The 24th International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart wrapped up over the weekend with a festive awards ceremony, capping an event that truly embraced its “Animation Without Borders” theme. On top of making connections between animation, games, music and VR/AR, the festival’s motto also emphasized the power of animation to tell stories that reach people.
“About 90,000 visitors were present in the cinemas, the open air on the Schlossplatz, the GameZone in the Kunstgebäude and the numerous other venues of the ITFS,” noted Dittmar Lumpp, ITFS Managing Director – Organization and Finance. This is an increase of 13% year-on-year. “Especially on Fridays and Saturdays, the Open Air was very well attended. The many other guest venues such as the Mercedes Benz Museum, the Breuninger ‘Wall of Animation 2,’ the Wilhelma or the Trickfilmlounge in the Gerber, were well attended and this shows that the ITFS also shows a radiation effect beyond the cinemas.”
This year, an honorary award was bestowed on iconic Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto, who was lauded by American indie animator Bill Plympton: “Bruno Bozzetto has influenced the European identity like few others … His critical and, at the same time, affectionate observations of everyday life in the Signor Rossi TV series, are an expression of European diversity and universality.” Plympton also noted that the 79-year-old maestro hasn’t slowed down, with his satirical short Europe vs. Italy wracking up more than 1.6 million views since he posted it to YouTube in 2012.
ITFS was held once again in conjunction with the co-production market Animation Production Day and the FMX conference to create an all-encompassing animation experience. This year’s even also introduced the first Trickstar Business Award, which joins the event’s lineup of accolades which cover animated film, games and more.
2017 ITFS award winners:
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Grand Prix: Impossible Figures and Other Stories II
Director: Marta Pajek; Producers: Piotr Szczepanowicz, Grzegorz Waclawek
Polish Film Institute | Poland
Special Mention: Bene’s Horizon by Eloic Gimenez & Jumi Yoon (3xPlus, France)
Lotte Reiniger Award: Untamed
Director: Juliette Viger; Producer: Michelle Nardone
The Animation Workshop | Denmark
Special Mention: AYNY (My Second Eye) by Ahmad Saleh (Germany/Jordan/Palestine)
SWR Audience Award: Our Wonderful Nature – The Common Chameleon
Director: Tomer Eshed
Lumatic | Germany
Amazon Audience Award: Asteria
Directors: Alexandre Arpentinier, Mathieu Blanchys, Lola Grand, Tristan Lamarca, Thomas Lemaille, Jean-Charles Lusseau
ESMA | France
Young Animation Award for Best Student Film: Happy End
Director: Jan Saska; Producers: Kamila Dohnalová, Ondřej Šejnoha
FAMU | Czech Republic
Special Mention: Kastaars by Jasmine Elsen (RITCS, Belgium)
The FANtastic Prize: Tough
Director: Jennifer Zheng
Kingston University | UK
Tricks for Kids Award – Short Film: When I Hear the Birds Sing
Director: Trine Vallevik Håbjørg
Råsalt AS | Norway
Special Mention: Swiff by Alexis Agliata, Théo Bonora, Arnaud Bellour, Thibaud Gambier, Juliana Berckmans, Romain Lavoine (ESMA, France)
Tricks for Kids Award – Series (National): Trude Beast “The Beautyand the Beast”
Director: Klaus Morschheuser
Studio Soi | Germany
Tricks for Kids Award – Series (International): We Bare Bears “Burrito”
Directors: Daniel Chong, Manny Hernandez
Cartoon Network | USA
AniMovie Award for Best Feature: Window Horses
Director: Ann Marie Fleming; Producers: Ann Marie Fleming, Shirley Vecruysse, Michael Fukushima, Sandra Oh
Stick Girl Prod., NFB | Canada
Special Mention: In This Corner of the World by Sunao Katabuchi (Genco, Japan)
Trickstar Business Award: The Shadows
Hugh Welchman & Dorota Kobiela
Break Thru Films | Poland
German Screenplay Award: The Journey of the Elephant Soliman
Writers: Juliette Alfonsis, Matthias Drescher
German Voice Actor Award: Alexandra Maria Lara (“Rosita” in Sing)
Animated Games Award: On Rusty Trails
Developer: Tobias Bilgeri (Blackpants Game Studio)
Animated Com Award International
Gold: Johnny Walker “Keep Walking” (Kristian Andrews, Studio AKA, UK)
Silver: YP Dine “Living Room” (Rob Shaw, Bent Image Lab, USA)
Bronze: Aldi “The Amazing Christmas Carrot” (Kylie Matulick, Todd Mueller, Psyop, USA)
Special Mention: SEED Matters by Buck
Lapp Connected Award: Shine
Alexander Dietrich & Johannes Flick (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg)
Crazy Horse Session – 48H Animation Jam: Team Egypt (Islam Mazhar & Ahmad Abdelhameed)
Special Mention: Team Germany (Stella Raith & Beate Höller)
Arab Animation Forum Pitch Competition: Testimonial of My Grandmother’s Transformation into a Chair
Nicolas Fattough, Lebanon
