Annecy Animation Festival 2014 Award Winners

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.

OFFICIAL PRIZES

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

FEATURE FILMS

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

SHORT FILMS

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

ANIMATION OFF-LIMITS – SHORT FILMS

“Off-Limits” Award

Foreign Bodies

Nicolas Brault

Canada

ANIMATION OFF-LIMITS – TV FILMS

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

COMMISSIONED FILMS

Jury Award

Peau “Instant T”

Perrine Faillet

France – PEAUMUSIC

GRADUATION FILMS

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

SPECIAL PRIZES

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