I took the train to Annecy full of excitement and great expectations for the 50th Anniversary of the festival. According to the festival press release they were expecting 6,700 participants from 66 countries, 1,647 companies crowding into MIFA, 300 journalists and 230 international buyers. For a festival to pull off such a grand event with minimum problems would be a miracle indeed. When people tried to get tickets for events however, it felt like there were twice as many people in attendance.
The first hint of trouble came when I received my envelope with the invitations for special screenings and parties for the week. There was no invitation to the opening night ceremony or the party. I was looking forward to seeing the opening night film The Illusionist but was told that this year no journalists had been given tickets because they were just too many people and 150 seats had been relegated to non-industry VIP’s (which translates to money people). Journalists were told that there was no problem, that our names had been placed on a request list and we should just keep checking back with the press office to get our passes. To make it even worse, two hours before the ceremony we were finally told that there was no possibilities for us to get tickets. I finally managed to get a ticket from my friend and fellow journalist Olivier Cotte, who had gotten two tickets from someone who didn’t want to see the film. Both Olivier and I wasted a good part of Monday afternoon looking for tickets instead of seeing films.
The Illusionist was well worth all of the time and trouble that went into getting the ticket. The film is based on an unproduced script that the great French film star Jacques Tati wrote in the 1950’s as a personal letter to his estranged illegitimate daughter Helga Marie-Jean Schiel. The plot revolves around a struggling illusionist whose travels take him to an isolated Scottish community where he meets a young lady who believes that he is a real magician. The film isn’t a romance, but rather it centers on the relationship between a father and his daughter. Several people told me that they thought that the ending was very sad, but I interpreted it as a hopeful prospect for new beginnings for both of the main characters.
The 2010 British-French co-production was directed by Sylvain Chomet and has the same soft nostalgic look as Triplets of Belleville, which Chomet also directed, but with a bit darker edge to it. A cameo appearance by Jaques Tati via black and white footage on a television screen was a lovely touch, as was the photo of the girl as a child, which is a reproduction of an actual photo of Tati’s daughter.
I didn’t manage to score a ticket to the opening night party, but it turned out that most of the interesting people didn’t either. The place to be that evening was a table at the corner café. A continuous parade of people joined Nik and I at our table and filled us in on what they had been doing. Neither Nik nor Jacqueline Zeitz, Animated Films Program Director at Dok Leipzig Documentary Festival got to see The Illusionist, so she kept him company talking film and music over wine. Jacqueline was particularly upset about not seeing the film since she had come specifically to see it for consideration for her festival.
After the film, I joined them at the café, and was delighted to see Heather Kenyon, who told us that she is now Vice President for Project Development and Sales at Starz Animation, a wing of Film Roman in Burbank, California. South Korean animator Woonki Kim, who we first met at KROK several years ago, sat down to talk about his new TV series Fuss Farm, an episode of which was in the TV Competition. The proud father also showed us an adorable video of his young baby dancing away to music.
Once again this year feature films took center stage with 7 films in the official competition and 6 out of competition. Another six films were premieres, including Shrek 4 and the new 3D versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. I don’t watch too many feature films at Annecy because I know that I will have an opportunity to see them at other festivals. In a short film competition if I don’t like a film I know that it won’t last very long, but if I opt to view a feature that I don’t like, I’ve wasted a lot of time. I am very glad though, that I did choose to see Piercing 1. Director Liu Jian’s film is China’s first independent feature. If this film had been made in any other country it wouldn’t have been quite so interesting, but this story by and about someone who is living through the radical changes that are taking place in China now gives a fascinating look into a rather dystopian world. Due to the financial crisis, many Chinese factories were forced to close in late 2008. Like many unemployed young people left destitute in a big city, the main character, Zhang Xiaojun, has lost his job and becomes involved in shady activities while longing to return to his village to become a farmer.
Liu Jian studied classical Chinese painting and became a novelist after his schooling. His first film, Piercing 1, is based on his novel, and he financed it by selling his house in China. He plans to make a trilogy, with Piercing 2 and 3, which will focus on different characters in drastic situations in contemporary China.
