LINOLEUM Festival Announces 2020 Winners: Black Sheep Boy Scoops Best International Film
Skwigly
LINOLEUM International Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival have announced the winners in three categories: international, Ukrainian and Commissioned films competitions.
The awards ceremony took place online, as the majority of the festival events this year: all the animation films were available for free from 2 to 6 September on the MEGOGO media service.
This year’s LINOLEUM winner is the French animation film Black Sheep Boy by James Molle (2019). The story revolves around the quest for the meaning of life of a young boy in a strange hat. Searching for some happiness, he engages in a philosophical and absurd journey. The jury was impressed by the film’s fresh style, witty dialogues and surreal characters.
With this year’s main prize we decided to award an unconventional film that embodies what LINOLEUM stands for: Black Sheep Boy was made by an exciting creator who surprised us by his approach towards the animated form. – The Jury
Three films got Special Mentions in the International competition section:
- Dutchgaria by Capucine Muller (Belgium, 2019) for the crafted relatable story with the fresh perspective on the frustration of migration.
- The Surrogate by Stas Santimov (Ukraine, 2020) for the power of atmosphere and craft, as well as he fresh angle on the genre conventions of horror.
- The piece of tail in the mouth of the snake that bites its own tail by Pablo M. Ballarín (Estonia, 2019) for the impressive author’s stylistics.
The Ukrainian competition’s main award went to Wrapped in Plastic by Vladi Yudi (2019). It is a satirical pseudo horror film about the collective hysteria around plastic that is sometimes combined with strange superstitions. The jury of the Ukrainian competition almost unanimously decided to award this animation with the main prize.
Despite the fact that Wrapped in Plastic exploits one widespread thought, it does so in such a professional way, creating such a subtle world with a special vibe that holds the viewers’ attention immediately. This film also has a tinge of humour and subtle references to the world cinema classics. – Yevhen Boytsov, Ukrainian competition jury member.
The jury also gave a Special Mention to Mr. Nox by Diana Denys (2019) for bringing up the burning issue of cyberbullying.
The main award of the Commissioned films competition went to the music video Jo Goes Hunting – Careful by Alice Saey (France, 2020) about the surreal creatures that turn their world to chaos once they start thinking about their individual appearance too much.
The repetition and sound is visually represented in a bold esthetic. This short film uses crazy colours, has a distinct graphic style and very beautiful animation. It is extremely psychedelic. All the jury members were impressed by this work. – The Jury
Three other works were awarded with Special Mentions in this category:
- Gardener & Bumblebee by Ignas Meilunas (Lithuania, 2020) for presenting the brand in an informative and also in a funny way.
- Facing Water by Daphna Awadish (Israel, 2019) for beautiful esthetics.
- Ode by Shadi Adib (Germany, 2019) for simplicity, atmosphere and nontrivial animation.
The next edition of LINOLEUM festival will take place 1-5 September 2021. Submissions open March 8 on FilmFreeWay.