Awards

Moondance Announces Winner. The Moondance International Film Festival has selected, the traditionally-animated Beelines, by Rachel Bevan Baker, from Edinburgh, Scotland, as this year's winner in the animation division. Moondance 2000 takes place in Boulder, Colorado, January 14-16, 2000. Entries from female screenwriters and filmmakers from any country were welcomed to the competition. For more information e-mail: mermaid7cs@aol.com; or write: Moondance International Film Festival, 970 Ninth Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.

EuropaCinema's Two Toon Winners. EuropaCinema & TV, held in Viareggio, Italy, announced their two animation short winners. Forever And Ever, by Michaela Pavlatova and Pavel Koutecky (Czech Republic) and Suburbanites by Stefan Vermeulen (Belgium) took home the prize. The international jury of Enzo D'Alo, Georges Wolinski, Marjut Rimminen, Rastko Ciric and Sergio Staino said Forever And Ever is "a film that gives us an unconventional interpretation of love, dramatic and at the same time ironically surrealistic. A film that also reveals a remarkable knowledge of the form and various technical possibilities of the means of communication." The jury commented that Suburbanites is "another film of love completely different from anything previous. The beautiful story has a Kafka-like atmosphere full of poetry. The graphic quality is excellent and rigorous. It is a noteworthy animation on human nature."

Kirikou Et La Sorciere, winner for best feature length film at Cinanima. © Les Armateurs.

When the Day Breaks, Cinanima's winner for best film 13 - 26 mintues in length. © National Film Board of Canada.

Cinanima Cites Best. Cinanima '99 finished its week-long run on November 14, 1999. The Espinho, Portugal festival highlights the best in animation from around the globe. This year, the International Jury gave their Grand Prize to Alexander Petrov's film The Old Man And The Sea. The Canadian and Japanese produced film also won the RTP Prize, an award given by the Portuguese State Channel's special jury, and the Best Soundtrack Prize. The Canadian-produced film by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove entitled Village Of Idiots won Special Jury Prize from the City of Espinho and the Audience Prize. Another big winner was The Suspect, created by Jose Miguel Ribeiro, who took home the Alves Costa Prize, awarded by journalists at the festival, the Cartoon Portugal Prize, and the Best Portuguese Script Prize. Other awards presented were: the Jose Abel Prize for Best Film Produced in Europe to Georges Schwizget's Fugue; the Young Portuguese Director Prize to Regina Pessoa's The Night; the Class A Prize for Best Film less than 6 minutes to Fabien Drouet's Ponpon; the Class B Prize for Best Film between 6 and 13 minutes to Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis' When The Day Breaks; the Class C Prize for Best Film between 13 and 26 minutes to Hilary Audus' The Bear; the Class D Prize for Best Film between 26 and 52 minutes to Joanna Quinn, Jonathan Myerson, Dave Antrobus, and Aida Zyablikova's Canterbury Tales; the Class E Prize for Best Feature Length Film to Michel Ocelot's Kirikou Et La Sorciere; the Class F Prize for Best Commercial or Institutional Production to Guto Carvalho's Celebrity; and the Class G Prize for Best First Film to Oerd Van Cuijlenborg's Jazzimation.

The Leaf Falls On Phantom Menace. On November 18, 1999, LEAF, the London Effects & Animation Festival, bestowed their award for best effects in a feature film on Star Wars: Phantom Menace. Over 700 industry personalities watched LEAF's finale, an hour long visual effects smorgasbord from around the world. Rob Coleman was on hand to except the award for Industrial Light & Magic's work on the Phantom Menace. Other winners included: AKA Pizazz's "Megalomaniac" for best commercial animation; Jason Shulman's Hollow for best student film; Benjamin Smith for Stormfront Digital Pictures' The Millennium Bug for best simulation; The Mill's Lincoln ad entitled "Surprising Journey" for best live-action commercial; Framestore's "Walking with Dinosaurs" for best educational and training film; Glasswork's video for Bjork's "All is Full of Love;" Blue Sky Studios' Bunny for best short film; and Jim Henson's Creature Shop's "Toyota Goldfish" for best titles, indents and stings.


Bunny takes home yet another prize. This time from LEAF. © Blue Sky Studios, Inc.	Billy's Balloon wins at Worldfest. © Bitter Films.	The Indescribable Nth wins at Worldfest. © Character Builders.

Worldfest Winners. The 2nd Annual Worldfest-Flagstaff International Film Festival announced their 1999 winners on Sunday, November 14. The festival's focus is on independent works that have not yet been picked up for distribution. The animation winners were Music For An Owl directed by Hans Van Westerlaak at Cinema Avant, Billy's Balloon directed by Don Hertzfeldt for Bitter Films, The Monkeyman Rules directed by James Dean Conklin for Greenhead Media, and The Indescribable Nth by Oscar Moore at Character Builders.

Linda Simensky, vice president of original animation at
Cartoon Network.

Girls Inc. Honors Cartoon Net's Simensky. Linda Simensky, Cartoon Network's VP of original animation, received one of Girls Inc.'s four 1999 honors. With over 50 years of service, Girls Inc. has been dedicated to helping American girls become strong, smart and bold through educational programs. Each year the organization honors industry execs who have helped challenge and inspire young girls across America. Along with CBS pres. Nancy Tellem, Lifetime VP Kelly Goode Abugov, and Entertainment VP at WB Jordan Levin, Simensky was recognized for her work at Cartoon Network. Simensky helped bring The Powerpuff Girls to the small screen, teaching the world that kicking criminal butts isn't just for boys. Before arriving at Cartoon Network, Simensky was the first director of animation at Nickelodeon and founded the New York chapter of Women in Animation. Congratulations to Linda for all her wonderful work.

Linda Simensky has both written for and been profiled in Animation World Magazine. In "Leaving Home," Simensky ruminates on the political and other consequences of changing jobs amidst today's boom times in the animation industry. In "Women in the Animation Industry -- Some Thoughts," Simensky offers some personal observations on the ways women make it in today's animation industry. You can also read a profile of Linda Simensky by Harvey Deneroff in his article "Supporting Independents: Five Champions."