‘We Are Aliens,’ ‘Praying Mantis’ Win Top Prizes As ‘Ball Face’ Makes Student Film History At OIAF 2026

Kohei Kadowaki’s We Are Aliens and Joe Hsieh’s Praying Mantis took the top prizes at the 50th Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), which announced its 2026 winners on Saturday.

Written and directed by Kadowaki, We Are Aliens won the Grand Prize for Animated Feature after premiering earlier this year in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. The film takes an episodic approach to everyday life, finding drama, comedy, and unexpected connections in seemingly ordinary moments. OIAF’s feature jury praised its ability to capture “the incredible drama and absurdity of life,” singling out its inventive mise-en-scène, shifting points of view, and animation.

The feature jury also handed out two honorable mentions. Chinese filmmaker Sun Xun’s Magic Atlas was recognized for its painstaking woodcut animation and ink painting, as well as its politically charged narrative. The jury called it “a political fable” and praised Sun’s willingness “to criticize dictatorship and other forms of authoritarian power.” Leah Nelson’s Tangles, meanwhile, was recognized for exploring love, loss, and enduring personal connections.

Taiwanese filmmaker Hsieh won the Grand Prize for Short Animation with Praying Mantis, a dark exploration of maternal instinct told through sharp metaphorical imagery and bursts of violence. The jury highlighted the film’s “fully realized internal logic” and “purposeful, powerful touches of violence.” The OIAF victory also qualifies Praying Mantis for consideration in the animated short category at the Academy Awards.

The festival’s biggest haul, however, went to Canadian animator Laurence Thérien. Her claymation short Ball Face became the first film in OIAF history to win four awards in a single year, taking the Public Prize, Hélène Tanguay Award for Humour, Bento Box Award for Best Student Animation, and Canadian Student Award.

The film, about the embarrassment and anxiety of trying to fit in, uses clay’s physical malleability as part of its storytelling. In awarding Ball Face the Canadian Student Award, the jury praised the film for “capturing the absurdity and anxiety of masking, adjusting and trying to fit in,” as its protagonist literally reshapes herself to belong.

Ball Face has had quite a year on the festival circuit. The Royal College of Art film also won the Cristal for a Graduation Film at Annecy in June.

Other notable winners included Honami Yano’s Eri, named Best Animated Short; Julie Charette’s La comète (The Comet), winner of the Canada Media Fund Award for Best Canadian Animation; and Adult Swim’s The Elephant, which topped the Platform Animation Competition.

Don Hertzfeldt also added another honor to Paper Trail’s growing collection, winning OIAF’s Best Sound Design prize. The jury celebrated the film’s “claustrophobic symphony of tactile foley scratches, squeaks, scrapes and rubs.” Paper Trail previously won the Cristal for a Short Film at Annecy in June.

OIAF 2026 Competition Winners

Grand Prizes

• Grand Prize for Short Animation: Praying Mantis, Joe Hsieh
• Grand Prize for Animated Feature: We Are Aliens, Kohei Kadowaki
  • Honorable Mention: Magic Atlas, Sun Xun
  • Honorable Mention: Tangles, Leah Nelson

Public Prize

• Winner: Ball Face, Laurence Thérien

Canadian Animation

• Canada Media Fund Award for Best Canadian Animation: La comète (The Comet), Julie Charette
  • Honorable Mention: Bisou Sauvage, Bahji Jaroudi
  • Honorable Mention: Knowing Gaze, Dylan Glynn
• Hélène Tanguay Award for Humour: Ball Face, Laurence Thérien

Animated Short Competition

• Best Animated Short: Eri, Honami Yano
• Best Commissioned Animation: Juana Molina “Desinhumano,” Dante Zaballa
• Bento Box Award for Best Student Animation: Ball Face, Laurence Thérien
• Canadian Student Award: Ball Face, Laurence Thérien
  • Honorable Mention: Mortal Lace, Lucas Piperias
  • Honorable Mention: Expo Inferno, A. John Yates

Audience Competitions

• Animation for Teen Audiences 13+: Blue Flavored, Jett Ulysses
  • Honorable Mention: La comète (The Comet), Julie Charette
• Animation for Young Audiences 7+: Candy Caries, Tomoki Misato
  • Honorable Mention: Bats and Bugs, Lena von Döhren

Platform Animation Competition

• Winner: Adult Swim’s The Elephant, Pendleton Ward, Rebecca Sugar, Ian Jones-Quartey, Patrick McHale, Mike L. Mayfield, Humberto Irigoyen, Remus Buznea, and Kyriaki Kyriakou

Craft Awards

• Best Script: Uka-uka, Henri Veermäe
• Animation Guild Craft Award for Best Design: When the Sea was Calm, Mamuka Tkeshelashvili
• XPPen Craft Award for Best Animation Technique: Daughters of the Late Colonel, Elizabeth Hobbs
• Best Sound Design: Paper Trail, Don Hertzfeldt

50 In 50 – Our Favourite Canadian Animated Shorts

• OIAF Team Choice: The Big Snit, Richard Condie
• Public Prize: Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics, Terril Calder