The upcoming Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Market (June 10-15, 2013) will see Italian cartoon legend Bruno Bozzetto honored with the coveted ASIFA Prize for outstanding achievement in the art of animation. The 75-year-old animator, who produced his first short in 1958, will be awarded the Prize during a special ceremony on Thursday, June 13 in Annecy.
Born in Milan, Italy in the late 1930s, Bozzetto began his animation career at 20 with the release of his first short, Tapum! The Weapons’ Story. He is best known for his hapless character Mr. Rossi—the little mustachioed man appeared in nearly 20 shorts between 1960 and 1975, as well as three feature-length animated films. Bozzetto’s most famous feature effort is 1976’s musical montage Allegro Non Troppo, which riffed on Disney’s Fantasia. His list of previous honors includes awards from the Zagreb, Sitges, Ottawa and Berlin film festivals and the Annies’ Winsor McCay Award (1982). Bozzetto also received an Oscar nomination for his 1990 short film Grasshoppers. Most recently, the unstoppable creator has turned to digital technologies to continue crafting short animations.
The ASIFA Prize is awarded annually to individuals who have made a significant and innovative contribution towards the promotion and preservation of the art animation. Further details will become available at www.annecy.org.
