Madagascar, carnet de voyage (

) by Bastien Dubois, France, took home three prizes in all – Grand Prize for Best Commissioned Animation, Best Television Animation for Adults and The National Film Board of Canada Public Prize. This exceptional animation uses a variety of illustration techniques to bring a traveler’s sketching journal to life. The images flow from page to page – sometimes pencil roughs, sometimes scrapbook style, sometimes fully painted – but the fullness of the places and people being visited is fully realized.

The Nelvana Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Animation was awarded to Kaasündinud Kohustused (Inherent Obligations) by Rao Heidmets, Estonia. This animation offered satiric commentary on television – reality TV in particular – and its effects on addicted viewers. The main male character is so obsessed with the sexy females being spit out at him by the television set that the fashionista women in his life keep walking out. This is a peculiar yet distinctive piece – and a fitting cautionary tale about watching life instead of living it.

Janet Hetherington is a writer and cartoonist who is living life and sharing a studio on Ottawa with artist Ronn Sutton and a ginger cat, Heidi.