‘I Lost My Body’ Wins Feature Film Cristal And Audience Prize At Annecy

Jeremy Clapin’s feature animation debut I Lost My Body won the Cristal for Best Animated Feature and the Audience Award Première at the 2019 Annecy Int’l Animated Film Festival.

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect start for an independent animated feature. Produced by Xilam Animation, the French feature about a disembodied hand in search of its owner, launched at Cannes Critics’ Week last month, where it won the grand prize, and Netflix subsequently picked up the film for distribution.

At Annecy, the film received a lengthy standing ovation, in addition to applause through most of the film’s credits. For good reason, too – Clapin’s I Lost My Body is one of the most polished and original auteur statements in recent animated cinema, showcasing the work of a filmmaker who is in complete command of his craft. In 2019, other features of equal merit to Clapin’s film may be released, but there will definitely be none better.

Here’s what people thought of Jeremy Clapin’s “I Lost My Body” at #Annecy2019. Clapin is in the black shirt at :37 mark. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/Jc0JzRp7iv

— Cartoon Brew @Annecy Festival (@cartoonbrew) June 13, 2019

In Annecy’s new Contrechamps category for feature film, Gints Zilbalodis’ one-man cg feature Away walked away with the prize.

There was also a two-time award winner on the shorts side: Bruno Collet’s Mémorable, which won both the Cristal for Short Film and the Audience Award. The 12-minute stop-motion film, produced for France Televisions, takes the viewer into the world of a painter struggling with Alzheimer’s disease.

Other key awards were presented to Daria Kashcheeva’s Daughter (Cristal for Graduation Film), Regina Pessoa’s Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days (Jury Award for Short Film), Robertino Zambrano’s TED-Ed piece “Accents” (Cristal for a Commissioned Film), “The County Fair” episode of Panic in the Village (Cristal for a TV Production), and Gloomy Eyes (Cristal for a VR Work).

Annecy is a festival for the entire animation world, but when it comes to their awards, the juries definitely prefer European content. Nineteen out of the twenty awards presented tonight were to productions that were either European or had a European production partner. The sole exception was Zambrano’s TED-piece produced between Australia and the United States.

A complete list of winners is below:

Feature Films

Cristal for a Feature Film
I Lost My Body
Jeremy Clapin – Xilam Animation – France

Jury Distinction
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles
Salvador Simo – Sygnatia Films, Submarine – Spain/Netherlands

Feature Films Contrechamp Award
Away
Gints Zilbalodis – Bilibaba- Latvia

Audience Award / Premiere
I Lost My Body
Jeremy Clapin – Xilam Animation – France

Short Films

Cristal for a Short Film
Mémorable
Bruno Collet – Vivement Lundi – France

Jury Award
Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days
Regina Pessoa – NFB, Les Armateurs, Ciclope Films – Canada/France/Portugal

Jury Distinction for its social significance
My Generation
Ludovic Houplain – H5 – France

Jury Distinction for its powerful storytelling
Drive
Pedro Casavecchia – Atlas V – Argentina/France

Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film
Deszcz
Piotr Milczarek – Fumi – Poland

Audience Award
Mémorable
Bruno Collet – Vivement Lundi – France

TV and Commissioned Films

Cristal for a Commissioned Film
TED-Ed “Accents”
Robertino Zambrano – Australia/USA – Kapwa Studioworks, TED-Ed

Jury Award
#TakeOnHistory “Wimbledon”
Smith & Foulkes – Nexus Studios – U.K.

Cristal for a TV Production
Panic in the Village “The County Fair”
Vincent Patar, Stephane Aubier – Autour de Minuit, Panique SPRL, Beast Animation – Belgium

Jury Award for a TV Series
Le Parfum d’Irak “Le Cowboy de Fallujah”
Leonard Cohen – Nova Production – France

Jury Award for a TV Special
My Life in Versailles
Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat, Nathaniel H’limi – Films Grand Huit, Miyu Productions – France

Graduation Films

Cristal for a Graduation Film
Daughter
Daria Kashcheeva – FAMU/Maur Film Company – Czech Republic

Jury Award
Rules of Play
Merlin Flügel – HFG Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main – Germany

Jury Distinction
These Things in My Head – Side A
Luke Bourne – Birmingham City University – U.K.

Animation Off-Limits

Off-Limits Award – Short Film
Don’t Know What
Thomas Renoldner – Austria

VR

Cristal for a VR Work
Gloomy Eyes
Jorge Tereso, Fernando Maldonado – Atlas V, 3DAR, Arte France – Argentina/France