ASIFA-East, the New York chapter of the International Animation Society, held its 38th annual Awards screening Sunday night, May 6, 2007. A near-capacity crowd filled a Greenwich Village auditorium to celebrate and screen the winners in four different categories.

First, second and third-place prizes were awarded in each category, as well as honors for excellence in various crafts. The overall Best in Show award went to Don Hertzfeldt's EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY, starring Hertzfeldt's well-known stick figures in a dryly observed story of one man's mysterious illness.

Independent Film winners included GAME OVER, PES' stop-motion tribute to first-generation arcade videogames, Patrick Smith's unnerving 2D PUPPET, about a sock puppet with a mind of its own. Craft winners in the category included ASIFA-East president David B. Levy's jaunty GOOD MORNING (Animation), Nina Paley's multi-technique AGNI PARIKSHA (Design) and Bruce P. Knapp's pixilated ode to clutter, KEEP THIS COUPON (Soundtrack).

The two-minute and over Sponsored (actually, commissioned) Film category was dominated by off-the-wall cartoon send-ups, from Augenblick Studio's GOLDEN AGE (tabloid-type exposes of tragic toon lives), JOURNEY TO THE DISNEY VAULT (complete with a peek at Walt's preserved head) from Wachtenheim/Marianetti Animation, Bill Plympton's DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS SONG (a cautionary ditty from Weird Al Yankovic) and KOBAYASHI, again from Wachtenheim/Marianetti (speed eater as anime hero).

Augenblick won twice in the Commercials category with two bizarre, pseudo-educational shorts: AUNT FLO (a young girl's introduction to menstruation) and the bloody-handed MR. BODY. The category encompassed almost every animation technique, from pixilated live action (HUMAN SKATEBOARD by PES), clay animation (Eileen Kohlhepp's CARS), and more stop-motion from PES (HIDE N SEEK).

Student animation winners were all unique, eye-catching efforts, from Mike A. Smith's first prize-winning MISSIONARY (know-it-all colonizers get what they deserve) to Sarah Wickliffe's paintings-come-to-life ARTS DESIRE and Meredith Gran's slapstick POLAR-OID. A standout in the category was Brian Brinkman's GORDY, a spot-on send-up of GERTIE THE DINOSAUR, complete with Winsor McCay stand-in.

Several studios and animators went home with multiple awards in a variety of techniques, but the night's sole CGI winner was Acme Filmworks/Lucas Vigroux's stylish PINK CADILLAC for Excellence in Design in the Sponsored Film category. A full list of the winning films follows, while stills from the films can be seen on ASIFA-East's website, www.asifaeast.com.

Best In Show
EVERYTHING WILL BE OK
Don Hertzfeldt/Bitter Films

Independent Films
1st Place
GAME OVER
PES

2nd Place
PUPPET
Patrick Smith/Blend Films

3rd Place
COLE NEEDS WOMEN
David Chai/House of Chai

Excellence in Experimental Techniques
ALL THAT REMAINS
Stephanie Maxwell & Michaela Eremiasova

Excellence in Animation
GOOD MORNING
David B. Levy

Excellence in Soundtrack
KEEP THIS COUPON
Bruce P. Knapp

Excellence in Design
AGNI PARIKSHA
Nina Paley

Excellence in Writing
TEAT BEAT OF SEX
Signe Baumane


SPONSORED FILMS
1st Place
GOLDEN AGE
Augenblick Studios

2nd Place
JOURNEY TO THE DISNEY VAULT
Wachtenheim/Marianetti Animation

3rd Place
KNUFFLE BUNNY
Magik

Weird Al Yankovic:
DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS SONG
Acme Filmworks/Bill Plympton

Excellence in Design
Jerry Lee Lewis:
PINK CADILLAC
Acme Filmworks/Lucas Vigroux

Excellence in Writing
CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR
"Operation: Science"
Curious Pictures

Excellence in Writing
KOBAYASHI
Wachtenheim/Marianetti Animation

COMMERCIALS
1st Place
Sneaux: HUMAN SKATEBOARD
PES

2nd Place
Family Guy Spot: CARS
Eileen Kohlhepp

3rd Place
AUNT FLO
Augenblick Studios

Excellence in Humor
MR. BODY
Augenblick Studios