The Ottawa International Animation Festival, North America's leading animated film festival, has announced the winners of the 43rd annual OIAF.
The OIAF received a total of 2,424 entries from 93 countries and selected 117 for competition.
The Grand Prize for Feature Animation has been awarded to On-Gaku: Our Sound, directed by Kenji Iwaisawa.
The Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short Animation has been awarded to Don't Know What, directed by Thomas Renoldner
This year's Short, Feature, and Young Audience Competition screenings were judged by three official juries. The Competition Feature Jury feature Lizzy Hobbs, Faiyaz Jafri, and Lei Lei. Hobbs is a BAFTA award-winning animator known for her use of unique mediums and historical storytelling. Jafri is an award-winning animator and professor at Parsons School of Design in New York. Lei Lei is China's indie darling in animation, known worldwide for breaking out of his country's rigid creative mould.
The Competition Short Jury included Emily Pelstring, Piotr Bosacki, and Eva Cvijanovic. Pelstring is a professor at Queen's University in Kingston, and brought the Kathy Rose retrospective to this year's festival. Bosacki works in the Intermedia Department at the University of Arts in Poznan, where his work finely blends literature and the spoken word with the moving image. Cvijanovic is the award-winning director of the beloved NFB short Hedgehog's Home, and is an animator living and working out of Montreal.
The Kids Jury, comprised of Ottawa-area children between the ages of 8-12, judged the Young Audiences: Preschool and Young Audiences: Ages 6-12 Competitions.
FULL COMPETITION PRIZE WINNER LIST:
CANADIAN FILM INSTITUTE (CFI) AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN ANIMATION
Physique de la tristesse (The Physics of Sorrow) | Theodore Ushev
"For its arresting, expressive style, its searching contemplation of identity and exile, and its fearless fusing of imagination and autobiography."
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Finding Uranus | Ivan Li
"For its startling, contemporary, and frank animated approach to something we all do, and for creating an inventive visual vocabulary for self-love."
Girl in the Hallway | Valerie Barnhart
"For its stark, evocative animation and its honest, haunting telling of a moving tale of suffering and compassion."
ANIMATION FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES COMPETITION: PRESCHOOL
Le tigre sans rayures (A Tiger with No Stripes) | Raul "Robin" Morales Reyes
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Fuwa Fuwa Hour: PuiPui & MuuMuu 'Itsumo Issyo' (Fluffy Hour: PuiPui & MuuMuu 'Always Together') | Hiroyuki Mizoguchi
Nest | Sonja Rohleder & Jens Heuler
I'm Not Scared of the Crocodile | Marc Riba & Anna Solanas
ANIMATION FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES COMPETITION: AGES 6-12
Looney Tunes Cartoons 'Curse of the Monkey Bird' | Pete Browngardt
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Teofrastus | Sergei Kibus
Matches | Géza M. Tóth
ANIMATED SERIES COMPETITION
Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space 'Little Fingers' | Natasha Allegri, Joji Shimura, Hideaki Oba, Hans Tseng & Efrain Farias
CRAFT AWARD FOR BEST SCRIPT
Acid Rain | Tomek Popakul
Jury: "For its haunting storytelling, cinematic fluidity, and vividly-rendered perspective."
CRAFT AWARD FOR BEST DESIGN
The Six | Xi Chen & Xu An
Jury: "For its arrangement of the frame, which was both economical and ornate, blending antique and contemporary styles."
CRAFT AWARD FOR BEST ANIMATION TECHNIQUE
Erodium Thunk | Winston Hacking
Jury: "For its intelligent arrangement of source material and fascinating transitions."
CRAFT AWARD FOR BEST SOUND DESIGN
Slug Life | Sophie Gate
Jury: "The complex sound design and original music contributed to this film's rich, exuberant landscape."
BEST VIRTUAL REALITY
Gymnasia | Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski
Jury: "For the way it guides the eye around a simple space, with great control over composition, leading up to a moment remarkable for its corporeal sensation of the glance."
BEST COMMISSIONED ANIMATION
Tricky Women 2019 Trailer | Marta Pajek
Jury: "This tricky trailer made our hearts skip a beat."
BEST NON-NARRATIVE ANIMATION
Erodium Thunk | Winston Hacking
Jury: "With its compelling balance of control and chance, this ever-morphing collage just kept surprising us."
THE ANIMATION GUILD AWARD FOR BEST STUDENT ANIMATION
Alfred Fauchet, à droite, à gauche (Alfred Fauchet, Here and There) | Mathieu Georis
Jury: "For its sophisticated play on the idea of polyphony, and its clever blend of absurdity and abstraction."
CARTOON NETWORK AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE SHORT
Slug Life | Sophie Gate
Jury: "Because it is wild, janky, and funny. The vocal performance, quotable dialogue, and boneless narrative structure are refreshingly liberating."
BEST CANADIAN STUDENT ANIMATION
Finding Uranus | Ivan Li | Emily Carr University of Art and Design
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
J'ai hiberneé toute l'année (I Hibernated All Year) | Adele Vendette | Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia University
The Fox and The Pigeon | various directors | Sheridan College
VIMEO STAFF PICK AWARD
Girl in the Hallway | Valerie Barnhart
PUBLIC PRIZE
Gravedad | Matisse Gonzalez
GRAND PRIZE FOR FEATURE ANIMATION
On-Gaku: Our Sound | Kenji Iwaisawa
Jury: "A triumph of economic storytelling without sacrificing the richness of its characters. We were particularly impressed with the perfect timing, the simplicity of design, and the joyous celebration of the medium of animation."
NELVANA GRAND PRIZE FOR INDEPENDENT SHORT ANIMATION
Don't Know What | Thomas Renoldner
Jury: "For its impeccably executed, playful exploration of the animated form, but not only that - it also stands out as a piece of art."
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