this one,” muses Twomey. “Considering we had two nominations for the previous films, even from the moment we announced The Breadwinner, the word ‘Oscar’ would be mentioned. In that sense, it’s really great to get the nomination. More broadly, it always means the world when independent films get recognition like this.”

The Breadwinner tells the story of an 11-year old girl, Parvana, who lives with her family under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. After her father is wrongfully arrested, she cuts off her hair and dresses like a boy in order to support her family, before embarking on a quest to rescue her father.

Upending gender roles, the animation beautifully recreates Deborah Ellis’ novel of the same name. Created by a team of over 200 animators, artists and actors from around the world, it took over four years to complete. How did the idea for the adaptation first come about?

“Well, we were initially approached by two Canadian producers who had the rights to book,” Nora explains. “They’d initially been thinking of making a live-action film, but they came to us because they’d seen The Secret Of Kells and wanted to see whether we could make the film. I read the book in one evening and instantly felt that Parvana’s character was someone I could explore through animation.”

With Cartoon Saloon on-board, The Breadwinner subsequently attracted further attention when Angelina Jolie became involved as executive producer. It was reported that the Hollywood actress provided significant assistance when it came to understanding Afghani culture. How big an asset was she for the project?

“She’s someone who helped set up girl’s schools in Afghanistan,” notes Twomey, “and someone who has an ongoing interest in the rights of young girls in countries all around the world. She became involved quite early in the process and was a big help in terms of guiding the casting, and helping with the screenplay. But even beyond that, she’d just be supporting us throughout the entire process, recording messages for the crew every time we hit a milestone, making sure everyone knew their work was appreciated.”

While preparations are underway for their visit to the Academy Awards, as well as for the film’s Irish debut at the Dublin International Film Festival later this month, Cartoon Saloon are also busy getting ready for the inaugural Kilkenny Animation Festival. This, says Nora, was a long-term project of fellow CS founder, Paul Young.

“Paul’s been talking about this festival for quite a while. You know, nowadays we have about 140 people between two studios in Kilkenny, so there’s a huge animation interest in the city. This is the perfect year to start doing it.

“There’s also such a great line up for our first year. Lisa Hannigan, who voiced one of the characters in Song Of The Sea, will be there, as will Jim Cogan, one of the best illustrators for The New Yorker. It’s a very creative line-up and we’re all really looking forward to this.”

Is this a sign that animation is flourishing in Ireland?

“I think it’s really incredible,” beams Nora. “Between the Irish Film Board, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, all of these bodies have been working over decades now to strengthen the industry for Irish people, who have been able to show their creativity in an unbelievable way.

“I think now, next to Canada, we’re one of the main producers of animation in the world right now, so that’s an incredible achievement in and of itself. Going ahead, I’d really like to see more storytellers emerging, who are willing to tell our stories. I think because we have a unique perspective on the edge of Europe, with an interesting take on the US as well, we have very unique stories. It would be tremendous if we started hearing them more.”
Kilkenny Animation Festival takes place from February 23-25. See kilkennyanimated.com for more details.