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Celebrate National Best Friends Day with a heartwarming movie.

The world is full of stories about best friends whom everyone else thinks should be enemies: Romeo and Juliet, Lady and the Tramp, and now . . . Ernest and Celestine. Since National Best Friends Day is June 8, we would like to introduce you to the unlikely friendship depicted in the French movie Ernest & Celestine (rated PG).

Based on the classic Belgian book series by Gabrielle Vincent, Ernest & Celestine is about a society of mice that live underground in constant fear of the bears that dwell in the city above. In this world, bears eat mice. But when the mouse, Celestine, comes face to face with one of those bears, an unlikely, but beautiful friendship begins.

What do you think? Who are YOUR favorite fictional or famous BFFs? Leave a comment!

Ernest & Celestine won France’s César Award for Best Animated Feature and a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 86th Academy Awards®, and it will be available on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD June 17.

It’s not too late to see the Oscar-nominated French animated feature Ernest & Celestine. Below is a list of theaters that are screening the film this weekend. If your city isn’t listed below, check out the complete list of screening dates on the official website. New York, NY – IFC CenterAustin, TX – Regal Arbor CinemasPortland, OR – Regal Fox TowerSalt Lake City, UT – Broadway TheatreChicago, IL – Music Box TheatreScottsdale, AZ – Harkins SheaBaltimore, MD – The Charles TheatreHouston, TX – Landmark River Oaks TheatreAtlanta, GA – Landmark Midtown ArtDenver, CO – Landmark MayanForest Hills, NY – Cinemart CinemasBerkeley, CA – Rialto Cinemas Elmwood Washington, DC – West End CinemaOgden, UT – Art House Cinema 502Juneau, AK – Gold Town NickelodeonSan Francisco, CA – Landmark Opera Plaza CinemaMinneapolis, MN – Landmark Lagoon CinemaNorthbrook, IL – AMC NorthbrookSkokie, IL – AMC Village CrossingLas Vegas, NV – Regal Village SquareTucson, AZ – The Loft CinemaSalem, OR – Salem CinemaHonolulu, HI – Kahala Theatres 8Charlotte, NC – Regal Manor TwinKnoxville, TN – Regal Downtown WestSanta Fe, NM – CCA Santa FeColumbus, OH – Gateway Film CenterSt. Louis, MO – Landmark Plaza FrontenacIndianapolis, IN – Landmark Keystone ArtDurango, CO – Animas TheatreLincolnshire, IL – Regal LincolnshireCoral Gables, FL – Coral Gables Art CinemaPittsfield, MA – Berkshire Museum Little CinemaSan Luis Obispo, CA – Palm TheatreIthaca, NY – CinemapolisSanta Cruz, CA – Del MarBoulder, CO – Boedecker Theater (begins 4/12)Sarasota, FL – Sarasota Film Festival (4/12 – 4/13)Omaha, NE – Film Streams Omaha (begins 4/12)Three Rivers, MI – Riviera Theatre (begins 4/12) Huntington, NY – Cinema Arts Centre (4/12 – 4/13)Santa Barbara, CA – Plaza de Oro (4/16) *This post is sponsored by GKIDS.*

The Oscar-nominated French animated feature "Ernest & Celestine," which is being rolled out theatrically across the U.S. over the next few months, has its first significant expansion this weekend.

The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film announced their winners last Sunday. The grand prize, which included a 15,000 Euro award (approx. $19,500), was awarded to Oh Willy… by Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels. The film’s continuing success on the international festival circuit means little for its Oscar hopes since it was already entered for consideration last year and was completely overlooked by the Academy.

Other winners at Stuttgart include Ryo Okawara’s short Kara No Tamago which won the prize for animated short, and Hisko Hulsing’s Junkyard which won the audience award. The animated feature prize was awarded to the French film Ernest and Celestine, which will open in the United States this fall.

