The Ottawa International Animation Festival came to an end with the highly anticipated closing ceremonies held Sunday night at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau. Organizers announced the winners of the official competition during the ceremonies.
This year's event, held September 17-21, was a tremendous success with packed screenings, sold out workshops, high profile networking events such as the Television Animation Conference and the Recruiting Fair. The festival is a major international film event that attracts 1,500 industry pass holders from across Canada and around the world with a total attendance of more than 27,000. This year's festival likely reached the highest attendance to date.
The 2008 international jury for Independent, Student and Commissioned Films include: Marco de Blois (Canada), Jonas Odell (Sweden) and Duscha Kistler (Switzerland) The international jury for School Showreel, and Feature Films include: Amica Kubo (Japan), Christopher Mills (Canada) and Heather Harkins (Canada).
The festival had a special jury made up of local children to select the Best Short Animation Made for Children and the Best Television Animation Made for Children. This year's kids jury included Miles Kempffer-Hossack, Sophia Gayowski, Asha Swann, Gyasi Swann, Chioke Swann, Emma Scout McDonald, Anupallavi Sinha, Austin Kinross, Sara MacPhee, Tegwyn Hughes and Isabel Hunter.
NELVANA GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST INDEPENDENT SHORT ANIMATIONCHAINSAW (2007), directed by Dennis Tupicoff, Australia
GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATUREBest Animated Feature Film: TERRA, directed by Aristomenis TsirbasHonorable Mention: Best Animated Feature Film: SITA SINGS THE BLUES, directed by Nina Paley
GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST STUDENT ANIMATIONI SLEPT WITH COOKIE MONSTER (2008), directed by Kara Nasdor-Jones, U.S.
GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST-COMMISSIONED ANIMATIONSony Bravia PLAY-DOH (2007), directed by Frank Budgen and Darren Walsh, U.K.
CANADIAN FILM INSTITUTE AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN ANIMATIONDRUX FLUX (2008), directed by Theodore Ushev, Canada
ANIMATION SCHOOL SHOWREELBest Animation School Showreel: Rhode Island School of Design (U.S.)Honorable Mention: Best Animation School Showreel: Supinfocom (France)
INDEPENDENT SHORT ANIMATION COMPETITIONNarrative Short Animation under 35 minutes: CHAINSAW (2007), directed by Dennis Tupicoff, AustraliaExperimental/Abstract Animation under 35 minutes: MUTO (2008), directed by Blu, ItalyHonorable Mention: DIALOGOS, directed by Ulo Pikkov, DRUX FLUX (2008), directed by Theodore Ushev, Canada
STUDENT ANIMATION COMPETITIONAdobe Prize for Best High School Animation: THE DEPOSE OF BOLSKIVOI HOVHANNES, directed by Will Inrig, CanadaUndergraduate Animation: I SLEPT WITH COOKIE MONSTER (2008), directed by Kara Nasdor-Jones, U.S.Graduation Animation: CAMERA OBSCURA (2007), directed by Matthieu Buchalski, Jean-Michel Drechsler and Thierry Onillon, France
COMMISSIONED ANIMATION COMPETITIONPromotional Animation: Sony Bravia PLAY-DOH (2007), directed by Frank Budgen and Darren Walsh, U.K.Music Video: Ultimo SPONG ICE (2008), directed by Bolos Quentes Design, Duarte Amorim, Albino Tavares, Miguel Marinheiro and Sergio Couto, PortugalTelevision Animation for Adults: People from The Dark Years BATES (2008), directed by John Halfpenny, Canada
ANIMATION MADE FOR CHILDRENBest Short Animation: THE SWIMMING LESSON,(2008) directed by Danny De Vent, Belgium/Netherlands/FranceHonorable Mention: LEON IN WINTERTIME, (2007) directed by Pierre-Luc Granjon and Pascal le Notre, France/CanadaTelevision Animation for Children: THE UPSTATE FOUR, (2007) directed by Fran Krause, U.S.Honorable Mention: THE BUNJIES (2008), directed by Andreas Hykade and Ged Haney, Germany
OIAF 08 was held September 17-21, 2008 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.
