‘Dozens Of Norths,’ ‘Bird In The Peninsula’ Take Top Prizes At Ottawa 2022

Saturday evening saw the 46th edition of the Ottawa International Animation Festival distribute its prizes, and Japanese animation was the beneficiary of the jury’s good will this year, taking both the best animated feature and best animated short prizes.

Koji Yamamura’s Dozens of Norths (a Japan-France co-production), having topped Annecy’s Contrechamp section earlier this summer, continues the Oscar-nominated filmmaker’s red-hot festival run with another major win for best animated feature. The jury explained their choice, saying:

This film engages the spectator to use their five senses. It breaks the boundaries and structures of storytelling. The imagery used is consistent with the creative process. The author successfully describes a world and an ecosystem of the senses. Everything is beautifully tied together: creativity, the senses, and visual poetry.

This year’s top prize for an animated short went to Atsushi Wada’s Bird in the Peninsula. The film is on a similar hot streak of its own, having just scooped a jury pick and the audience award at Hiroshima last month and top prize at Switzerland’s Fantoche two weeks later. The Ottawa jury said of the film:

By challenging the medium through its cryptic universality, the following short film is glacially paced with captivating movement. Expressive, comedic, complete, and concise.

Charged with selecting the festival’s top Canadian animation, the Canadian Film Institute picked The Flying Sailor from multi-Oscar-nominated and multiple Ottawa-award-winning duo Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis:

For its striking, inventive combination of animation styles and its thoughtful, poetic evocation of the dignity of humanity in times of catastrophe.

From the animated shorts category, Iizuna Fair from director Sumito Sakakibara won the festival’s award for best non-narrative short “for its immersive unearthing and exploratory polyrhythm which creates a kinetic experience within its medium,” according to the jury.

Best narrative short went to Tal Kantor’s Letter to a Pig, which also took the Zlatko Grgic Award for a short at Zagreb and won the Israeli Film Academy award earlier this summer. Ottawa judges said:

By viscerally tearing down walls for internal conversation, the affecting narrative and structure at the core of the following film provide a challenging, hard-hitting story exploring multi-generational trauma through a fresh new lens.

The Ottawa public had their say too, picking Sander Joon’s Sierra for this year’s Wacom Public Prize.

2022 Ottawa International Animation Festival Winners

GRAND PRIZE FOR SHORT ANIMATION

Bird in the Peninsula – Atsushi Wada

GRAND PRIZE FOR ANIMATED FEATURE

Dozens of Norths – Koji Yamamura

WACOM PUBLIC PRIZE

Winner: Sierra – Sander Joon

First runner up: The Flying Sailor – Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis

Second Runner Up: Dog Apartment – Priit Tender

CANADIAN FILM INSTITUTE (CFI) AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN ANIMATION

Winner: The Flying Sailor – Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis

Special Mention: Animal Collective – We Go Back – Winston Hacking, Michael Enzbrunner

Animated Short Competition – Category Prizes

NON-NARRATIVE

Iizuna Fair – Sumito Sakakibara

BEST NARRATIVE

Letter to a Pig – Tal Kantor

BEST COMMISSIONED

The Humane Society International – Save Ralph – Spencer Susser

BENTO BOX AWARD FOR BEST STUDENT ANIMATION

The Seine’s Tears – Alice Letailleur, Eliott Benard, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Lisa Vicente, Nicolas Mayeur, Philippine Singer, Yanis Belaid

ANIMATION FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES 3+ COMPETITION

Winner: My Name is Fear – Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez

Special Mention 1: Toddler Talks – Diane Reichenbach

ANIMATION FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES 7+ COMPETITION

Winner: Luce and the Rock – Britt Raes

Special Mention: Lost Brain – Isabelle Favez

ANIMATED SERIES COMPETITION

Winner: My Year of Dicks ‘The Sex Talk’ – Sara Gunnarsdottir

Special Mention: Safe Mode: Lana Among the Lilies – Justin Tomchuk

VIRTUAL REALITY COMPETITION

Biolun – Abel Kohen

CANADIAN STUDENT COMPETITION

Winner: I Had a Dream of A House at Night – Charlie Galea McClure

Special Mention 1: Sculptor – Andreas Fobes

Special Mention 2: Mileage – Jennifer Wu, Kym Santiana, Ruyee Lu, Christopher Hsueh, Joy Zhou, Miranda Li, Nicole Taylor-Topacio, Saul Benavides

Animated Short Competition – Craft Awards

BEST SCRIPT

Drone – Sean Buckelew

BEST DESIGN

Backflip – Nikita Diakur

BEST TECHNIQUE

Hotel Kalura – sophie koko gate

BEST SOUND DESIGN

Zoon – Jonatan Schwenk