International Competition Grand Prize (15,000 euros)
Oh Willy… directed by Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels

Lotte Reiniger Promotion Award for Animated Film (10,000 euros)
Kara No Tamago (A Wind Egg) directed by Ryo Okawara (Japan)

SWR Audience Award (6,000 euros)
Junkyard directed by Hisko Hulsing (The Netherlands)

Young Animation Award/Best Student Film (2,500 euros)
Eine Murul (Breakfast on the Grass) directed by Erik Alunurm, Mari Pakkas, Mari Liis Rebane, Mihkel Reha (Estonia)

AniMovie Award for Best Animated Feature
Ernest & Celestine directed by Benjamin Renner, Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar (France, Belgium, Luxembourg)

Tricks for Kids Award for Best Children’s Feature (4,000 euros)
Schrecken ohne Ende (Nearest and Dearest) directed by Michael Sieber and Max Stöhhr

Tricks for Kids Award for Best Animated Series for Children
Roy: “Foot Fat Fit” directed by Alan Shannon (Ireland)

Cartoons for Teens award for Best Animated Series (2,500 euros)
Der Notfall (Déjà-moo) directed by Stefan Muller

German Screenplay Award (2,500 euros)
Molly Monster: The Movie written by John Chambers

Animated Fashion Award (2,000 euros)
Freitag X-Mas Movies directed by Claudia Rothlin and Yves Gutjar (Switzerland)

German Voice Award (2,500 euros)
Rick Kavanian for Knight Rusty, Yesterday’s Hero Recycled (Universum, Germany)

Animated Com Awards (Awards for the best applied animation in the fields of advertising, technology and spatial communication 
sponsored by Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart, Daimler AG, U.I. Lapp GmbH)

Main prize
The Real Bears directed by Lucas Zanotto

Advertising (2,500 euros)
MTV EMA 2012 Opener directed by Mate Steinforth (Germany)

Technology (2,500 euros)
Mass Effect 3 – Take Earth Back directed by Istvan Zorkoczy (Hungary)

Spatial Communication
Swiss Pavilion Expo Yeosu: “The Source–It’s In Your Hands” directed by Marc Tamschick (Switzerland)

Special Prize Mercedes-Benz Classic: Silver Arrows (2,500 euros)
A Racers Sketchbook directed by Falk Schuster (Germany)

Special Prize Lapp Connected Award (2,500 euros)
Pinball directed by Darko Vidackovic (Croatia)

Tomorrow is the opening night of the New York International Children’s Film Festival. The festival is a terrific way for New Yorkers to see foreign animated features that would otherwise be difficult to catch stateside. The opening night film—the much-anticipated Ernest and Celestine—is sold out, but it’ll screen again at the festival on Sunday, March 17. Other highlights include the US premiere of Goro Miyazaki’s From Up on Poppy Hill, the intriguing Euro-anime The Day of the Crows, and the English-language world premiere of French animation legend Jean-François Laguionie’s The Painting.

Other features that might be worth checking out include Welcome to the Space Show, Zarafa and Kirikou and the Men and the Women. See the full festival line-up HERE.

The Cesars, the French equivalent of the Oscars, were handed out on Friday evening. The sole prize for animated film (shorts and features are combined into a single category) was presented to the feature film Ernest and Celestine, directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, and Stéphane Aubier.

Good news for Americans: distributor GKIDS has picked up the film for U.S. distribution and is prepping a fall 2013 release. Every clip I’ve seen from the film makes it appear sweet and charming in the best way possible.

Imagine the Oscars.

Now, imagine the Oscars if they were presented in French and no one cared about them.

That’s the César Awards, which are presented annually by France’s Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema.

Last Friday, the organization announced the nominations for the 38th César Awards, which will be presented on February 22nd. They have an animation category that lumps features and shorts together, but in spite of this quirk, they managed to come up with five deserving nominees:

Edmond Was a Donkey directed by Franck Dion

Oh Willy… directed by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels

Ernest and Celestine directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier

Kirikou and the Men and Women directed by Michel Ocelot

Zarafa directed by Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie