Among the Black Waves wins Anima Festival Grand Prix
Skwigly
The 36th Brussels International Animation Film Festival, Anima 2017, came to a close on Sundayevening 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, BE), Graham Annable (LAIKA, US) and Annettte Schindler (Fantoche, CH) – 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 offered by the Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.
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. 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.
The national competition jury – made up of Jeroen Jaspaert (BE), Christine Polis (BE) and Ligia Soare (Animest, RO) – 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 and 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.
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 and not even a general power cut could dampen the spirits and atmosphere of the whole proceedings!
Check out Festival photos, the full list of winners and photos of the awarded films on www.animafestival.be, and you can also see some interviews with filmmakers on our YouTube channel
Anima 2018 will be taking place once again in Brussels from 9th to 18th February 2018