Tyron Montgomery and Thomas Stellmach's Quest.

Quest by Tyron Montgomery
"I heard about the nomination via a radio station on Tuesday night while I was working at Kassel University. After all the long and hard work on the film, this was a recognition that broke the tension, and which may change my life from one moment to the other. There was suddenly a great rush by the media. Images of the future are going through my head. Nervousness, even panic and fear followed. How will life go on? Will the next steps be the right ones? For the German public and media, the Academy Awards have become more and more important. There is much more interest in the nomination of Quest than there was seven years ago when the German Oscar winner, Balance was in the competition. Many people in Germany look forward to the ceremony on March 24. There is a lot of tension. Until then, I am trying to work on my diploma film which will be a cel animation."

--Thomas Stellmach, producer

Co-created by Thomas Stellmach, and an animator who goes by the name of Tyron Montgomery, Quest is a mixed-media, stop motion film which uses materials not commonly used in animation. In a quest for water, a sand puppet leaves the sand world in which it lives. It wanders through other worlds made of paper, stone and iron, following the sound of dripping water. In the end, the sand puppet manages to reach the water . . . in a very tragic way.

Peter Lord'sWat's Pig.

Wat's Pig by Peter Lord
Produced for Channel Four by Aardman Animations, the British studio that took home this award last year, and two years before that, and two years before that,Wat's Pig marks the company's sixth Oscar nomination in this category. Shot in clay animation, using a split-screen technique, the film gives new meaning to the term "parallel editing," by literally presenting both sides of the story at the same time.

The film tells the tale of two brothers separated at birth, who live as neighbors, never knowing of each other's existence. In a castle on the hill, one lives as a powerful and wealthy earl. Meanwhile, his brother Wat, who has been raised since childhood by a friendly pig, scrapes together a living in his humble hovel. When a nearby baron threatens the earl with war, fate unexpectedly brings these two lives together again.

The author would like to thank everyone who made this report possible.