GLAS Animation Festival 2019: ‘Acid Rain’ Continues Its Successful Run With Top Prize
The Berkeley, California-based GLAS Animation Festival came to a close on Sunday, March 24 and winners for its 4th edition were announced at the event’s awards ceremony.
Tomek Popakul’s Acid Rain took home the Grand Prix in the main competition out of 41 shorts. Popakul’s short has enjoyed a highly successful festival run with stops at the Sundance Film Festival, Rotterdam, and soon Hong Kong Int’l Film Festival, Animafest Zagreb, and Annecy.
This year, GLAS introduced the Vimeo Staff Pick Award for the first time. Vimeo’s curation team selected the winner: Les Lèvres Gercées by Fabien Corre and Kelsi Phung. Aside from a $2,500 cash prize, the short film was launched as a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere on Monday, March 25.
“With natural performances and realistic dialogue, this moving short shines a light on how a lack of understanding and acceptance between a parent and their LGBTQ child can have devastating consequences,” the Vimeo jury said of Les Lèvres Gercées. “Its sensitive approach to this important topic is one that is vital to share for the betterment of our world.”
Additionally, this was the second year of the FXX Elevation Award presented by FX Networks, which honors a film in competition that embodies distinctive characters, bold storytelling, and a singular point of view. The 2019 winner was Sophie Koko Gate and her film Slug Life. The director will receive a $25,000 all-in development and production deal to develop an original animated project with FX that will be aired on the network.
“This year’s FXX Elevation Award winner is a filmmaker with unmistakable vision,” FX said of Gate’s film. “Her film succeeds because of its instantly distinctive visual style and impossibly imaginative storytelling. It is delightfully surreal, surprisingly funny and – albeit through artificial intelligence, industrial dance moves, and some suggestive slugs – offers a unique woman’s perspective into the most human of desires: finding somebody to love.”
Here is the full list of winners:
Competition Awards
Jury: Meghan Oretsky, Dennis Tupicoff, Koji Yamamura
Grand Prix
Acid Rain by Tomek Popakul
New Talent Award
Bloeistraat 11 by Nienke Deutz
High Risk Award
Egg by Martina Scarpelli
Meghan Oretsky Special Mention
The Night of the Plastic Bags by Gabriel Harel
Koji Yamamura Special Mention
Embraced by Justine Vuylsteker
Dennis Tupicoff Special Mention
Fly in the Restaurant by Xi Chen
FXX Elevation Award
Slug Life by Sophie Koko Gate
Vimeo Staff Pick Award
Les lèvres gercées by Kelsi Phung and Fabien Corre
US/Family/GIF Competition
Jury: Luce Grosjean, Christy Karacas, Marc James Roels
Family Competition Honorable Mention
Dum dee bolala dum by Peter Millard
Family Competition Award Winner
Kuap by Nils Hedinger
Best Gif Award presented by Giphy: Brandon Buir
US Special Mention
Ballerina by Steven Subotnick
Best US Film
Sparky by Xinbaonuzi
