Taiwanese Short ‘Night Bus’ Wins Grand Prix At Animafest Zagreb 2021
On Sunday, Animafest Zagreb wrapped up its in-person edition in the Croatian capital. It will likely end up as the only major animation festival to have held onsite events throughout both years of the pandemic.
The top short film prize went to Night Bus, a self-produced work by Taiwanese animator-director Joe Hsieh, which follows the events that unfold after a crime is committed on a late-night commuter bus. The jury said in a statement: “Night Bus is a miraculous journey that captures all the protagonists and the audience. Some of the jury members would die for this film. So that everyone remains unharmed, we award it the Grand Prix.”
The equivalent feature film prize was won by The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks, a darkly satirical journey through 19th- and 20th-century Russian history and culture. The chiefly cut-out film, by veteran director Andrei Khrzhanovsky, played at Annecy last year, and later qualified for an Oscar.
The short film jury consisted of Nadja Andrasev, Michael Frei, Shoko Hara, Draško Ivezić, and Sasha Svirsky. The feature film jury consisted of Otto Alder, Hrvoje Štefotić, and Karin Vandenrydt. The student film and Croatian film jury consisted of Denis Alenti, Paula Bristot, and Petrit Gora. The vr jury consisted of Agnė Adomėnė, Mario Kalogjera, and Stefan Stratil. The children’s film jury consisted of Flora Bokić, Tara Gladović, Ana Gladović, Luka Križanac, and Tia Županić.
Here is the list of winners in full:
Short Film Grand Prix
Night Bus by Joe Hsieh (Taiwan)
Special Mentions
Easter Eggs by Nicolas Keppens (Belgium/France/Netherlands)
Monachopsis by Liesbet van Loon (Belgium)
Hide by Daniel Gray (Hungary/France/Canada)
In My Chest of Fire There Is Still Place to Temple Your Dagger by Pablo Ballarín (Spain)
Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic by Paul Bush (Denmark/U.K.)
Golden Zagreb Award for Creativity and Innovative Artistic Achievement
Maalbeek by Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis (France)
Zlatko Grgić Award for the Best First Film Made Outside an Educational Institution
The Fourth Wall by Mahboobeh Kalaee (Iran)
Dušan Vukotić Award for the Best Student Film
I’m Here by Julia Orlik (Poland)
Special Mentions
Ant Hill by Marek Náprstek (Czech Republic)
Room With a Sea View by Leonid Shmelkov (Estonia)
Croatian Film Award
Can You See Them? by Bruno Razum (Croatia)
Special Mention
The Stork by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tšinakov (Estonia)
Feature Film Grand Prix
The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks by Andrei Khrzhanovsky (Russia)
Special Mention
Kill It and Leave This Town by Mariusz Wilczyński (Poland)
VR Animation Award
Otawamure by Yoriko Mizushiri (Japan)
Special Mention
Replacements by Jonathan Hagard (Japan/Germany/Indonesia)
Films for Children Award
Reflection by Juan Carlos Mostaza (Spain)
Special Mention
BusLine35A by Elena Felici (Denmark)
Audience Award: Short Film
The Stork by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tšinakov (Estonia)
Audience Award: Feature Film
Wolfwalkers by Tom Moore and Ross Stewart (Ireland/U.K./Luxembourg/France)
