‘My Life As a Courgette,’ ‘The Head Vanishes,’ ‘Stick Man’ Take Top Honors At Annecy 2016

Stop motion came up big at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which awarded its top feature prize, the Annecy Cristal, to My Life As a Courgette, the 66-minute Swiss/French co-production that takes a sensitive look at the lives of children living in an orphanage.

The Claude Barras-directed stop motion film (pictured above), which premiered as part of the directors’ fortnight program at Cannes last month, also took home the audience award for feature films. There are reports of an American distribution deal in the works.

On the shorts front, the French/Canadian co-pro The Head Vanishes by Franck Dion (Edmond Was a Donkey) won the Cristal prize. The other Cristal prizes were awarded to Stick Man by Jeroen Jaspaer and Daniel Snaddon (TV production), New York Times’ “Modern Love – A Kiss, Deferred” by Nicholas van der Kolk (commissioned film), and Wiep Teeuwisse’s Depart at 22 (graduation film). In addition to the film awards, Annecy presented an honorary Cristal for lifetime achievement to producer Didier Brunner (The Triplets of Belleville, The Secret of Kells, Ernest & Celestine, Kirikou and the Sorceress).

Besides Courgette, the other films that managed to win two awards apiece were Blind Vaysha by Theodore Ushev (Canada), Moms on Fire by Joanna Rytel (Sweden), and Peripheria by David Coquard-Dassault (France).

A complete list of winners is below:

ANNECY 2016 WINNERS

FEATURE FILMS

Audience Award

• Ma vie de Courgette (My Life As a Courgette)
  Claude Barras (Blue Spirit Productions/Rita Productions/Gebeka Films, France/Switzerland)

Jury Distinction

• La Jeune Fille sans mains (The Girl Without Hands
  Sébastien Laudenbach (Les Films Sauvages/Pelleas Films, France)

Cristal for a Feature Film

• Ma vie de Courgette (My Life As a Courgette)
  Claude Barras (Blue Spirit Productions/Rita Productions/Gebeka Films, France/Switzerland)

SHORT FILMS

Audience Award

• Peripheria
  David Coquard-Dassault (Autour de Minuit/Schmuby Productions, France)

Jury Distinction

• Moms on Fire
  Joanna Rytel (Altofilm AB, Sweden)

“Jean-Luc Xiberras” Award for a First Film

• ‘n Gewone blou Maandagoggend (An Ordinary Blue Monday Morning)
  Naomi Van Niekerk (Nita Cronje, South Africa)

Jury Award

• Blind Vaysha
  Theodore Ushev (National Film Board of Canada, Canada)

Cristal for a Short Film

• Une tête disparaît (The Head Vanishes)
  Franck Dion (Papy3D Productions/National Film Board of Canada, France/Canada)

TV AND COMMISSIONED FILMS

Commissioned films—Jury Award

• Awesome Beetle’s Colors
  Indra Sproge (Infinity Box, Latvia)

Commissioned films—Cristal for a Commissioned Film

• The New York Times “Modern Love – A Kiss, Deferred”
  Nicholas van der Kolk (Moth Collective, U.K.)

TV Films—Jury Award for a TV Series

• Lili “Lili Loves Food”
  Siri Melchior (Dansk Tegnefilm 2APS, Denmark/U.K.

TV Films—Jury Award for a TV Special

• La Rentrée des classes
  Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar (Panique/Autour de Minuit/Beast Animation, Belgium/France)

TV Films—Cristal for a TV Production

• Stick Man
  Jeroen Jaspaert, Daniel Snaddon (Magic Light Pictures, U.K.)

GRADUATION FILMS

Jury Distinction

• Frankfurter Str. 99a
  Evgenia Gostrer (School of Art and Design Kassel, Germany)

Jury Award

• Balcony
  David Dell’Edera (Umbrella Studio/Budapest Metropolitan University, Hungary)

Cristal for a Graduation Film

• Depart at 22
  Wiep Teeuwisse (HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, Netherlands)

ANIMATION “OFF-LIMITS”

Jury Distinction

• The Reflection of Power
  Mihai Grecu (Bathysphere Productions, France/Romania)

“Off-Limits” Award

• 4min15 in the Developer
  Moïa Jobin-Paré (Canada)

OTHER AWARDS

Festivals Connexion Jury Distinction – Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

• Moms on Fire
  Joanna Rytel (Altofilm AB, Sweden)

Festivals Connexion Award – Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

• Decorado
  Alberto Vázquez (Uniko, Spain/France)

Junior Jury Award for a Graduation Film

• The Alan Dimension
  Jac Clinch (NFTS—National Film & Television School, U.K.)

Junior Jury Award for a Short Film

• Blind Vaysha
  Theodore Ushev (National Film Board of Canada, Canada)

FIPRESCI Award

• How Long, Not Long
  Michelle Kranot, Uri Kranot (Dansk Tegnefilm 2 APS/The Animation Workshop,Denmark)

André-Martin Award for a 2015 French Feature Film

• Adama
  Simon Rouby (Naia Productions/Pipangaï Production, France)

André-Martin Award for a French Short Film

• Peripheria
  David Coquard-Dassault (Autour de Minuit/Schmuby Productions, France)

Gan Foundation Award for Distribution

• White Fang
  Alexandre Espigares (Superprod/Once Upon/Big Beach, France/Luxembourg)

Best Original Music Award for a Short Film, sponsored by the SACEM

• Beast!
  Pieter Coudyzer (S.O.I.L., Belgium

“CANAL Creative Aid” Award for a Short Film

• 3/4 Oz.
  Pierre Grillère, Romain Peyronnet (EMCA—Ecole des Métiers du Cinéma d’Animation, France)