The prestigious international animation festival – Annecy – has for the second year in a row awarded a Brazilian feature with the top prize. Ale Abreu’s The Boy and the World (‘O menino e o mundo’) has taken home the Cristal Award.
The animation film is a stunning visual feat of colorful, crayon-like drawings that plays out a cautionary tale of globalisation, The Boy and the World received great reviews and great buzz among animation fans at the festival. It was picked up by Gkids for US distribution and, according to a few rumors doing rounds, is expected to make an Oscar push.
The film also took home the audience award for favourite film during the festival, voted by attendees online.
The Jury Award went to legendary filmmaker Bill Plympton for his Cheatin’, a hand-drawn story of lust, love and loss that the two-time Oscar nominee made independently and finished off with Kickstarter cash. Mizuho Nishikubo’s Giovanni’s Island, produced by Production I.G, was awarded a Jury Distinction.
The other prize winners were:-
Short Films
- Cristal – Man on the Chair by Dahee Jeong (France/South Korea)
- Jury Award – Patch by Gerd Gockell (Germany/Switzerland)
- Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for First Film – Hasta Santiago by Mauro Carraro (France/Switzerland)
- Jury Distinction – Histoires de bus by Tali (Canada)
- Jury Distinction – La testa tra le nuvole by Roberto Catani (Italy)
- Audience Award – La Petite Casserole d’Anatole by Eric Montchaud (France)
- “Off-Limits” Award – Corps etrangers by Nicolas Brault (Canada)
TV & Commissioned Films
- Cristal for TV – En sortant de l’ecole “Tant de forets”
- Cristal for Commissioned Film – Nepia “Tissue Animals”
- Jury Award for TV Series – Tumble Leaf “Kite”
- Jury Award for TV Special – Le Parfum de la Carotte
- Jury Award – Peau “Instant T”
Graduation Films
- Cristal – The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs (U.K.. National Film and Televsion School)
- Jury Award – An Adventurous Afternoon by Ines Christine Geisser & Kirsten Carina Geisser (Germany, Kunsthochschule Kassel)
- Jury Distinction – The Age of Curious by Luca Toth (U.K., Royal College of Art)