ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 3.7
- October 1998
Awards
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| Locopath by Cristoph Simon (Acme Filmworks, U.S.A.) received a jury prize at the Hiroshima Animation Festival. Image courtesy of Acme Filmworks. |
Hiroshima Top Prize Goes to the Pigeons. The 7th biennial Hiroshima International Animation Festival ended on Monday, August 24 with a grand awards ceremony. The top winners are:
- Grand Prize: The Old Lady and the Pigeons by Sylvain Chomet (Canada).
- Hiroshima Prize: The Mermaid by Alexander Petrov (Russia).
- Debut (first film) Prize: Busby by Anna Henckel-Donners-Marck (Germany).
Renzo Kinoshita Prize: L'Aréne (Série
Vermillion) by Nicolas Jacquet (France).
In addition to the above pre-determined categories, the Hiroshima festival
jury also selected 12 special jury prizes. Each jury prize was presented on
stage by one of the international jury members, who read the jury's comments
on why the film was selected.
Rene Laloux (France) presented a prize to Geri's Game by Jan Pinkava
(Pixar, U.S.A.) and to the French school, Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs.
Katariina Lillquist (Finland) presented a prize to The Albatross by
Paul Bush (U.K.). She commented, "This special prize is given to a film
which is both experimental and ageless. It combines in a very balanced way
the feelings of old wooden engravings, deep poetry and touching music. It
also has one of the best sound tracks in the competition." Kateriina
also presented a prize to Silence by Sylvie Bringas and Orly Yadin
(U.K.). She said, "The film handles in a very sophisticated way the common
traumas of post-war Europe, with the reality of old photographs and a real
witness' voice. It has the power of a documentary but by adding in the animated
sections it goes deeper into unconscious minds and ends towards a strong humanistic
statement."
Celia Van Dijk (Netherlands) presented a prize to Pink Doll by Valentin
Olshvang (Russia). She commented, "Among the many animations handling
modern family problems, The Pink Doll was definitely the best one.
The views and actions of the little girl are presented in a down-to-earth
way, and the delicate balance between fantasy and reality keeps the audience
curious all the way through." Celia also presented a prize to Trainspotter
by Neville Astley and Jeff Newitt (U.K.). She said, "With this puppet
film, you can almost feel the damp air on a platform in the middle of nowhere.
The main character is a close relative to Eleanor Rigby in his loneliness
and although he manages to enlarge his collection in the end, you can't help
but feel sorry for him."
Normand Roger (Canada) presented a prize to On a Full Moon by Lee Whitmore
(Australia). He said, "For the sensitivity with which it portrays the
heroism of combining parenthood and creativity and in a beautiful film."
Normand also presented an award to Romance of the Heart by Solweig
Von Kleist (France), "for its lyrical animation and design combined with
an excellent sound track."
Mark Baker (U.K.) presented a prize to Spring by Silke Parzich (Germany).
He said, "This prize is awarded the special jury prize for the film's
fresh and simple imagery." Mark also presented a prize to How Wings
are Attached to the Backs of Angels by Craig Welch (Canada). He said,
"The jury admired the film's atmosphere of restrained tension."
Hisako Sato (Japan) presented a prize to Locopath by Cristoph Simon
(Acme Filmworks, U.S.A.). She said, "In this day, young people touch
many dangerous things. It's nice that this film makes its point with humor."
Hisako also presented an award to Heavy Stock by Michael Salkeld (U.K.).
She said, "The jury awarded the special prize in recognition of Heavy
Stock's beautiful graphics. Animation is like the action in the film.
This film has an outstanding personality."
Gigi Hu reviews the Hiroshima International
Animation Festival in this issue of Animation
World Magazine.
The Simpsons Nabs 3 Emmys. Fox's prime-time animated series,
The Simpsons received three Emmy Awards this year, including the craft
categories. For the fifth time (`90, `91, `95, `97), the show won the award
for "Outstanding Animated Series (for programming one hour or less),"
beating out other nominees King of the Hill (Fox), Cow & Chicken
(Cartoon Network) and Dexter's Laboratory (Cartoon Network). The
Simpsons also won in the "Outstanding Music and Lyrics" category,
for the song "You're Checkin' In (A Musical Tribute to the Betty Ford
Center)," by composer Alf Clausen and lyricist Ken Keeler. As previously
announced, actor Hank Azaria won the "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance"
Emmy for his role as "Apu" on The Simpsons.
Cartoon D'Or Noms. Every year since 1991, the
organization CARTOON, with the support of the MEDIA program of the European
Union, selects one short European animated film as the "Cartoon D'Or,"
or "best European animation film." Nominees are selected from the
list of top prize-winning and recommended films from participating European
animation festivals: Annecy, Brussels, Cardiff, Espinho, Stuttgart, Utrecht
and, new this year, Oslo. The director of the Cartoon D'Or winning film will
receive 25,000 ECU (approximately U.S. $25,000) to spend on a new animation
project. This year's nominees are Famous Fred by Joanna Quinn (U.K.,
her third nomination), Frontière by Christian Fisher (Germany)
and Maud Gravereaux (France), Heavy Stock, the Sound of the Railway
by Michael Salkeld (U.K.), L'Enfant au Grelot by Jacques-Remy Girerd
(France), Sientje by Christa Moesker (Netherlands) and T.R.A.N.S.I.T.
by Piet Kroon (Netherlands). A winner will be selected at the 1998 Cartoon
Forum in Syros, Greece, September 23-27.
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| Mike Johnson's The Devil Went Down to Georgia. © Fat Cactus Productions. |
The 1998 CARTOON Forum will be reviewed by Marie Beardmore
in the November 1998 issue of Animation World Magazine. Plus, the organization
CARTOON
was profiled by Heikki Jokinen in the October 1997
issue of Animation World Magazine.
Devil Tops L.A. Shorts Fest. The second Los Angeles International Short
Film Festival, held September 11-13, selected Mike Johnson's stop-motion music
video The Devil Went Down to Georgia as "Best Animation Film."
It competed with 12 other animated films in the festival. For information
about the festival and the next call for entries, visit www.lashortsfest.com.
