The Great Malaise, Shooom’s Odyssey, Pearl Diver And Biplane Model Kit Scoop Top Prizes At Manchester Animation Festival
Skwigly
MAF 2020 winners, clockwise from top left: Pearl Diver, Biplane Model Kit, Shooom’s Odyssey, and The Great Malaise
During a virtual ceremony on Thursday 26th November, the winners of the 2020 Industry Excellence Awards and Film Awards at Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) have been unveiled.
As the climax to the UK’s largest animation festival – which went virtual this year in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and has enjoyed a hugely successful year welcoming an international array of guests and delegates – MAF presented the coveted Manchester Animation Festival trophies and Industry Excellence Awards.
MAF trophies were presented to The Great Malaise, which scooped the Best Short Film gong; Pearl Diver, which took home Best Student Film, and Biplane Model Kit which secured the Best Commissioned Film prize. Selected by the MAF audience Shooom’s Odyssey won the Audience Award, with special mentions granted to films And Something Else in the student category and LLS-Grace in commissioned films.
The Industry Excellence Awards, which recognise individuals working in the industry in the fields of writing, storyboarding character design and character animation, have have been awarded to Estrela Lourenco for My Little Pony: Pony Life for Best Storyboarding; Adam Redfern, Jon Foster and James Lamont for Paddington Christmas Special: The Lost Letter for Best Scriptwriting; Character Design has been awarded to Ross Phillips for Hey Duggee, and the Best Character Animation award has been presented to Quentin Haberham for The Clangers.
SCRIPTWRITING – Adam Redfern – “We’re totally chuffed, it was the first time the three of us have written together so we’re happy it worked!”
Jon Foster – “A shoutout to everyone in the animation industry for carrying on through what has been a tough year, it’s been really heartening to keep making a show like this when everything else has shut down”
James Lamont – “The nimble nature of remote working in our industry has been a testament to the creative genius those involved.”
STORYBOARDING – Estrella Lourenco – “All the storyboard teams that I really miss who were such incredible teachers, I’ve never been pushed so hard I really appreciate all the love and support I’ve been given… It’s been a tough time for everyone and news like this makes a lot of people happy so I really appreciate it.”
CHARACTER DESIGN – Ross Phillips – “Thanks to Grant Orchard (Hey Duggee creator), for making such a great show to work on and for imparting his years of wisdom on me.”
CHARACTER ANIMATION – Quentin Haberman – “I absolutely loved working on the show so to get this award means a lot.”
Upon receiving the award for BEST SHORT FILM, The Great Malaise director Catherine LaPage said: “I have the feeling that the UK is leading for good taste, so I am even more flattered to win this award.”
Accepting the award for BEST STUDENT FILM, Pearl Diver director Margrethe Danielsen said: “Thank you very much for the award, I was very, very surprised and I’m still surprised!”
On hearing the news, winner of BEST COMISSIONED FILM, Biplane Model Kit director, Tine Kluth said: “I was happy enough to be included at all in the festival with my little film which I made in my kitchen at home, so this award inspires me to make many more movies, I’m glad it was received so well”
Film award winners have been selected by MAF’s esteemed juries comprised of Helen Brunsdon from the British Animation Awards, the BAFTA award winning director of Grandad was a Romantic Maryam Mohajer and Cartoon Saloon director Fabian Erlinghäuser. The Industry Excellence Awards have been judged by writer Jasmine Phull, director and storyboard artist Jez Hall, designer and concept artist Katri Valkamo and senior animator Ere Santos. Information on the MAF juries are here.
The awards presented to winners were crafted by master model makers Mackinnon and Saunders, who have brought some of the world’s best known animated characters to life – from Bob the Builder, Postman Pat and Fifi and the Flowertots, to Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
As with most live events we faced some incredible challenges at the beginning of the year and couldn’t have pictured the success we have had this year. This is down to our incredible audience who have once again proved that animation in all of its forms is in high demand – the festival wants to thank them as well as our sponsors, the filmmakers and guests that helped us put on our most successful year yet.
Festival Director, Steve Henderson
We were overwhelmed by the quality of the films sent to us this year and we were delighted to see so many delegates watching the programmes – it’s a fantastic reminder that the festival isn’t only here for filmmakers, but it’s also here because of filmmakers.
