In an interview with the Herald last year, Rossana Manfredi, Encuadre cartoon company director and organizer of Expotoons (international fest of animated films), said that the intention of the event is to foster movies' trade, making foreign countries familiarised with Argentine productions.
After the successful two previous editions, now is the turn for over 400 screenwriters, directors, investors, businessmen and entrepreneurs from the world over to get in contact with the industry's latest news, advancements and challenges.
But it's not only an event for people specialized in the sector. On the contrary, cartoon lovers will have the chance to enjoy screenings at the Abasto's Hoyts cinema.

Opening full force. To invite everyone to the fest, Expotoons offers the world's première of Jorge Blanco's Planeta 51, a 60-million alien adventure comedy. "We chose to open the fest with this movie because it's a milestone in the history of animation, it's the first time that an indie production company can carry out a project of this magnitude," said Manfredi. "It's an honour for us, and we wish that this movie could be an example for regional producers," Maggie Stagnaro, Expotoons artistic director added.
Without losing the organizer's main aim in mind of promoting Argentine movies, 10 out of 16 projects chosen by Cartoon connection — an alliance between European and Latin American animation professionals to encourage the circulation of cartoons between continents — are Argentine, which will be exhibited for European investors.
Although the local scenario is far from promising, as Manfredi herself told the Herald that the vast majority of animated movies created in the country are not exhibited in Argentina, she believes that the situation is bound to change.
In order to modify the current state of affairs, Expotoons includes 20 talks to discuss the main problems the industry faces nowadays .
round of talks. One of the conferences, by Nickelodeon Latin America's creative vice president of contents, Jimmy Leroy, is about the daily tasks of designing television for kids, summed up with the question: what do kids want to watch?
Also connected with children's needs, Fire Colombia's manager Andrés Vargas will talk about how cartoons can contribute to teach environmentally-friendly values such as saving or eating healthy meals.
More concentrated on the market, Raúl García, who has worked for 20 Disney movies, will give some piece of advice about how to enter the international movie business.
For artists who are working on the cartoon world, Latin American experts will provide some insight into technical workshops about advanced animation methods, IT tools, new trends, co-production and financing.
Apart from the entertaining side of watching cartoons, there will be a chance to find out more about the cartoon industry in Expotoons: the ups and downs, opportunities and risks. If animation is your thing, then try not to miss it.

Highlights
With a specialized jury — such ascartoonist Caloi, channel Volver's Walter Sequeira and Canada's film board head René Chenier — the competition is divided into four categories: feature film (Boogie el aceitoso is nominated with 3 other films), shorts, TV series and commercials.
Simultaneously to the fest, there will be a series of screenings: 
—Material especially selected from international film fest such as Italy's Future, Canada's Ottawa International Animation Festival, Korea's Annecy and France's Film d'Animation.
—France's audiovisual department chose a collection Resueltamente animados, by renowned filmmakers and new talents.
—Tribute to cartoon pioneer Norman Mc Laren with Canadian animations.
—Award-winning Henry Selick's Coraline will be exhibited.