Inagural Premio Itala Awards Honor Italian Animation

Earlier this month, Italy gave out its inaugural Premio Itala Awards recognizing the greatest directors of Italian animation from the past century.

Founded by La Fabbrica dell’Animazione partners Bottega Partisan and cartun with support from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Premio Itala Awards were established in order to celebrate the best animated films made over the past 100 years of Italian cinema.

The awards were handed out in a two-part ceremony held in Milan on April 7 and Genoa on April 11. The events included a special appearance by Bruno Bozzetto, director of animated masterpieces such as West and Soda and Allegro Non Troppo, for which he was honored with the Golden Itala for Best Feature Film.

“The idea that live-action cinema and animated drawings are not so different has been the theme of my entire life,” Bozzetto commented upon receiving the award in Milan. “I keep saying that animated cinema is not just an animated cartoon. I am delighted to participate in the Itala Prize, and hope to help animation become the medium that, more than any other, leaves traces in the memory -- an art form not only intended for children.”

The Golden Itala for the best short went jointly to The Thieving Magpie (1964) and Pulcinella (1970) directed by Giulio Gianini & Emanuele Luzzati. Osvaldo Cavandoli topped the television and commercial categories with his 1972 series, La Linea, and his 1969 ad, “La linea,” for Lagostina. The winners -- who were awarded a statuette created by artist Ornella di Profio di Symbolon -- were selected by vote by a jury of 40 specialists coordinated by historian and critic Giannalberto Bendazzi.

The full list of recipients is shown below:

Feature Films

• Golden Itala: Allegro non Troppo (Bruno Bozzetto)
• Itala Silver: West and Soda (Bruno Bozzetto)
• Itala Bronze: La Gabbianella e il Gatto (Enzo d'Alo)

Television

• Golden Itala: The line (Osvaldo Cavandoli)
• Itala Silver: Pimpa (Osvaldo Cavandoli + Enzo d'Alo), with a special prize for the Pimpa cartoon by Francesco Tullio Altan.
• Itala Bronze: Mr. Rossi (Bruno Bozzetto)

Short Films

• Golden Itala (joint prize): Pulcinella and La Gazza Ladra (Giulio Gianini & Emanuele Luzzati)
• Itala Bronze: Grasshoppers (Bruno Bozzetto)

Advertising/Commercials

• Golden Itala: “La linea” (Osvaldo Cavandoli), for Lagostina
• Itala Silver: “Calimero” (Tony and Nino Pagot), for Ava
• Itala Bronze: animated theme song (Giulio Gianini & Emanuele Luzzati) for Mario Monicelli's 1966 film, Army Brancaleone

Organized by La Fabbrica dell’Animazione, the Premio Itala Awards will be held again under a new formula in 2017.

Source: Premio Itala Awards