Europeans Without Borders
Presentation by Alexis CABELLO
Videos viewed by hundreds of millions of people in France, Europe and around the world!
On our social medias
On television
In cinemas
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The association EWB (Europeans Without Borders) was created in 2012 to promote European citizenship and European citizens' sense of belonging to a community of destiny.
After launching a European Citizens' Initiative in 2013, "Let me vote", EWB launched a citizen mobilization campaign for the European elections in 2014, in the form of video clips of testimonials from artists and cultural personalities, "Rock the Eurovote".
In 2015 EWB decided to focus its communication on animated short films, which have several advantages:
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it's a form of communication well suited to its main target, young adults aged 18 to 35;
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it allows the creation of non-national fictional heroes, or caricatures of European heads of state or government;
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dubbing is facilitated, enabling international distribution.
If, as the late Umberto Eco said, "the language of Europe is translation", we would add: "the face of Europe is animation".
With this in mind, EWB produces animated films along two editorial lines, one educational and the other humorous.
In June 2016, EWB launched the 2nd edition of the competition, named "Eurodame, help!", on a scenario touching on the theme of refugees and migrants, a competition once again open to animation school students. The jury selected the work of Giacomo Lezzerini. The film was widely aired on the occasion of Europe Day on May 9, 2017, and reached almost 7 million views (broadcast report).
In 2018 EWB launched a 4th defense-themed competition, "Euroforce, help!" which will be released in 2022.
1) Educational editorial line
In June 2015 EWB launched the "Europeman, help!" graphic design competition for an animated film among animation school students, on the theme of European citizenship. This competition resulted in the selection of Mégane Lepage's graphic work. The film was aired on Europe Day, May 9, 2016, on the internet, on TV and in cinemas, reaching almost 8 million views (broadcast report).
EWB launched the 3rd edition of the competition at the Annecy Festival in June 2017, based on a script about the euro, "Eurofort, help!". The film was aired around May 9, 2018 and reached 12 million views (broadcast report).
These competitions were launched each time during the Annecy Festival (renowned animation festival in France) in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and were advertised on the websites and in the newsletters of the AFCA (French Animation Film Association) and RECA (Animation film schools network), ensuring their promotion in the animation community. Our action is supported by the CNC (National Centre of Cinematography and Animated Pictures).
Along the same educational line, EWB has produced and distributed some twenty videos for the 2019 European elections:
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10 videos illustrating the "Decoders of Europe", to decipher and denounce false information about Europe, aired on the social networks of the Representation of the European Commission in France;
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10 videos calling on young Europeans to vote, as part of the "Rock the Eurovote 2019" operation, under the "This time I'm voting" label promoted by the European Parliament; these videos, produced in three languages (French, English, German), were a great success, with 13 million views in France and almost 70 million in Europe (broadcast report).
In 2021 EWB released a video clip in support of the European citizens' initiative "Voters without borders/Electeurs sans frontières", which is a reworking of "Let me vote". The video was aired on TV5 and on social networks.
Finally, in 2021 EWB launched EWB Comments, a series of "video forums" enabling a variety of personalities to express their commitment to Europe in 2-3 minutes.
On the occasion of COP26 in early November 2021 EWB released 2 clips on the fight against air pollution and against water pollution, also aired on TV5 and on social networks.
2) Humorous editorial line : EUROCARTOON and INFOCARTOON
EWB has also launched the production of humorous animated films, again aimed at a young audience, caricaturing European heads of state and government in European political situations. These films are part of the EUROCARTOON and INFOCARTOON series.
In 2016, EWB produced the film "The gloomy aftermath of Brexit", aired prior to the Brexit referendum, which foretold the unfortunate consequences of the Brexit: Scottish secession and capital flight. While this film alone failed to prevent the Brexit, it was nevertheless a great success on the web and in TV broadcasts, with over 9 million views (broadcast report).
In the same spirit, in 2017 EWB produced a film about the Franco-German couple, called "Un couple royal" (A Royal Couple), which was released on social networks and garnered 700,000 views (broadcast report).
In 2020 EWB produced "Corona Shooting Contest", featuring European and global leaders and illustrating their disagreements on the best way to fight Covid 19. The film was aired on social networks and TV, and garnered 1 million views.
In 2021, EWB won an ERASMUS+ call for projects with the EUROCARTOON project, which led to the organization, in partnership with Belgian and Romanian partners, of writing workshops in Paris, Brussels and Bucharest, and the production of 6 animated films. The films have been released since autumn 2022.