Regina Pessoa, winner of the Crystal at Annecy and KROK juror, and Marina Pogrebnyuk of the KROK staff practice their dance steps at the Flamenco class given on board the ship.

Iryna Kaplichnaya, the tireless festival director, and her amazing staff seem to do the impossible by running a 14-day festival on a boat for 200 animators from around the world. Not only do they plan fabulous programs for us, but they also arrange to have all of us met and driven to festival’s headquarters upon arrival, plan departure rides, assist with hotel bookings for those that decide to stay a few days longer, and deal with the hundreds of individual problems that arise when you have so many languages spoken in one group. They deserve much praise for their efforts.

Any animator who is lucky enough to have a film accepted at KROK should not miss the opportunity of a lifetime to attend this most memorable of all animation festivals. Next year’s festival will take place in the Ukraine and will screen works by professional animators.

MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY:

• Jacques Drouin (Canada) — Jury Foreman

• Konstantin Bronzit (Russia)

• Tiziana Loschi (France)

• Regina Pessoa (Portugal)

• Eugene Syvokin (Ukraine)

JURY AWARDS:

STUDENT FILMS MADE IN TRAINING:

Diploma “For Professionalism” — The Building — Marco Nguyen, Pierre Perifel, Xavier Ramonede, Olivier Staphylas and Remi Zaarour — France

Cash Prize and Diploma — The Scene From The Life of Antelopes — Edita Kravsova — Czech Republic

Belarus animator Mikail Tumelya plays “Balalaika” on the top deck.

GRADUATION WORKS AWARDS:

Diploma “For Merging Animation With Live Action” — Smile — Naom Abta, Yoav Abramovich — Israel

Diploma “For an Original Idea” — Doors Are Opening — Anastasia Zhuravleva — Russia

Diploma — “For Original Dramatization of Classical Material” — Jam Session — Izabela Plucinska — Germany/Poland

Diploma — “For Humor and Absurdity’ — Khelom’s Customs — Irina Litmanovich — Russia

Diploma — “For an Indulgent Rememberance of a Tough Childhood” — About Me — Maria Sosnina — Russia

Cash Prize and Diploma — Birdcalls — Malcolm Sutherland — Canada

FIRST PROFESSIONAL FILM MADE AFTER GRADUATION:

Diploma — “For An Unexpected View of a Delicate Subject” — The Flesh and Bones — Amy Lee — Republic of Korea

Diploma — “For Charm and Spontaneity” — Sarah’s Tale — Svetlana Filippova — Russia

Diploma — “For Tenderness and Sensuality — Sparrows are Children of Pigeons — Nina Bisyarina — Russia

Cash Prize and Diploma — Tower Bawher —Theodore Ushev — Canada

AUDIENCE AWARD:

Doors are Opening — Anastasia Zhuravleva — Russia

SPECIAL JURY PRIZES:

The Best Program Presented By a Film School — SHAR studio-school — Russia

For Mature Direction in the Young Cinema — Bus Ride and Flowers in Her Hair — Asaf Agranat — Great Britian/Scotland

GRAND PRIZE:

Overtime — Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland, Damien Ferrie — France

Nancy Denney-Phelps has produced music for animation for the past 15 years. She has written about animation and animation festivals for such publications as Animatoons, Film/Tape World, Reel World and the ASIFA /San Francisco news magazine and is a member of the ASIFA International Board. In April, Nancy, her composer/musician husband Nik Phelps and their two dogs moved from San Francisco to Gent, Belgium, where they now have their home.