Annecy Animation Festival 2014 Award Winners
The Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the world’s oldest and biggest animation festival, wrapped up its 38th edition on June 14th. It was my first time attending in five years, and the festival has evolved significantly during that span. The most noticeable change is the heavy presence of American studios, both in the number of presentations about American features (directors Pete Docter, Carlos Saldanha, and Kelly Asbury all spoke) and studio-hosted parties (Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon threw official parties).
Annecy is a long way from turning into a San Diego Comic-Con because the event is still attended almost entirely by industry professionals and animation students. But with over 7,000 people in attendance, some of the big studio events, like the debut of Patrick Osborne’s Disney short Feast, had an electric atmosphere. Audiences stomped their foot at these events, hooted and hollered, and of course, threw paper airplanes per festival tradition. For a filmmaker, it’s hard to imagine a more receptive and enthusiastic environment than Annecy for premiering an animated short.
While the American studio presence has grown, the winners of the festival serve as a reminder that Annecy still values films and filmmakers from around the globe. The winner of the top feature film prize, as well as the feature film audience prize, was the dialogue-less Brazilian film The Boy and the World directed by Alê Abreu. The film will be released in the United States by GKIDS.
Abreu’s win marked the second year in a row that a Brazilian film has captured the feature film prize. “Right from the selection stage, the emergence of Brazilian animation has now been confirmed,” said Annecy’s artistic director Marcel Jean. “The double consecration of The Boy and the World with the Feature Cristal and the Audience Award is sending out strong signals about the vitality of Brazil’s production.”
South Korean artist Dahee Jeong won the short film Cristal for her piece Man on the Chair, and French filmmakers Burcu Sankur and Goeffrey Godet won the TV Cristal for “Tant de forêts,” a short for the En sortant de l’école series based on the poetry of Jacques Prévert.
The full list of winners is below.
OFFICIAL PRIZES
Cristal for a Feature Film
The Boy and the World (O menino e o mundo)
Alê Abreu
Brazil – FILME DE PAPEL
Cristal for a Short Film
Man on the Chair
Dahee Jeong
France, South Korea – SACREBLEU PRODUCTIONS
Cristal for a TV Production
En sortant de l’école “Tant de forêts”
Burcu Sankur, Goeffrey Godet
France – TANT MIEUX PROD
Cristal for a Commissioned Film
Nepia “Tissue Animals”
Fuyu Arai
Japan – ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Cristal for a Graduation Film
The Bigger Picture
Daisy Jacobs
Great Britain – NFTS
FEATURE FILMS
Jury Award
Cheatin’
Bill Plympton
USA – PLYMPTOONS
Jury Distinction
Giovanni’s Island
Mizuho Nishikubo
Japan – PRODUCTION I.G
Audience Award
The Boy and the World (O menino e o mundo)
Alê Abreu
Brazil – FILME DE PAPEL
SHORT FILMS
Jury Award
Patch
Gerd Gockell
Germany, Switzerland – ANIGRAF
“Jean-Luc Xiberras” Award for a First Film
Hasta Santiago
Mauro Carraro
France, Switzerland – NADASDY FILM
Jury Distinction
Bus Stories
TALI
Canada – ONF
Jury Distinction
Absent Minded (La testa tra le nuvole)
Roberto Catani
Italy – OTTOMANI A.C.
Audience Award
Anatole’s Little Saucepan (La Petite Casserole d’Anatole)
Éric Montchaud
France – JPL FILMS
ANIMATION OFF-LIMITS – SHORT FILMS
“Off-Limits” Award
Foreign Bodies
Nicolas Brault
Canada
ANIMATION OFF-LIMITS – TV FILMS
Jury Award for a TV Series
Tumble Leaf “Kite”
Drew Hodges
USA – BIX PIX ENTERTAINMENT
Jury Award for a TV Special
The Scent of Carrots
Rémi Durin, Arnaud Demuynck
France, Belgium, Switzerland – LES FILMS DU NORD
COMMISSIONED FILMS
Jury Award
Peau “Instant T”
Perrine Faillet
France – PEAUMUSIC
GRADUATION FILMS
Jury Award
An Adventurous Afternoon
Ines Christine Geisser, Kirsten Carina Geisser
Germany – KUNSTHOCHSCHULE KASSEL
Jury Distinction
The Age of Curious
Luca Toth
Great Britain – RCA
SPECIAL PRIZES
Festivals Connexion Award – Région Rhône-Alpes with Lumières Numériques
Through the Hawthorn
Anna Benner, Pia Borg, Gemma Burditt
Great Britain – LIKELY STORY
Junior Jury Award for a Graduation Film
Interview
Mikkel Okholm
Denmark – THE ANIMATION WORKSHOP
Junior Jury Award for a Short Film
Bus Stories
TALI
Canada – ONF
Fipresci Award
No Fish Where to Go (Nul poisson où aller)
Nicola Lemay, Janice Nadeau
Canada – ONF
“Gan Foundation Aid for Distribution” for a Work in Progress Award
Adama
Simon Rouby
France – NAÏA SAS, PIPANGAÏ PRODUCTION, GAO SHAN PICTURES
Sacem Award for Original Music
Hasta Santiago
Mauro Carraro, Pierre Manchot
France, Switzerland – NADASDY FILM
“CANAL+ Creative Aid” Award for a Short Film
Wonder
Mirai Mizue
Japan, France – CaRTe blaNCHe, CALF