There is little hope that this very relevant film will ever be shown commercially in China, but it is being distributed by HAFF – Holland Animation Film Festival. Piercing 1 won the Best Feature Film award at the prestigious I Castelli Animati Festival in Italy.
This year Annecy once again presented five programs in the short competition with a mixed bag of films(there were only four last year). A new film from the National Film Board of Canada by Theodore Ushev is always of interest to me. Lipsett’s Diaries was not a disappointment. The film explores the fertile imagination and turbulent personal history of the experimental Canadian director Arthur Lipsett, who committed suicide at the age of 49. The script by Chris Robinson, excellent author and director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, is a fictional recreation of Lipsett’s non-existent diaries based on his notes and films. Theodore used paint on paper, drawing on every frame, using a computer for the in-betweens to create a dark look into the mind of an artist falling into madness and depression.
Theodore infused the film with very personal feelings, and he told me that he was inspired by Francis Bacon and Goya’s later works known as his “Black Paintings”. As with all of his films, I need to watch Lipsett’s Diaries several times more to peel back the many layers of this very dense film.
The 25 minute claymation Esterhazy takes you in another dark direction with a twist of black humor. The film, based on a popular German children’s book of the same name by Irene Dischet and Hans Mangus Enzenberger, tells the story of the wild rabbits who lived in the no man’s land between the two walls separating East and West Berlin. This empty space was a perfect safe place for rabbits to live, with no predators and a lot of grass. Their reality suddenly changed with the fall of the wall.
The story revolves around Esterhazy, a young rabbit from the Esterhazy dynasty of Vienna. The family stock is declining because they prefer to eat chocolate rather than vegetables. The young Esterhazy is sent to Berlin to find a large, zaftig rabbit wife. The 35 MM film received a distributor after a presentation at the Cannes Film Festival and I hope that it will be shown at festivals in the United States.
Geefwee Boedoe has worked as an animator and in story development at Pixar, Disney Feature Animation, ILM and DreamWorks. He also storyboarded, designed, and directed the animation on the title sequence for Monsters, Inc. Besides being very talented, Geefwee has a very offbeat sense of humor. Now a freelance animator, his Let’s Pollute is a modern satire in the spirit of the 1950’s and ‘60’s educational films. When I asked him about his film, Boedoe said that we all hear so many don’t pollute PSA’s that people stop paying attention so he decided to tell us how it is our heritage to pollute and how it keeps our economy strong in hopes that people will notice his quirky message. He also instructs us on how we can all become better polluters for a more blighted tomorrow.
Once again this year, the Shorts and Breakfast chats hosted by Festival Artistic Director Serge Bromberg gave me a chance to hear directors talk about their films. I particularly enjoyed hearing Danish author and comic book artist Joanna Rubin Dranger talk about turning her book Miss Remarkable & Her Career into a film. Not an animator by training, her gallows humor and bold comic style translated perfectly to the screen. The 30 minute black and white animation was quite an undertaking for a first film and my three colleagues who sat on the International Federation of Film Critics Award Jury agreed, because they gave it the Fipresci Award.
Again this year Monica Tasciotti proved to be a very adept interviewer at the Features At Noon talk. She does her homework and knows how to draw out even the shyest director. I was fascinated to hear Liu Jian talk about the trials and tribulations of independent film makers in China. He spoke honestly and openly about the social and economic conditions in China today.
Along with the Feature and Short Film Competitions there were the Graduation Films, Commissioned Films, and Television Films in competition. To honor the five decades of Annecy a quintet of programs showcased festival award winners by decades. The Ones That Got Away paid belated tribute to films that won awards at other events but were overlooked at Annecy.
My favorite tribute screening was Don’t Blink! Animation in 50 Very Short Films. With no film over 3 minutes from 21 countries and a staggering list of great animators it was all packed into one 70 minute laugh filled program. It really brought home what fantastic films can be created in a vast array of styles when a small amount of film is put in the right hands.
