/ #Animation #festival 

2015 Animation Festival Award Winners Announced

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), North America’s leading animation film event, announced the winners of its 2015 Official Competition today at an awards ceremony held at Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ This year’s Grand Prizes went to Sarina Nihei’s _ Small People With Hats _ for Best Independent Short Animation, and Patrick McHale’s _ Over The Garden Wall _ took the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature. _ Small People With Hats _ also picked up an award for Best Sound. The Prize for Best Short Film Made For Children was awarded to Frits Standaert for _ Compte les moutons (Counting Sheep) _ . Dan and Jason won the Prize for Best Animated Series for Children with _ Bird and Bear _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ “I’m pleasantly surprised an _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ d proud of the bold choices made by the jury,” said Chris Robinson, the OIAF’s Artistic Director. “This is the first time in the OIAF’s 39-year history that a student film has taken top honours.” _ _ _ _ This year’s Short, Feature and Kids Competition screenings were judged by 3 official juries. The Competition Short Jury includes Kaspar Jancis (Estonia), Leah Shore (USA) and Yiorgos Tsangaris (Cyprus). The Competition Feature Jury includes Chris Dainty and Maral Mohammadian (Canada) and Saschka Unseld (USA). The Competition Kids Jury is comprised of Ottawa-area children. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The OIAF programming team, led by Chris Robinson, selected 75 short films and 4 feature films for competition from nearly 2,100 entries. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A selection of the Festival’s award-winning films will be screened on

Sunday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m.

and

9:15 p.m.

at the ByTowne Cinema (325 Rideau Street). Tickets are available online at www.animationfestival.ca and will be sold at the Box Office. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** OIAF 2015 AWARDS _ _ _ _ ** _ _ _ _ ** Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ Small People With Hats _ | 2014 | Sarina Nihei | UK |

6:51

| Graduation Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ “[ _ Small People With Hats _ ] is a brilliantly written absurd script with a compelling visual picture and sound that successfully interprets a political reality of our time.” – Competition Short Jury statement. _ _ _ _ ** Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature _ _ _ _ ** _ Over The Garden Wall _ | 2014 | Patrick McHale | USA, South Korea | 110:41 | Animated Feature _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ “The Grand Prize goes to the film that expressed the awe and wonder we felt as kids with a mix of amazement and magic, while realizing that scary things might not be as scary as they seem. For its unbridled romp through the joy and darkness of growing up, the award goes to Patrick McHale’s _ Over The Garden Wall _ .” – Competition Feature Jury statement. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

  • Honourable mention to _ La Montagne Magique (The Magic Mountain) _ by Anca Damian. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** CATEGORY AWARDS _ _ _ _ ** _ _ _ _ ** Cartoon Network Prize for Best Narrative Short Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ Isand (The Master) _ | 2015 | Riho Unt | Estonia |

    18:00

| Narrative Short Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Prize for Best Experimental/Abstract Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ The Five Minute Museum _ | 2015 | Paul Bush | Switzerland, UK |

6:20

| Experimental/Abstract _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Prize for Best Undergraduate Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ Violet _ | 2015 | Ryan Ines | USA |

5:56

| Undergraduate Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Walt Disney Animation Prize for Best Graduation Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ Loop Ring Chop Drink _ | 2014 | Nicolas Ménard | UK |

9:45

| Graduation Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Prize for Best Commissioned Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ Jazz Orgie _ | 2015 | Irina Rubina | Germany |

0:53

| Commissioned Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Prize for Best Short Film Made For Children _ _ _ _ ** _ Compte les moutons (Counting Sheep) _ | 2015 | Frits Standaert | France, Belgium |

7:00

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Prize for Best Animated Series Made for Children _ _ _ _ ** _ Bird and Bear _ | 2014 | Dan and Jason | USA |

4:31

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** CRAFT AWARDS _ _ _ _ ** _ _ _ _ ** Award for Best Script _ _ _ _ ** _ World of

 Tomorrow

_ | 2015 | Don Hertzfeldt | USA |

16:30

| Narrative Short Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Award for Best Design _ _ _ _ ** _ Loop Ring Chop Drink _ | 2014 | Nicolas Ménard | UK |

9:45

| Graduation Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Award for Best Animation Technique _ _ _ _ ** _ Alateadvuse maja (House of Unconsciousness) _ | 2015 | Priit Tender | Estonia |

10:41

| Narrative Short Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Award for Best Sound _ _ _ _ ** _ Small People With Hats _ | 2014 | Sarina Nihei | UK |

6:51

| Graduation Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** OTHER AWARDS _ _ _ _ ** _ _ _ _ ** DHX Public Prize _ _ _ _ ** _ World of

 Tomorrow

_ | 2015 | Don Hertzfeldt | USA |

16:30

| Narrative Short Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Canadian Film Institute Award for Best Canadian Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ Mynarski chute mortelle (Mynarski Death Plummet) _ | 2014 | Matthew Rankin | Canada |

7:46

| Narrative Short Animation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

  • Honourable mention to _ Sonámbulo _ by Theodore Ushev and _ Focus _ by Alex Boya. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** VIA Rail Prize for Best Canadian Student Animation _ _ _ _ ** _ Fears _ | 2015 | Nata Metlukh | Vancouver Film School |

    2:08

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

  • Honourable mention to _ Religatio _ by Jaime Giraldo, Vancouver Film School. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** Ottawa International Animation Festival _ _ _ _ ** _ _ _ _ The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is one of the world’s leading animation events providing screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment since 1976.  OIAF is an annual five-day event bringing art and industry together in a vibrant hub and attracting more than 28,000 artists, producers, students and animation fans from around the world. This year’s OIAF runs September 16th-20th. For more information, visit the OIAF website at: www.animationfestival.ca . _ _ _ _