Jun 23, 2014

Annecy Animation Festival 2014 Winners

The Boy and the World directed by Alê Abreu won the Annecy Cristal for Feature Film. Click for larger image.

The Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the world's oldest and biggest animation festival, wrapped up its 38th edition on June 14th. It was my first time attending in five years, and the festival has evolved significantly during that span. The most noticeable change is the heavy presence of American studios, both in the number of presentations about American features (directors Pete Docter, Carlos Saldanha, and Kelly Asbury all spoke) and studio-hosted parties (Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon threw official parties).

Annecy is a long way from turning into a San Diego Comic-Con because the event is still attended almost entirely by industry professionals and animation students. But with over 7,000 people in attendance, some of the big studio events, like the debut of Patrick Osborne's Disney short Feast, had an electric atmosphere. Audiences stomped their foot at these events, hooted and hollered, and of course, threw paper airplanes per festival tradition. For a filmmaker, it's hard to imagine a more receptive and enthusiastic environment than Annecy for premiering an animated short.

While the American studio presence has grown, the winners of the festival serve as a reminder that Annecy still values films and filmmakers from around the globe. The winner of the top feature film prize, as well as the feature film audience prize, was the dialogue-less Brazilian film The Boy and the World directed by Alê Abreu. The film will be released in the United States by GKIDS.

Abreu's win marked the second year in a row that a Brazilian film has captured the feature film prize. “Right from the selection stage, the emergence of Brazilian animation has now been confirmed,” said Annecy's artistic director Marcel Jean. “The double consecration of The Boy and the World with the Feature Cristal and the Audience Award is sending out strong signals about the vitality of Brazil's production.”

?South Korean artist Dahee Jeong won the short film Cristal for her piece Man on the Chair, and French filmmakers ?Burcu Sankur and Goeffrey Godet? won the TV Cristal for “Tant de forêts,” a short for the ?En sortant de l'école series based on the poetry of Jacques Prévert.

The full list of winners is below.

Cristal for a Feature Film?The Boy and the World (O menino e o mundo)? Alê Abreu ?Brazil – FILME DE PAPEL

Cristal for a Short Film?Man on the Chair ?Dahee Jeong ?France, South Korea – SACREBLEU PRODUCTIONS

Cristal for a TV Production ?En sortant de l'école “Tant de forêts” ?Burcu Sankur, Goeffrey Godet? France – TANT MIEUX PROD

Cristal for a Commissioned Film? Nepia “Tissue Animals” ?Fuyu Arai ?Japan – ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

Cristal for a Graduation Film?The Bigger Picture ?Daisy Jacobs? Great Britain – NFTS

Jury Award ?Cheatin' Bill Plympton ?USA – PLYMPTOONS

Jury Distinction?Giovanni's Island? Mizuho Nishikubo? Japan – PRODUCTION I.G

Audience Award?The Boy and the World (O menino e o mundo)? Alê Abreu ?Brazil – FILME DE PAPEL

Jury Award?Patch? Gerd Gockell ?Germany, Switzerland – ANIGRAF

“Jean-Luc Xiberras” Award for a First Film?Hasta Santiago ?Mauro Carraro? France, Switzerland – NADASDY FILM

Jury Distinction ?Bus Stories ?TALI? Canada – ONF

Jury Distinction?Absent Minded (La testa tra le nuvole) ?Roberto Catani ?Italy – OTTOMANI A.C.

Audience Award ?Anatole's Little Saucepan (La Petite Casserole d'Anatole)? Éric Montchaud? France – JPL FILMS

“Off-Limits” Award ?Foreign Bodies ?Nicolas Brault? Canada

Jury Award for a TV Series?Tumble Leaf “Kite”? Drew Hodges? USA – BIX PIX ENTERTAINMENT

Jury Award for a TV Special?The Scent of Carrots ?Rémi Durin, Arnaud Demuynck? France, Belgium, Switzerland – LES FILMS DU NORD

Jury Award ?Peau “Instant T”? Perrine Faillet? France – PEAUMUSIC

Jury Award?An Adventurous Afternoon? Ines Christine Geisser, Kirsten Carina Geisser? Germany – KUNSTHOCHSCHULE KASSEL

Jury Distinction?The Age of Curious? Luca Toth? Great Britain – RCA

Festivals Connexion Award – Région Rhône-Alpes with Lumières Numériques?Through the Hawthorn ?Anna Benner, Pia Borg, Gemma Burditt ?Great Britain – LIKELY STORY

Junior Jury Award for a Graduation Film?Interview ?Mikkel Okholm ?Denmark – THE ANIMATION WORKSHOP

Junior Jury Award for a Short Film?Bus Stories ?TALI ?Canada – ONF

Fipresci Award ?No Fish Where to Go (Nul poisson où aller) ?Nicola Lemay, Janice Nadeau? Canada – ONF

“Gan Foundation Aid for Distribution” for a Work in Progress Award?Adama ?Simon Rouby? France – NAÏA SAS, PIPANGAÏ PRODUCTION, GAO SHAN PICTURES

Sacem Award for Original Music ?Hasta Santiago? Mauro Carraro, Pierre Manchot? France, Switzerland – NADASDY FILM

“CANAL+ Creative Aid” Award for a Short Film?Wonder ?Mirai Mizue? Japan, France – CaRTe blaNCHe, CALF