Old favorites such as Politically Incorrect and The Big Sleep almost got lost in the vast array of programs. This year the animation community lost three major names: Roy Disney, Belgian producer Pierre Levie, and the great Chinese animator Te Wei. Although I have seen Te Wei’s beautiful films before, the opportunity to see pristine prints of his delicate work with good sound on a big screen was time well spent.
I wish that I had been able to see all four documentary programs. The most talked about film was the European premier of Waking Sleeping Beauty. Most people at Annecy are familiar with Disney Studio’s rocky road from 1984 to 1994, but director Don Hahn, a key player at Disney Studio’s Feature Animation during the mid ‘80’s, tells the story as only an insider could. From ego clashes to out of control budgets, tensions heightened as the artists were caught between new comers wanting change and the old guard trying to hang on to control for dear life. The result was a string of very forgettable flops such as The Great Mouse Detective. How Disney regained its magic and went on to create an amazing output of hit films from The Little Mermaid to The Lion King is a fascinating story with a unique and candid perspective by Tim Burton, John Lasseter, and Don Bluth along with many others who lived it.
Even more fascinating to me was O Galop, a documentary retracing the life and works of Marius Rossillon aka O Galop. A contemporary of Emile Cohl, O’Galop was the little known creator of the world famous Michelin Man, but he created so much more than just his well known. He was a great animation pioneer as well as a poster artist and illustrator for the press.
Fascinated by movement, O’Galop made some 40 animated films that led to projects for such international heavyweights as Benjamin Rabier, Ub Iwerks, and Walt Disney. He used his talent and knowledge to work in a wide range of techniques from animating frame by frame images and painting on glass to magic lantern slides. I was so pleased to discover this little known chapter of French animation history.
As befits a 50th Birthday, the festival invited 50 famous personalities from the animation world to help celebrate. From Richard Williams to Nick Park, you could hardly walk through the Bonleiu (festival headquarters) without running into old friends and seeing famous faces. Every day great talents such as George Schwartzgabel, Bill Plympton, and Alexey Alexeev sat at the festival boutique signing copies of Creators & Creatures. The beautiful 256 page bilingual French-English book published by the festival for the anniversary is a collection of behind the scenes looks into the creative process of 50 of the world’s greatest animators. This visual panorama of the art of animation is well worth the 39 Euro price. I haven’t been able to find out how to order it on line yet but as soon as I do I will put it on my blog.
The Making Of series was designed to give the audience a glimpse into the individual creative process and an opportunity to ask questions of some of the most creative minds. Renowned French animator Michel Ocelot took us on his journey from creating his magical 3D feature Azur et Asmar to the 18 months that he spent making 11 episodes of his new series Dragons and Princesses. The journey from making a feature film to a series is hard enough, but even more difficult when there is little money, equipment, or help. Michel, a born story teller, shared many valuable lessons with a packed audience.
The hottest ticket on Thursday was the Simpsons Extravanga 2. To help create his very special event with Simpson masterminds David Silverman and Matt Groening, Serge Bromberg enlisted the aid of Peter Lord and David Sproxton (Ardman Animation Studios) to create special animation footage. David and Matt had lots of new stories to tell about Springfield’s “first family” along with hilarious behind the scenes glimpses. Even David and Matt were surprised by the “new look” Peter and David gave to the world’s most recognizable family. The filled to overflowing audience showed their appreciation for a fun filled evening with roars of laughter and long, loud applause.
This year the festival honored Argentina, a country with a rich animation tradition. Two programs of short animation were screened as well as a program of 22 very short films by Juan Pablo Zaramella. At 38, Zaramella has received international recognition for his work. Two feature films, Oily Boogie and Mercano, the Martian were also shown. I also received a trailer for Anima Buenos Aires, a feature film that is in production. According to the press material the film will reveal the hidden soul of Buenos Aires in four episodes with tango and music as the thread that ties it all together. If the completed film is as interesting and well done as the trailer it should be a big hit at festivals.
