The Oscar winner for best short animated film, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, has won the coveted grand prize at the International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy. In a lively ceremony held on Saturday, June 10, 2000, the awards were handed out by the festival’s artistic director, Serge Bromberg. The short and feature film jury, comprised of Meral Erez (Turkey), Aida Ndiaye (Senegal), Georges Schwizgebel (Switzerland), John Lasseter (U.S.A.) and Jimmy T. Murakami (Ireland), bestowed the top honor to the adaptation of Ernest Hemmingway’s novella. The award was presented to director Alexander Petrov, who was truly moved, giving a lengthy acceptance speech where he also recognized his producers Pascal Blais Productions. The paint-on-glass Imax short also won the audience prize. This year’s jury decided not to award a prize for feature films. The television jury awarded the Fox Family hit series ANGELA ANACONDA with the grand prix for best TV programme for the "Ice Breakers" episode. This year’s TV jury included Eve Baron (France), Alfio Bastiancich (Italy) and Phil Roman (U.S.A.). The student jury made up of Natalya Loukinykh (Russia), Bruce Bickford (U.S.A.) and Jiri Kubicek (Czech Republic) gave the top honors to THE MOMENT by Thomas Voigt. Honorary president of the festival, Roy Disney presented the UNICEF award to the anti-drug short RUN OF THE MILL from Denmark. Disney led into the award with a wonderful speech on his experience at this year’s Annecy festival and UNICEF’s worthwhile work, which has been supported by the Walt Disney Company for several decades. The festival also recognized the famed Richard Williams with the humorous Rabbit award for his career as an animator and animation instructor. Accompanied by Bromberg on the piano, Williams graced the attendees by playing "When You Wish Upon A Star" on his trumpet. The evening capped off the festival, which featured many surprises, like a special preview of CHICKEN RUN and the world premiere of Pixar’s new short, FOR THE BIRDS. Below is the complete list of winners.





Grand Prix Short Film


THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Alexander Petrov





Special Jury Prize


VILLAGE OF IDIOTS by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove





Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for Best First Film


CAGED BIRDS CANNOT FLY by Luis Briceno





Special Distinction Award for Humor and Sensitivity


BROTHER by Adam Benjamin Elliot





Special Distinction for the Freedom of Line and the Intense Message


THE MAN WITH THE BEAUTIFUL EYES by Jonathan Hodgson





Grand Prix TV Programme


ANGELA ANACONDA "Ice Breakers" by Sue Rose and Joanna Ferrone





Special Award for a TV Series


LES SHADOKS ET LE BIG BLANK "Le Trou À Gégène" by Jacques Rouxel





Special Award for a TV Series (Episode of More Than 13 Minutes)


MTV DOWNTOWN by Tony Kluck





Award for Special TV


ROBBIE THE REINDEER: HOOVES OF FIRE by Richard Goleszowski





Award for A Pilot Series or TV Special


INVADER ZIM by Jordan Reichek





Award for Educational, Scientific or Industrial Film


SUPERWHY by Dave Thomas





Award for Advertising Film


NOT SO CLEVER TREVOR AT THE CARNIVAL by Dave Thomas





Award for the Best Animated Sequence


MICROFILME 6 by Santiago Sequeiros





Award for Best Animated Student Film


THE MOMENT by Thomas Voigt





Student Special Distinction


RIEN by Kunyi Chen





The Children’s Jury Award for Short Fiction Film


THE PERIWIG-MAKER by Steffen Schaeffler





The Children’s Jury Award for Student or Graduation Film