Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival (fantasiafestival.com) wrapped up its three-week event on Wednesday, toasting its 21st and most successful edition ever with nearly 100,000 attendees soaking up the latest in contemporary genre filmmaking from around the world.
The grand prize Cheval Noir Award for Best Film went to Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s crime thriller Spoor (Pokot), while in the dedicated “Axis” animation competition the top honors went to Liu Jian’s suspenseful Chinese feature Have a Nice Day and Japanese short Cocolors, a multilayered story of naive optimism from Yokoshima Toshihisa. The Axis jury was comprised of director Greg Bailey, graphic novelist Dave Cooper, director Nadja Cozic, and cartoonist Jean Lacombe.
A select list of animation and related winners follows. You can find a complete list of all categories at DreadCentral.com.
JURIED AWARD WINNERS
Axis: The Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation
Feature – Have a Nice Day, directed by Liu Jian
Jury statement: “stands out for the implacable mechanic of its script, its acute dialog, and for the quality of its voice talent”
Special Mention (Feature) – Junk Head, d. Takahide Hori
“to acknowledge the tremendous work accomplished in the making of this movie as well as the artistic direction that seduced us”
Short Film – Cocolors, d. Yokoshima Toshihisa
“It clearly stood out above the other films in the category. Great animation, design, story, voices, backgrounds, and sound. There are a number of scenes that will always be etched in our memory.”
Special Mention (Short) – Yin, d. Nicolas Fong
“The animation is amazingly inspired, inventive and fluid, drawing us effortless from one imaginative, visual surprise to the next.”
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS
Best Animated Feature Film
Gold Prize – Napping Princess, d. Kenji Kamiyama
Silver Prize – Lu Over the Wall, d. Masaaki Yuasa
Bronze Prize – Night Is Short, Walk on Girl, d. Masaaki Yuasa
