‘Gokurōsama,’ and ‘Poles Apart’ Among Winners at NYICFF

Four animated films take home prizes including the new Goldfish Colors stop-motion film award.

Finishing up four weekends of films from more than 30 countries, the 21^st annual New York International Children’s Film Festival concluded Sunday night with its annual awards ceremony. Along with a set of live-action films, Roman Sokolov’s The Theory of Sunset, Paloma Baeza’s Poles Apart, Jeroen Jaspaert’s The Highway Rat and Clémentine Frère, Aurore Gal, Yukiko Meignien, Anna Mertz, Robin Migliorelli and Romain Salvini’s Gokurōsama took home awards.

Held February 23 through March 18, 2018 at venues throughout New York City, NYCIFF is open to submissions of innovative, compelling, and visually and thematically original short and feature animation, live action and documentary films for audiences ages 3–18.

The festival was originally founded to support the creation of a more dynamic film culture for children and teens. It often presents films that were not originally created with young audiences in mind but resonate with children and families. This bold approach to programming has made the Festival a cultural touchstone in New York City.

Here’s a complete list of winners:

2018 GRAND PRIZE Winners:

Grand Prize Feature – Liyana, Aaron Kopp & Amanda Kopp (Qatar, Swaziland, USA)

Grand Prize Short – Game, Jeannie Donohoe (USA)

2018 JURY AWARD Winners:

Best Animated Short – The Theory of Sunset, Roman Sokolov (Russia)

Best Live Action Short – The Geneva Convention, Benoît Martin (France)

2018 GOLDFISH COLORS STOP-MOTION AWARD Winner:

Best Stop-Motion Short – Poles Apart, Paloma Baeza (UK)

2018 SHORT FILM AUDIENCE AWARD Winners:

Ages 3-6 – The Highway Rat, Jeroen Jaspaert (UK)

Ages 5-10 – Gokurōsama, Clémentine Frère, Aurore Gal, Yukiko Meignien, Anna Mertz,