The Argentine delegation threw a tango party at Le Bowl, a nearby bowling complex, where I received a tango lesson from Chilean animator Luciano Munoz Sessarego. After a massive buffet and ample drinks, the guests could bowl and dance the night away. The Argentinians definitely brought the Latin American spirit to Annecy that night.
When not watching film, my days and nights were packed with events. Each year I look forward to the German Animation Party on Tuesday. This year the setting was L’Oasis Auberge de Bessard in Sevier, a 15 minute bus ride around the lake. The best part of this party is that it is always so relaxed with people sitting at the tables scattered around the lawn chatting. We were treated to a lovely buffet with copious amounts of good beer and wine.
To add to the festive air the Plus Annecy Band played. This year, Nik on horns and Rolf Bächler playing drum were joined by part of our KROK band, with Alexey Alexeev on guitarlele, and Mikhail Aldashin playing percussion, as well as Veljko Popvic helping to keep the beat on percussion. Danas Berznitsky, a new addition to the band, joining in on the Jews Harp. The band was joined for a couple numbers by special guest star Ulrich Wegenast, Artistic Managing Direct of the Stuttgart Trickfilm Festival, on drums. It turns out that he used to be a drummer for a punk band and he has not lost his touch.
Wednesday Nik and I attended the Swiss Film Commission Party at Restaurant L’Impasse. This was a new location for the party, very near to the Bonlieu, and even if the party was very crowded, the more than ample amount of food and drink was so delicious and there were so many people to see that no one minded the close quarters. I was given the new compilation reel from Swiss films. I had already seen some of the films such as Maja Gehrig’s intriguing Amourette about two wooden dolls having sex on a piece of sandpaper. I was delightfully surprised by Danny Boy, Marek Skrobeck’s ironic film about a poet looking for love. It has a very quirky ending.
From the Swiss Party we strolled over to the Café des Arts for the opening of Alexey Alexeev’s art exhibition. The two rooms with the extremely talented Alexee’s drawings on the walls were packed with people and animators moved from table to table in the outside courtyard. The Plus Annecy Band played long into the evening and couples danced spontaneously to the music.
I had the chance to spend a few hours with my old friend Greg Lawson from Amsterdam. We had not seen each other for a while but the last time we talked he had said that he wanted to change the direction of his work. His former company, Lawson and What’s His Name were best known for their innovative commercial work and their Safe Sex Trilogy. Greg told me that he has launched a new company, Lawson Extremely Limited and wants to get back to animating and creating more personal work. He looked much happier and more relaxed than I have seen him look in years and this is excellent news to all of us who admire Greg and his work.
Wednesday night, the MIFA Opening Night party was at the beautiful Palace de Menton and was a lavish affair as befitted the 25th anniversary of MIFA. The hotel was located a short bus ride around the lake and the party was resplendent with delicious desserts and drinks. The beautiful balcony was the perfect place for conversations on a lovely, balmy night.
Thursday was a very busy day. On Thursday morning Nik and I were very honored to be invited to a very special event. Tiziana Loschi, the Chief Representative of CITIA (the business wing of the Annecy Festival) was elevated to the rank of Chevalier in the French Order of Merit. The high honor was bestowed in recognition of Tiziana’s service to the French film and animation industry. The organization is a cultural co-operative co-funded by the Annecy Greater Urban Area, Haute-Savoie General Council, the Rhone-Alpes Regional Council, and the French State. One of CITIA’s main purposes is to promote the circulation of French film.
Tiziana is a very able and enthusiastic representative. She discovered the world of animation through the films of Miyazaki. “I have great admiration and respect for those artists working (in animation) not hesitating to spend years in their field” she explained.
Each person elevated to the rank of Chevalier must select someone who has already received the honor to present the medal to them. Tiziana asked Michel Ocelot to do the honors. On the balcony deck of the Restaurant Le Plage, they both looked radiant against the backdrop of Lake Annecy as he pinned the cross onto her jacket. The brilliant morning sun made the La Plage balcony a perfect setting for the auspicious event. The ceremony was followed by a delicious buffet with superb champagne and wine.
