Night Bus Night Bus

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)

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