The winners of the Animayo 2023 Awards (animayo.com) were announced at the close of this year’s record-breaking 18th edition, which attracted 20,139 participants to Gran Canaria from May 3-6 (up 29% from the last in-person event).
The event is the first and only animation festival in Spain designated a “Qualifying Festival” by the Academy Awards, setting winners of both International Jury Grand Prize and Best Short Film in Spanish on their first step to being Oscars contenders. The Grand Prize also includes a 3,000 euro cash prize and trophy.
The 2023 festival received more than 2,000 submissions* from more than 80 countries worldwide. The selection committee pored over these works to choose 60 titles, ranging across short films, commissioned films, music video, game cinematics, VR and VFX, rendered in a range of techniques including 2D, 3D, paint on glass, animation on wood, stop-motion and fabric art.
The winner of the Oscar-qualifying International Jury Grand Prize this year is Our Uniforms, by Iranian filmmaker Yegane Moghaddam. This short film, created using a mixed technique, tells the story of “a young Iranian woman who reminisces about her school days through the wrinkles and seams of her old uniform.” Festival organizers point out the film’s solid social undertones which help immerse the viewer in a unique and particular exploration of how uniforms are used to standardize a population.
The Jury was captivated by the theme and the distinct animation technique using fabric as a foundation — Our Uniform was also recognized at with the Best Mixed Technique Award.
Animayo’s second Oscar-qualifying honor, Best Short Film in Spanish – Animación con Ñ, was awarded to Amarradas by Spanish filmmaker Carmen Córdoba. The film explores the eternal bond between a mother and daughter that both heals and hurts, perpetuating itself when the daughter becomes a mother.
Created using 2D animation techniques, Amarradas also received the Best 2D Award, earning praise from the international jury and the approval of the audience in attendance, citing the short’s remarkable artistic quality and compelling theme.
Audiences around the world will soon get to experience these and other compelling works as the festival’s Animayo Itinerante tour kicks off. The show will travel around Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Lanzarote) and Portugal, as well as to the U.S. (Los Angeles, Chicago), the Czech Republic, Belgium (Brussels), Czechia (Prague), Serbia (Belgrade), Colombia, India (Mumbai) and Korea.
Presided over by Disney Legend Andreas Deja, the international jury members include animation directors Jan Bubenicek, Denisa Grimmova, Albert Barba and senior 3D animator
Laura MacMahon.
International Competition Awards
- Grand Jury Prize — Our Uniform by Yegane Moghaddam (Iran)
- Best Student Short Film — Swing to the Moon by Marie Bordessoule, Adriana Bouissie, Nadine de Boer, Elisa Drique, Chloé Luau, Vincent Levrero and Solenne Moreau (ESMA, France)
- Best Social Short Film — Home of the Heart by Sarah Saidan (France)
- Best 3D — Distance – Act I: The peacock and the sphinx by Eddy Loukil (Canada)
- Best Art Direction — Passenger by Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina)
- Best Mixed Technique — Our Uniforms by Yegane Moghaddam (Iran)
- Best Stop Motion (ex aequo) — Piteous Liaisons by Chloé Alliez and Violette Delvoye (France)
- Best Stop Motion (ex aequo) — Passenger by Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina)
- Best Adult Comedy Short Film — Phonorama by Alex Rey (Spain)
- Best 2D — Amarradas by Carmen Córdoba (Spain)
- Best Screenplay — Home of the Heart by Sarah Saidan (France)
- Special Mention — Tahlequah the Whale: a Dance of Grief by Daniel Kreizberg. U.S./Lithuania)
Animación con Ñ
- Best Short Film in Spanish – Animación con Ñ — Amarradas by Carmen Córdoba (Spain)
- Special Mention for Best Social Awareness — Cadê Heleny? by Esther Vital García (Spain/Brazil)
- Special Mention for Best Art Direction — Passenger by Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina)
Game Cinematic, Commissioned & Music Videos
- Best Video Game Cinematics — Lords of the Fallen by Digic Pictures (Hungary)
- Best Music Video — Arlo Parks – “Weightless (DC)” by Marc Oller (Canada/U.K.)
- Best Advertising / Commissioned — Lil Sugar: Master of Disguise by Paulo García (Brazil)
- Special Mention for Best Social Awareness — Hidden Heroes by Anna Levinson (Germany)
- Special Mention for Best Art — Miles Davies – “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” by Irina Rubina (Germany/U.S.)
- Special Mention for Best Art Direction — Travel Oregon “Extraordinary Is Ordinary” by Gerson Aguerri (Spain)
*A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the festival screened 2,000 works.