Since I was already at La Plage that morning I went next door to visit MIFA at L’Imperial Palace Hotel. From 9 to 11 June MIFA was a beehive of activity. MIFA, the business arm of the festival, is a market place for buying and selling films, networking for co-productions, and learning about what’s new in the industry. There is a video library available for program buyers and distributers to view over 500 films ranging from the festival official selections to products by producers.
At MIFA, we stopped by to visit the Seoul Animation Center booth. My old friend Nelson Shin and his colleagues were pouring wine and serving snacks at their reception.
Next we visited Latvian producer Vilnis Kalnaellis and his extremely talented son Reinis (When Apples Roll) at the Riga Films space. Over a glass of Rigas Melnais Balzams, a traditional Latvian herbal liquor made with many natural ingrediants mixed with vodka, which Reinis assured me was very medicinal, I watched the latest film produced by their company. To Swallow A Toad by Jurgis Krasons is a sardonic tale about the “round” intellectuals and the pragmatic “squares” who discover the “rounds” secret to life. The title is a Latvian saying meaning to tolerate the intolerable. The film premiered at Cannes this year as one of 9 short films selected for the festival.
After watching the film, Nik and I strolled out to the lawn behind the Imperial Palace to the Finnish Party. Over Finish vodka, beer and wine I chatted with Trond Ola Mevassvik and Mangus Eide from the Fredrikstad Animation Festival in Norway. They told me about plans for the 2010 festival which sounds even more exciting than last year. Finnish animators definitely know how to party and this year they outdid themselves by building a sauna at the lake’s edge. After a couple hours of partying, guests were invited to take turns sweating away the effects of the week’s festivities and the lack of sleep.
We popped into the Croatian cocktail party at the lake tent space for a quick hello and glass of wine before we went on to the Dutch Party at the very popular Café des Arts.
David Silverman had been trying to join Nik and the band all week. The baby tuba that the festival promised David finally arrived and he joined the band to the delight of the packed audience. A highlight of the evening came when the band broke into the Wallace and Grommit theme and Peter Lord danced around the band.
We ended the night at the ASIFA 50th Anniversary Party which turned out to be a non party. Only 4 or 5 ASIFA Board Members showed up and they did not stay long. There was no food or drink and the loud disco music made it impossible to talk.
Friday saw us at the Dream Works picnic, where everyone who was anyone enjoyed eating, drinking and chatting under the trees. The only rule there is to talk with someone you’ve never met. Even though David Silverman, Nik and I are old friends I have never had the chance to meet Matt Groening. He turned out to be as nice and humorous as I thought he would be. But then you couldn’t expect less from the creator of the Simpsons. Shelly Page was once again the hostess with the moistest, presiding over what has become a Friday tradition. Nik and Rolf provided background music to eat, drink and chat to.
Saturday is the day for another event that is becoming a tradition - Nik and Nancy’s picnic and paddle boat race. The day was nice and dry after a week where rain always seemed to be lurking about. This year there was a new addition to the festivities. Joanna Quinn joined forces with us to hold a rounders game. Joanna, who acted as referee, explained rounders as “girlie baseball”. Seven teams took to the grass, 2 at a time until through a process of elimination one team was left standing. Everyone had a great time either playing or watching and we discovered hidden talents. My German journalist colleague, Johanna Walters, proved a natural at the game and Joanna even urged him to turn “pro”. The winning team was presented with a large aluminum foil loving cup trophy that Joanna created the night before in her hotel room and the victors toasted everyone with champagne. I trust that the winning team will bring the valuable trophy back next year when they defend their title.
