‘La Noria’ Takes Top Prize At 2018 VIEW Awards
The VIEW Conference, Italy’s leading computer graphics event, wrapped up on Friday in Turin, Italy. The VIEW Awards were announced at the event, and the award for best short film (and its accompanying 2000 euro prize) was presented to Carlos Baena’s cg horror short La Noria (USA/Spain, 2018).
Baena, a Pixar and ILM veteran and co-founder of Animation Mentor, produced the short with a large crew that was put together through his virtual studio platform Artella.
La Noria tells the story of a young boy who loves to draw and build ferris wheels, and what happens when he begins to encounter strange creatures. The VIEW jury praised the film’s “cohesive narrative, flawless production, gorgeous character and production design, and music, all of which have perfectly helped tell the story.”
The VIEW award for best student film was presented to Best Friend, a 2018 French graduation short from Gobelins directed by David Feliu, Varun Nair, Juliana de Lucca, Nicholas Olivieri, and Shen Yi. The jury honored the hybrid short for “exploring timely issues with a well-supported story and a beautiful design aesthetic.”
A special jury award was also presented to Wild Love, a 2018 French graduation film from ENSI students Paul Autric, Quentin Camus, Maryka Laudet, Léa Georges, Zoé Sottiaux, and Corentin Yvergniaux. The jury cited that “this well-directed 3D short made everyone on the jury laugh out loud all the way through the film’s seven minutes.”
The jury for the 2018 VIEW Awards was comprised of VIEW Conference director Maria Elena Gutierrez, jury chair Barbara Robertson, Celia Bullwinkel, Glen McIntosh, Danielle Feinberg, Max Giovagnoli, Carolyn Giardina, and Bill Watral.
Additionally, the VIEW Conference introduced a new award this year, its Visionary Award, which was presented to Cartoon Saloon co-founder and The Breadwinner director Nora Twomey.
“I think it’s important to bring to the screen a plurality of stories to show that there’s a world out there which has many realities, many voices — that there’s difference in the world” conference director Maria Elena Gutierrez said during the presentation of the award to Twomey. “Through her work, she’s obviously engaging us, and she’s inspiring and teaching us to be better people.”