Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor, Persepolis Win Ottawa

The Ottawa International Animation Festival comes to an end with the closing ceremonies held Sunday, Sept. 23, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Organizers announced the winners of the official competition during the ceremonies. The festival attracted 1,500 industry pass holders from across Canada and around the world with a total attendance of more than 23,000. Although the final numbers are not officially in, there are strong indications that this year's Festival reached the highest attendance to date.

The winners are:

Mercury Filmworks Prize For Best Animated FeaturePERSEPOLIS [2007] Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi, France "PERSEPOLIS is not only a sour criticism of intolerance but especially a vibrating call for the universal rights for freedom, democracy and love. By using very simple but powerful designs, the authors of PERSEPOLIS succeeded in creating a unique and original cinematographic language in which humanism and feelings are emerging."

Nelvana Grand Prize For Best Independent Short AnimationFRANZ KAFKA'S A COUNTRY DOCTOR [2007] Koji Yamamura, Japan"Distortions of time space and figure take story-telling to a challenging new place. This is a beautiful and dream-like film."

BioWare Grand Prize For Best Student AnimationMILK TEETH [2007] Tibor Banoczki, National Film and Television School, U.K. "This film has a haunting atmosphere, great sound and characterization. It is a powerful evocation of the horror of being a child."

Grand Prize For Best-Commissioned AnimationGOLDEN AGE [2007] Aaron Augenblick, Augenblick Studios, U.S. "A lovingly crafted parody, which transcends the genre through thoughtful attention to detail."

Candian Film Institute Award For Best Canadian Animation SLEEPING BETTY (Isabelle au bois dormant) [2007] Claude Cloutier, National Film Board of Canada, CanadaHonorable Mention: I MET THE WALRUS (2007) Josh Raskin, I Met the Walrus Inc., Canada

Animation School ShowreelBezalel Academy for Art and Design (Israel)

Independent Short Animation CompetitionNarrative Short Animation under 35 minutes: MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI [2007] Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, National Film Board of Canada, Canada

Experimental / Abstract Animation under 35 minutes: FRAMING (Bildfenster / Fensterbilder) [2007] Bert Gottschalk, Germany

Honorable Mention: TEAT BEAT OF SEX [2007] Signe Baumane, U.S.

Student Animation CompetitionAdobe Prize for Best High School Animation: HERBERT [2007] Aven Fisher, King's View Academy, Canada

Undergraduate Animation: DOXOLOGY [2007] Michael Langan, Rhode Island School of Design, U.S.

Graduate Animation: T.O.M. [2006] Tom Brown & Daniel Gray, International Film School of Wales, U.K.

Commissioned Animation CompetitionPromotional Animation: National Lottery 'The Big Win' [2006] Marc Craste, Studio AKA, U.K.

Music Video: OOIOO 'UMO' [2007] Shoji Goto, Japan

Television Animation for Adults: JOHN AND KAREN [2007] Matthew Walker, Arthur Cox Ltd., U.K.

New Media CompetitionAniBoom Prize for Animation Short Made for the Internet: L'EAU LIFE [2007] Jeff Scher, Fez Films, U.S.

Animation Made For ChildrenBest Short Animation: ZHIHARKA [2006] Oleg Uzhinov, "Pilot" Moscow Animation Studio, Russian Federation Honorable Mention: NIGHTMARE AT SCHOOL [2007] Catherine Arcand, National Film Board of Canada, CanadaHonorable Mention: ASTON'S STONES (ASTONS STENAR) [2007] Uzi Geffenblad & Lotta Geffenblad, Sweden

Television Animation for Children: FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS 'Squeeze the Day' [2006] Craig McCracken, Cartoon Network Studios, U.S. Honorable Mention: POCOYO 'Dance Off' [2007] Guillermo Garcia & Alfonso Rodriguez, Zinkia Entertainment & Granada International, Spain & U.K.

Special PrizesNational Film Board Of Canada Public Prize (Voted by the Audience)SLEEPING BETTY (Isabelle au bois dormant) [2007] Claude Cloutier, National Film Board of Canada, Canada

The 2007 international jury for Independent, Student and Commissioned Films include: Bruce Alcock (Canada), Ruth Lingford (U.K.) and Joanna Quinn (U.K.) The international jury for School, New Media and Feature Films include: Tomasz Bagiski (Poland), Albert Hanan Kaminski (Belgium/Israel) and Hrvoje Turkovic (Croatia).

The festival has a special jury made up of local kids to select the Best Short Animation Made for Children and the Best Television Animation Made for Children. This year's kids jury included: Elisha Hunter, Laura Hall, Ashley Haley, Justin Li, Nicholas Handsfield Jones, Solange Ferraro Desrches, Andrew Bradley, Noah Davidson and Ian Martin.

OIAF 07 was held Sept. 19 - 23, 2007 in Ottawa. Events at the OIAF included screenings, panels, workshops parties and the Television Animation Conference. The OIAF is a leading competitive animation film festival, featuring cutting edge programming, catering to industry executives, trend setting artists, students and animation fans. For more information about the OIAF, visit www.animationfestival.ca.