The full Plus Annecy band serenaded us as we sat on the grass enjoying the sun, eating, drinking and laughing. The picnic is also so much fun because it is an opportunity for professionals and students alike to chat together informally. After a very busy week and the looming anticipation of the awards ceremony it is lovely to just relax in the grass by the lake. I want to thank Shelly Page and the Dream Works picnic team for once again generously donating their extras to our picnic. The beautiful plates of ham and salami and the many bottles of wine were thoroughly enjoyed.
The grand finale of the afternoon is always the paddle boat race. This year, as though we were not enough of a danger to ourselves as we paddled furiously around the island, we had a new hazard added to the race course with the appearance of two large water fountains spraying up and into the lake. David and Nik played at the finish line to cheer us all on. I am proud to announce that the new reigning champions are Thomas Meyer-Herman, producer at Film Bilder Studio in Stuttgart and British animator Jamie Badminton who paddled their way to victory in record time. I am sure that they will both be keeping their legs in shape to defend their title next year.
The closing night ceremony not only acknowledged emerging animators who won prizes but also paid homage to those who have helped to make Annecy a major animation event over the past 50 years. When the awards were announced I was very pleased to see that Anita Killi’s Angry Man, a very sensitive and important film, won not only a Special Jury Award and the UNICEF Award, but also the Audience Award. Her moving film reaches people across all languages and cultures which is a very special achievement. At the conclusion of the ceremony confetti rained down on the stage and huge balloons bounced from audience to stage. A complete list of winning films is listed at the end of the article.
It is always bittersweet to be together at the closing night party. For some of us it will be a while before we are together again. Just the presence of all of us under one tent makes a party. It really didn’t matter that the party food was not very good (VERY bio/organic), that red wine was served in paper coffee cups (I have never seen that before) or that the band played at an ear splitting volume, sending us out to the terraces to carry on conversations. We were all together and happy to be there.
I cannot thank Judith Cristofaro, press liaison, enough for all of her efforts on my behalf. Carole Martino in the press office did everything that she could to make my week run smoothly. She deserves a great deal of credit, because I know how difficult her job was this year with tickets to everything, not just the opening and closing, being at a premium.
Although I ultimately got tickets to everything that I wanted to attend, many people that I talked to did not. I realize that the old system of people crowding up at the glass doors for the 9 AM mad chase to the ticket desks was far from ideal, but now badge holders are only allowed to book two tickets per day through the on line service prior to the festival. People were constantly scrambling for tickets and it is very difficult to plan your screenings before you arrive because during the week you learn about special events or decide that you want to see something when you read through the catalogue. There was a ticket exchange desk and any unbooked tickets were available by computer a few minutes before the screening. Raoul Servais told me that he doesn’t use a computer, so he couldn’t book any tickets. I heard this from several other older festival goers.
The week in Annecy is costly. With the travel and hotel costs, not to mention incidental expenses, if a film programmer or journalist can’t get in to see films that they need to see, they can’t do the job they came to do. Several people told me that they thought that Annecy has just gotten too big and that they were seriously considering going to Stuttgart or Zagreb next year, and I can understand their feelings.
I realize that the festival has become more and more about business and that the 50th Anniversary was a special year but the festival will be making a terrible mistake if they forget about the many animators, programmers and journalists who have returned year after year. So the jury is still out for me . . .
Opening night, 150 tickets were reserved for business dignitaries instead of being given to animators. Many people who should have seen The Illusionist couldn’t see the film, much less attend the opening party. The parties are important opportunities, because that is where we have the opportunity to meet and talk to each other.
There was just too much to see in one week. If Annecy keeps expanding they are going to have to lengthen the festival to 10 days or a week. If I didn’t write about your favorite screening or event, I’m sorry, but there are only 24 hours in a day . . . even at Annecy.
