Animation is Film Announces 2024 Winners
GRAND PRIZE:
FLOW Directed by Gints Zilbalodis
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE:
MEMOIR OF A SNAIL directed by Adam Elliot
AUDIENCE AWARD:
MEMOIR OF A SNAIL directed by Adam Elliot
&
THE COLORS WITHIN directed by Naoko Yamada
GRAND PRIZE – SHORTS:
WANDER TO WONDER directed by Nina Gantz
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – SHORTS:
A CRAB IN THE POOL directed by Jean-Sebastien Hamel and Alexandra Myotte
LOS ANGELES (October 22, 2024) – ANIMATION IS FILM (AIF) announced the winners of its seventh annual film festival today with the feature film FLOW, directed by Gints Zilbalodis, winning its top honor, the Grand Prize. MEMOIR OF A SNAIL took home The Special Jury Prize, along with the Audience Award in a tie with THE COLORS WITHIN. For the Shorts section, WANDER TO WONDER won the Grand Prize and A CRAB IN THE POOL earned the Special Jury Prize.
For 2024, the feature competition titles included: BOYS GO TO JUPITER, THE COLORS WITHIN, FLOW, GHOST CAT ANZU, MEMOIR OF A SNAIL and SULTANA’S DREAM.
The AIF centerpiece film THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE was not eligible for juried or audience prizes.
“Without a word of dialogue, Gints Zilbalodis weaves sound, music and immersive animation to show how powerful the medium can be when coupled with the right story. FLOW seriously considers how human actions are impacting the environment, and what effect that has on animals, centering their perspective in a way that only animation can,” said the Jury.
FLOW is a fantasy adventure, told without dialogue, that follows a cat at the brink of the end of the world learning to survive alongside other species. Winner of the Jury Award at 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
The Special Jury Prize winner, MEMOIR OF A SNAIL, the second ‘clayography’ feature from director Adam Elliot, clinched the Cristal Award for Best Feature Film at the 2024 Annecy Film Festival—making him the first director to receive this honor twice. The stop-motion drama captures the life of a snail enthusiast as she undergoes immense hardships and learns to love herself despite them.
“The distinctive personality of Adam Elliot’s stop-motion feat flows directly from its well-crafted screenplay. Wobbly lines and endearingly odd character designs work in concert with the film’s dark (but never despondent) sensibility, which embraces human imperfection and finds beauty in unlikely forms.” the Jury said.
For Shorts, WANDER TO WONDER, directed by Nina Gantz, took home the Grand Prize. In this short, taking place in the 1980s, Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton starred in the children’s television program Wander to Wonder. They are left alone in the studio after the show’s originator passed away.
“Bonkers in the best way possible, Nina Gantz’s profound meditation on grief won this jury over with its unique visual style and sense of hope.” said the Shorts Jury.
In an “incredibly difficult decision” the Special Jury Prize for Shorts went to A CRAB IN THE POOL, directed by Jean-Sebastien Hamel and Alexandra Myotte, “a poignant short about family and loss.”
The short follows young adolescent, Zoe, a ball of anger haunted by an intimate terror. Theo, still a child, flees reality into a fantastical world. During a scorching summer day, the two children will have to burst the abscess of their relationship so as not to lose each other.
ANIMATION IS FILM hosted a weekend of sold-out screenings, special events and Q&As with influential filmmakers, including an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming studio release of Walt Disney Animation’s MOANA 2, presented by directors David Derrick Jr. and Jason Hand, a special “Work in Progress” look at YOPPAMAN, with co-creators Zack Fox and Chibu Okere, a filmmaker panel with director David Lowery and producer Alfonso Cuarón of AN ALMOST CHRISTMAS STORY, and a Q&A with THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE director, Pete Browngardt.
“With virtually *every* screening and event sold out, this year’s Animation Is Film Festival eclipsed each previous edition in terms of attendance and energy,” said Matt Kaszanek, Executive Director of AIF. “How enormously gratifying it was to see so many new faces alongside our regulars. Congratulations – and thank you! – to all of the filmmakers for an extraordinary year in animation. Animation is film. Scream it from every rooftop!”
The festival also included filmmaker masterclasses from Chris Sanders, director of Dreamworks Animation’s THE WILD ROBOT, screenwriters Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein of INSIDE OUT 2 in a presentation by Write for Animation, and the filmmaking team behind TRANSFORMERS ONE, including director Josh Cooley, production designer Jason Schreier, animation supervisor Stephen King, and lead character designer Amy Christenson. The festival also presented special screenings of MIYAZAKI, SPIRIT OF NATURE, MONONOKE THE MOVIE: PHANTOM IN THE RAIN, Takeshi Koike’s REDLINE (15th Anniversary), and INVINCIBLE FIGHT GIRL, along with award-winning short films and a student showcase of films from the next generation of artists.
Another special section included the popular Best of Annecy, featuring a collection of extraordinary short films from Annecy, curated by our partners at Women In Animation (WIA).
The 2024 edition featured a jury of animation experts.
Features Jury:
Kambole Campbell (Journalist, Film/TV/Culture Critic)
Peter Debruge (Head Film Critic, Variety)
Carolyn Giardina (Senior Entertainment Technology & Crafts Editor, Variety)
Karen Ryan (Producer, Nimona)
Drew Taylor (Senior Writer, The Wrap)
Shorts Jury:
Tom Caulfield (Filmmaker)
Nic West (Chair of the John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts)
Ramin Zahed (Editor-in-Chief for Animation Magazine)
The 7th Annual ANIMATION IS FILM Festival took place October 18-20 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. The festival presented a program of six animated feature films in competition and filmmakers attending the screenings and hosting Q&As. The festival was produced by GKIDS in partnership with Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The full 2024 film lineup is available at AnimationIsFilm.com.
ABOUT ANIMATION IS FILM (AIF)
ANIMATION IS FILM (AIF) fills a gap in the U.S. market with an established world-class animation festival on par with major events in Europe and Asia, and based in the world capital of animated filmmaking—Los Angeles. By embracing the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form akin to live action, AIF is an international advocate for filmmakers from around the world who push the boundaries of their work to the fullest range of the medium’s artistic expression. Founded in 2017, AIF is produced by GKIDS in partnership with the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival. — For more information on the films and tickets, please go to www.AnimationIsFilm.com.
