‘Among the Black Waves’ by Anna Budanova walks away with the Grand Prix at the 36th Anima Festival

The 36th Brussels International Animation Film Festival, Anima 2017, came to a close on Sunday (5 March) evening with an attendance that greatly exceeded the record of 42,000 visitors reached last year. After a ten-day invasion of the Flagey studios and theatres, the curtain came down on the Festival with the much awaited announcements of the competition winners, followed by the screening of Roger Mainwood’s feature Ethel and Ernest and the awarded films.

The international jury – made up of Rémi Durin (Enclume Animation, Belgium), Graham Annable (Laika, United States) and Annettte Schindler (Fantoche, Switzerland) – decided to award the Anima 2017 Grand Prix to the Russian short film Among the Black Waves by Anna Budanova, who received 2,500 euros from the Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.

Amon The Black Waves
‘Among The Black Waves’

The jury also gave its special award to Decorado, a short film by the Spanish filmmaker Alberto Vazquez and the best student short film went to the young Korean Jang Nari for My Father’s Room. Asphalte by Lisa Matuszak of France received a special mention. The young jury, made up of representatives from the webtv Ceci n’est pas un Buzz and Ouftivi, rewarded La Cage by Loïc Bruyère as the best short film for a young audience, while Jubilé by Coralie Soudet, Charlotte Piogé, Marion Duvert, Marie El Kadiri and Agathe Marmion received a special mention.

The national competition jury – made up of Jeroen Jaspaert (Belgium), Christine Polis (Belgium) and Ligia Soare (Animest, Romania) – awarded the best Belgian short film offered by the SABAM to Britt Raes for Catherine. The SACD award went to Julien Grande’s film Pour une poignée de girolles, while the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles Grand Prix for the best short film was awarded to the duo Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier for their film La Rentrée des classes.

Finally, the Festival public’s favourite was the Japanese film Your Name by Makoto Shinkai, which was awarded the prize for best feature while the audience award for best feature for a young audience went to Rabbit School by Ute von Münchow-Pohl. On the shorts’ side, the public chose Theodore Ushev’s Blind Vaysha as best short film, while the young viewers chose the French short film Jubilé from the MoPA school. Animation night audience award for best short film was given to Tomer Eshed’s Our Wonderful Nature – The Common Chameleon.

'Blind Vaysha'
‘Blind Vaysha’

With these 279 selected films, the Festival attracted a diverse public of children, adults, animation students and many industry professionals for ten days rich in sneak previews, numerous screenings playing to a full house and popular highlights including the EXPERIENCE festival of VR films, the Animated Night, the workshops for the kids and the Futuranima professional days, presenting the latest films in production by big names from the industry.

This year, the Festival hosted 70 international guests coming from Japan, South Korea, the USA and the four corners of Europe.

Next year, Anima will be taking place once again in Brussels from 9 to 18 February.

Some of the other awards were:

International Competition- Partner Awards

BeTV Award for Best Animated Feature (5,000 euros for acquisition of broadcasting rights)
The Anthem of the Heart (Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda)
Tatsuyuki Nagai, Japan

Creative Revelation Award (2,500 euros provided by the Korean Cultural Centre)
Blind Vaysha
Theodore Ushev, Canada

Press Award for Best Short Film
Fragments (Estilhaços)
José Miguel Ribeiro, Portugal

National Competition- Partner Awards

BeTV Award (acquisition of broadcasting rights)
69Sec
Laura Nicolas

RTBF – La Trois Award (acquisition of broadcasting rights)
Projection sur canapé
Violette Delvoye

Cinergie Award (Electronic Press Kit)
69Sec
Laura Nicolas