Award winners announced for 2024 SPARK ANIMATION Festival
Skwigly
The Spark Computer Graphics Society (SPARK CG) has announced the 2024 SPARK ANIMATION Festival Award winners, including the highly anticipated Lifetime Achievement Award. This year’s celebration of animation excellence includes global and Canadian talent, showcasing diverse storytelling and innovative filmmaking.
Maybe Elephants (Dir. Torill Kove, National Film Board of Canada/Mikrofilm)
The Lifetime Achievement Award is being presented to Torill Kove, the acclaimed Canadian animator and filmmaker, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of animation.
Kove, known for her Academy Award-winning short film The Danish Poet, continues to inspire new generations of animators with her storytelling mastery. She is also the recipient of this year’s Canadian Film prize for her latest short film Maybe Elephants (Mikrofilm/NFB).
The Best in Show award, an Academy Award®-Qualifying Prize, has been awarded to In the Shadow of the Cypress by directors Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani (Iran). This hauntingly beautiful film has now qualified for consideration in the Academy Awards®’ Animated Short Film category, solidifying its place as one of the top animations of the year.
Other notable award recipients include:
- Diversity Award (Film) – Hairy Legs directed by Andrea Dorfman (Canada)
- Diversity Award (Organization) – Zombie Studio (Brazil)
- Jury Prize – The Ones Who Never See the Moon (France) from ECOLE MoPA students Solène Marché, Lou Thoby, Tom Saurel, Evelyne Philippart, Marie Fantini, Amélie Soto
- Director’s Prize – Razor Ruckus (Canada) directed by APPI
- Student Film – Mum’s Spaghetti (UK) directed by Lisa Kenney
- Music Video – Hero (Brazil) directed by Paulo Garcia
- Student Music Video – Rabbits Have Red Eyes (South Korea) from Kaywon University students Yoonsun Lee and Jiwon Choi
- GameVerse – Control – Juno Hero Trailer (USA) directed by Brian Horn
The full list of winners can be found here.
The award-winning films were selected by the festival’s distinguished jury during deliberations on September 28 and 29 in Vancouver. The official awards will be presented at the SPARK ANIMATION CELEBRATION on Sunday, November 3, 2024, in Vancouver. Following the event, the award-winning films will be available on demand through SPARK ANIMATION Online from 4 November to 31 December 31.
This year’s award winners highlight the exceptional creativity, diversity, and global reach of animation as an art form.
-Marina Antunes (Festival Director)
Tickets for in-person programming are available now at sparkanimation.ca