SIGGRAPH has recently declared the Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater award winners, to be honoured at the 45th SIGGRAPH conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre from 12 to 16 August.
The best in show prize was awarded to French student film Hybrids, a graduate project created by Florian Brauch, Kim Tailhades, Matthieu Pujol, Yohan Thireau and Romain Thirion at Motion Picture in Arles (MoPA). As SIGGRAPH is an Oscar-qualifying festival, the short is now eligible for Academy Award consideration.
This six-minute animated piece imagines an underwater world where the marine creatures seem to have found unique ways to adapt to the pollution around them. Hybrids has been warmly received at festivals around the world, notably winning Best VFX in a Student Project at the VES Awards, the Amazon Audience Award from Stuttgart and a Jury Distinction at Annecy.
Other than that, the Computer Animation Festival Jury Choice Award will be awarded to DreamWorks Animation’s Bilby, directed by Pierre Perifel, Liron Topaz and JP Sans. The vibrant, sweet and slapstick-funny adventure centers on a self-sufficient little bilby who gets caught up trying to protect a puffball of a baby bird from the many threats of the Australian wilds. Part of the first wave out of DWA’s new Shorts Program, Bilby premiered at the Annecy festival and took the Audience Award for Animated Short at Palm Springs ShortFest a few weeks ago.
The 2018 Best Student Project will go to Overrun from Supinfocom Rubika, another French school, directed by Pierre Ropars, Antonin Derory, Diane Thirault, Jérémie Cottard, Matthieu Druaud and Adrien Zumbihl. The short follows the journey of a lone ant plunged into a dark and dangerous place, as it scrambles to escape from its fascinating trap.
“We will be presenting a high caliber of work this year from a very competitive, international field of submissions. The work shown ranges from hyperreal to stylised, from student grad projects to small studio work, from large studio shorts to visual effects house showcases,” SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival director Larry Bafia said in a statement.