The awards ceremony of Anima Festival 2020 were held Sunday evening in Studio 4 of Brussels’ Flagey, with the international jury – made up of Jonathan Hodgson, Sébastien Laudenbach and Karolina Specht – awarding Alexandre Siqueira’s short film Purpleboy the Grand Prix, along with a prize of 2,500 euros given by the Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. The winner of this award qualifies for consideration in the Oscars animated short category.
The jury also awarded its special prize to Luca Tóth for his film Mr. Mare, and gave the Creative Revelation prize, offered by the Korean Cultural Centre for the best student short film, to Sh_t Happens by David Stumpf and Michaela Mihalyi. The last international prize, awarded by the “junior jury” made up of representatives from the web series Ceci n’est pas un Buzz, chose Carol Freeman’s The Bird and the Whale as their best short film for a young audience.
The national competition jury – made up of Juan Antin, Alex Dudok de Wit and Sarah Van Den Boom – awarded the prize for best Belgian short film, offered by the Sabam, to And Yet We’re Not Super Heroes by Lia Bertels, while the Federation Wallonia-Brussels Grand Prix for best film went to Saigon sur Marne by Aude Ha Leplège. The short Hello, Are We in the Show? (Simona Denicolai, Ivo Provoost) won the SACD prize, and the best Belgian student short film prize, offered by Amplo, went to Gaspar Chabaud for Tête de linotte!
The VR competition jury – made up of Victor Lecomte, Elisabeth Meur-Poniris and Leen Segers – chose Songbird by Lucy Greenwell, Michelle & Uri Kranot, as best virtual reality short.
And finally, the public voted Old Man Cartoon Movie by Oskar Lehemaa and Mikk Mägi as best feature film, and The Physics of Sorrow by Theodore Ushev as best short film. Young spectators voted for the feature SamSam by Tanguy De Kermel and the short Shooom’s Odyssey by Julien Bisaro to take away the prizes. And finally, Wild West Compressed by Christian Kaufmann won the vote for the best (and craziest!) Animated Night short.
Additional prize winners:
INTERNATIONAL JURY
Special Mention: A l’Ouest | Jérémie Cousin, France (La Poudrière)
Special Mention: The Physics of Sorrow | Theodore Ushev, Canada (NFB)
Special Mention: Mon Juke-box | Florentine Grelier, France (NOVANIMA Productions, Girelle Production)
VR
Special Mention: Glad That I Came…Not Sorry to Depart | Azam Masoumzadeh, Belgium (Emmy Oost)
YOUTH JURY (Ceci n’est pas un Buzz)
Special Mention: Smile | Alicia Leggiadro, U.S.A. (Ringling College of Art and Design)
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best VR Short Film: Gloomy Eyes | Jorge Tereso, Fernando Maldonado, Argentine / France (Jorge Tereso, Angeles Blasco, Corentin Lambot)
INT’L COMPETITION PARTNER AWARDS
BeTV Award for Best Animated Feature (3,500€ for acquisition of broadcasting rights): Marona’s Fantastic Tale | Anca Damian, Romania / France / Belgium (Le Parc Distribution – J.E.F.)
Press Award for Best Short Film (UPCB and UCC): The Physics of Sorrow | Theodore Ushev, Canada (NFB/ONF)
NAT’L COMPETITION PARTNER AWARDS
BeTV Award (acquisition of broadcasting rights): Un Eldorado | Nicolas Gemoets, Belgium (Haute Ecole Albert Jacquard)
RTBF – La Trois Award (acquisition of broadcasting rights): Tête de linotte! | Gaspar Chabaud, Belgium (ENSAV La Cambre)
Cinergie Award (Electronic Press Kit): Tête de linotte! | Gaspar Chabaud, Belgium (ENSAV La Cambre)
See the full list of winners and learn more about the films at animafestival.be.
The 40th Anima Festival will take place February 12-21, 2021 in Brussels.
