Ottawa Awards Top Prize To Home Road Movies
In a truly international showing, the jury of the 2002 edition of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) chose five films from five different countries as the top prize winners in the Independent Short Films Competition. The festival concluded on October 6, 2002 with a gala awards presentation and Robert Bradbrook's HOME ROAD MOVIES (UK) scored the Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Film or Video. The film, which recently won the coveted 2002 Cartoon d'Or, is a true account of a shy father and his wish to bring his family closer together by taking them on automobile outings. The film is a mix of 3D animation and live-action. For Best Narrative Short Film Under 40 Minutes, the jury honored FLUX by Canadian filmmaker Christopher Hinton. The NOITAMINANIMATION Award For Best First Film was presented to HASTA LOS HUESOS (DOWN TO THE BONE) from Mexico's René Rivera Castillo and Anita Killi of Norway won the prize in the category Best Film Made For Children for her short TORNEHEKKEN (THE HEDGE OF THORNS). In a new category for the festival, The National Film Board Of Canada Award For Best Non-Narrative Film went to A.Z by Tim Szetela (U.S.). This year's festival had two other new award categories, Internet Animation and Feature Animation. In the Best Animation For The Internet category Canada's Christopher Hinton picked up the award for TWANG, and Richard Linklater's WAKING LIFE was honored as the Best Animated Feature Film. For a full list of winners, please visit the OIAF Website.