Festival Producer and Programmer, Jen Hall
Manchester Animation Festival continues online until the 30th November, with 47 events, masterclasses, screenings, features and panels all available to view until then. Manchester Animation Festival 2021 is confirmed for November 2021 and the call for entries for the Film Competition and Industry Excellence Awards will open in the spring of 2021 and be announced via the festival website, newsletter and social media channels.
WINNERS IN FULL
Quotes are from each collective jury, not from individuals.
This year’s Film Awards, which are the festival’s international film competition, have categories of Best Short Film, Best Student Film, Best Commissioned Film and the Audience Award, selected by the audience of the Festival. Special mentions of films who highly impressed the judges this year have also been announced.
Short Film
Winner: THE GREAT MALAISE
Director: Catherine LePage
“Chosen for being a strong, funny, moving but profoundly human and poignant film. Its combination of dialogue and creative use of imagery juxtaposing with each other beautifully illustrates the anxiety that comes with the quest for perfection and the pursuit of happiness and the ideal light that society expects.“
Student Film
Winner: PEARL DIVER
Director: Margrethe Danielsen
“Chosen for its overall engaging, great characterisation, simple yet profound design and performance it is relatable and comedic and well observed. The sound is perfectly matched to the environments and showcases the art form of animation with all its glory. A simple set up with huge satisfactory pay off”
Special Mention: AND SOMETHING ELSE
Director: Olga Klyszewicz
“The jury would like to give a special mention in this category to a film that beautifully executes its story between the characters in an emotional connection and performance. They are placed in a new environment not by their own doing and we see their relationship play out regardless of what is thrown at them. The soundscape is exquisite and the design is perfectly balanced to draw in the audience to empathise”
Commissioned Film
Winner: BIPLANE MODEL KIT
Director: TINE KLUTH
“Chosen for being fun, well animated, intrinsically in tune and balanced with the music it has all the qualities of vision and sound in perfect synchronicity. Inventive, playful, entertaining and well crafted, it makes great use of the medium of animation all round.”
Special Mention:
LLS- GRACE
Director: Natalie LaBarre
“The jury would like to give a special mention in this category to a film that gives a wonderful visual representation to a subject matter that can affect lives and how design and voice are integral to making it accessible to mention and manage”
Audience Award
Winner: SHOOOM’S ODYSSEY
Director: Julien Bisaro
Selected by the MAF Audience with over 2700 ballots cast for the eligible films screening at MAF in total.
THE 2020 INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS:
Manchester Animation Festival believes animation is for all and that all animation is deserving of celebration, and the Industry Excellence Awards celebrate the talent who work hard on the day job scripting, storyboarding, designing and animating some of our favourite television programmes and commercial work.
Storyboarding
- Phillip Warner for Hey Duggee
- Catherine Salkeld for Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed!
- Mick Harrison for Daisy & Ollie
- Giulia Caruso & Francesco Cipolla for Rescue Bots Academy: Power Up and Energize
- WINNER: Estrela Lourenco for My Little Pony: Pony Life
Scriptwriting (Produced by Blue Zoo)
- Alex Collier for Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed!: Pranksy
- Evgenia Golubeva & Myles McLeod for Kit’n’Kate: The Tallest Tower
- Sophie Dutton for Hey Duggee: The Puzzle Badge
- Sam Morrison for Hey Duggee: The Tooth Brushing Badge
- WINNER: Adam Redfern, Jon Foster and James Lamont for Paddington Christmas Special: The Lost Letter
Character Design
- Golden Wolf for KFC: Good Luck on the 25th
- Evgenia Golubeva for Mia’s Magic Playground
- Neev Brennan for Pins and Nettie
- Jardine Sage for Dog Loves Books
- WINNER: Ross Phillips for Hey Duggee
Character Animation
- Federico Bernasconi for Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed!
- Golden Wolf for Overwatch League Grand Finals
- Delwyn Jude Remedios for Save Our Species
- Arianna Gheller for Every Time I Run
- WINNER: Quentin Haberham for The Clangers