For me the icing on the cake was our train ride home to Belgium. We shared a carriage with Raoul Servais from the French border to his stop in Belgium and time flew by as we had good conversation and shared memories. Raoul also told us that CFCA (Assoication du Cinema d’ animation) has invited him to be a special part of their 12 day long IDA (International Animation Day) celebration. On 28 October he will present a selection of his films and international shorts at a special screening at Centre Pompidou, in the center of Paris. For more information visit www.afca.asso.fr
ANNECY 2010 PALMARES
FEATURE FILMS:
Jury: Manuela Schobel-Lumb, Germany; Aro Folman, Isreal; and Sir Tim Rick, Great Britain
Best Feature: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson – United States
Special Distinction: Eleanor’s Secret, Dominique Monfery – Italy
Audience Award: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson – United States
SHORT FILMS:
Jury: Sayoko Kinoshita, Japan; John Musker, United States; and Patrice Leconte, France
The Annecy Cristal: The Lost Thing, Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan – Australia/Great Britain
Special Jury Award: Angry Man, Anita Killi – Norway
Jean-Luc Xiberras Award For A First Film: Jean-Francois, Tom Haugomat and Bruno Mangyoku – France
Special Distinction: Lipsett’s Diaries, Theodore Ushev – Canada
Don’t Go, Turgut Akacik – Turkey
Sacem Award For Original Music: Love & Theft, Andreas Hykade – Germany
Audience Award: Angry Man, Anita Killi – Norway
TV AND COMMISSIONED FILMS:
Jury: Francoise Guyonnet, France; Peter Debruge, United States and Max Howard, United States
Cristal For Best TV Production: The Little Boy And The Beast, Johannes Weiland and Uwe Heidschotter –
Germany
Special Award For A TV Series: Dragons et Princesses, Michel Ocelot – France
Best TV Special: The Gruffalo, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang – Great Britain
Educational, Scientific Or Industrial Film Award: Giallo a Milano, Sergio Basso – Italy
Advertising Or Promotional Film Award: Harmonix, The Beatles: Rock Band, Pete Candeland – Great Britain
Best Music Video Award: Sour, Tone Of Everyday, Masashi Kawamura, Hal Kirkland, Magico Nakamura, and
Masayoshi Nakamura – Japan
GRADUATION FILMS:
Jury: Nick Park, Great Britain; Peter De Seve, United States; and Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina
Best Graduation Film: The Lighthouse Keeper, David Francois, Rony Hotin, Jeremie Moreau, Baptiste Rogron,
Gaelle Thierry, and Mailys Vallade – France
Special Jury Award: Sauvage, Paul Cabon – France
Special Distinction: Lebensader, Angela Steffen – Germany
JUNIOR JURY AWARD FOR A SHORT FILM:
Jury: Camille Degeorges, Cheick Abdoulaye Gouem, Adja Ratoussian Ramata Ouedraogo, and William Serviant
Don’t Go, Turgut Akacik – Turkey
JUNIOR JURY AWARD FOR A GRADUATION FILM:
Jury: Martin Duvernoy, Valentin Hattu, Melanie Marie Pascal Koudougou, and Damase Wendlassida Ouedrago
Kungfu Benny 3 – Counterattack, Zhiyong Li – China
UNICEF AWARD:
Angry Man, Anita Killi – Norway
FIPRESCI AWARD:
Jury: Johannes Wolters, Gregory Cavinato, and Francis Gavelle
Miss Remarkable & Her Career, Joanna Rubin Drranger – Sweden, Ireland, and Denmark
CANAL + CREATIVE AID AWARD FOR A SHORT FILM:
I Forgive You, Pierre Mousquet and Jerome Cauwe – Belgium
ANNECY YOU TUBE AWARD:
Jury: Joanna Quinn, Arthur de Pins, and David Silverman
Pop, Bernard Derriman – Australia
CALL FOR PROJECTS FOR SHORT FILMS;
Jury: Alice Delalande, Vincent Caudeville, Jean-Pierre Lemouland, and Albert Pereira-Lazaro
JURY AWARD:
Encore des Changements, Barbara Malleville and Benoit Guillaume – France
PRIX PRIZE ABBAYE DE FONTEVRAUD
Vigia, Marcel Barelli – Switzerland
TOON BOOM ANIMATION PRIZE:
The Leaf Painter , Marina Rosset and Jadwiga Kowalska – Switzerland
