Films by Rémi Chayé and Theodor Ushev among 21 winning projects awarded at the 44th festival edition, held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite their forced but well executed move to an online platform due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the Annecy 2020 festival organizers still managed to hold firm to their traditional Saturday evening Awards Ceremony; in a set of virtual presentations just revealed, Citia CEO Mickaël Marin and festival artistic director Marcel Jean have announced 21 winning artists and projects across a range of features, shorts, TV programs and VR experiences.
In the top awards, director Rémi Chayé’s Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary took home the Cristal for a feature film, while Theodore Ushev’s The Physics of Sorrow won the Cristal for a short film. Naked, by Kirill Khachaturov, took home the Cristal for a graduation film.
Acknowledging his Cristal as well as yesterday’s FIRPESCI Prize win, Ushev said, “Annecy has always been an important part of my life as a filmmaker, from my first projects on the web in 2002 to my latest film, The Physics of Sorrow. The festival practically took me by the hand and taught me to walk, as a father would for his child. I’ve won several awards at Annecy, except one: the spectacular Cristal Award. I’m extremely happy to receive it now, and feel like a mountaineer who has finally reached the summit after 18 years of climbing: this is my Everest!”
The full list of awards is shown below – click here for the list of Special Award winners announced yesterday:
FEATURE FILMS
Cristal for a Feature Film:
Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary
Rémi Chayé
France, Denmark
MAYBE MOVIES, NORLUM
Jury Award:
The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks
Andrey Khrzhanovsky
Russia
SCHOOL-STUDIO "SHAR"
Jury Distinction:
Kill It and Leave this Town
Mariusz Wilczynski
Poland
BOMBONIERKA, EXTREME OPTIONS, IAM - ADAM MICKIEWICZ INSTITUTE, EC1 LODZ - CITY OF CULTURE, LETKO, DI FACTORY, GIGANT FILMS, POLISH FILM INSTITUTE
CONTRACHAMP
Contrachamp Award:
My Favorite War
Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen
Latvia, Norway
BIVROST FILM & TV, EGO MEDIA
Contrachamp Jury Distinction:
The Shaman Sorceress
Jae-huun Ahn
South Korea
MEDITATION WITH A PENCIL
SHORT FILMS
Cristal for a Short Film:
The Physics of Sorrow
Theodore Ushev
Canada
NFB – NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
Jury Award:
Homeless Home
Alberto Vázquez
France, Spain
AUTOUR DE MINUIT, UNIKO ESTUDIO CREATIVO
“JEAN-LUC XIBERRAS” Award for a First Film:
The Town
Yifan Bao
China
ARC ANIME STUDIO
Jury Distinction:
Freeze Frame
Soetkin Verstegen
Belgium
AKADEMIE SCHLOSS SOLITUDE
Jury Distinction:
Genius Loci
Adrien Merigeau
France
KAZAK PRODUCTIONS, FOLIMAGE
“OFF-LIMITS” Award:
Serial Parallels
Max Hattler
Germany, Hong Kong
RELENTLESS MELT
TV AND COMMISSIONED FILMS
Cristal for a TV Production:
Shooom's Odyssey
Julien Bisaro
Belgium, France
PICOLO PICTURES
Jury Award for a TV Series:
Undone "The Hospital"
Hisko Hulsing
USA
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, TORNANTE PRODUCTIONS, LLC, SUBMARINE
Jury Award for a TV Special:
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Robin Shaw
United Kingdom
LUPUS FILMS
COMMISSIONED FILMS
Cristal for a Commissioned Film
Lucky Chops "Traveler"
Daniel Almagor, Raman Djafari
Germany
STUDIO VOGEL
Jury Award:
Greenpeace "Turtle Journey"
Gavin Strange
United Kingdom
AARDMAN ANIMATIONS LTD
GRADUATION FILMS
Cristal for a Graduation Film:
Naked
Kirill Khachaturov
Russia
MOSCOW SCHOOL OF NEW CINEMA
Jury Award:
Pile
Toby Auberg
United Kingdom
RCA - ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART
Jury Distinction:
Sura
Hae-Ji Jeong
South Korea
KOREAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ARTS - KNUADIS - K'ARTS
VR WORKS
Cristal for Best VR Work:
Minimum Mass
Raqi Syed, Areito Echevarria
France, New Zealand
LIKE AMBER, FLORÉAL FILMS
Jury Special Distinction:
Battlescar – Punk Was Invented by Girls
Martin Allais, Nicolas Casavecchia
USA, France
ATLAS V, ALBYON, 1ST AVENUE MACHINE, RYOT, ARTE FRANCE
Annecy 2020 Online continues through June 30.
Source: Annecy International Animation Film Festival
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
