Romanian director’s film about a journey to find 70-year-old love letter’s author wins top festival award.
The Hiroshima International Animation Festival today announced its 2018 award winners, with Romania’s Sergiu Negulici taking home the Grand Prize for his animated short, The Blissful Accidental Death. Produced by Adriana Ionica and Reniform Studio, the film is about a man, who after finding a 70-year-old love letter in an antique shop, takes an unusual journey to find the author.
Established in 1985 as a project commemorating the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing, the festival was founded with an ideal to promote and pursue eternal world peace through the development of animation art, which is a medium common to all human beings beyond nations and languages. The Hiroshima Festival is considered one of the most respected animation festivals in the world. It is also qualified as an Academy Award Short Film Festival.
For this year’s 17th edition, 75 titles from 88 countries and regions were selected for competition out of a field of 2,842 entries.
The complete list of winners is:
Grand Prize:
The Blissful Accidental Death
Sergiu Negulici, director
Adriana Ionica, producer
Reniform Productions / Romania
Hiroshima Prize:
Bond
Judit Wunder, director
József Fülöp, producer
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest / Hungary
Debut Prize:
The Ogre
Laurène Braibant, director
Richard Van den Boom, producer
Papy3D Productions / France
Audience Prize:
Catherine
Britt Raes, director
Creative Conspiracy / Belgium
Special International Jury Prize:
XOXO hugs and kisses
Wiola Sowa, director
Robert Sowa, producer
Sowa Film / Poland
AENIGMA
Antonis Ntoussias and Aris Fatouros, directors
Michael Sarantinos, producer
STEFICON / Greece
The Pocket Man
Ana Chubinidze, director
Corinne Destombes, producer
Folimage / Switzerland, France and Georgia
Golden Oldies
Joost Lieuwma and Daan Velsink, directors and producers
Frame Order / The Netherlands
The Lost Garden
Natalia Chernysheva, director
Tant Mieux Prod / France
BETWEEN THE SHADOWS
Mónica Santos and Alice Guimarães, directors
Nuno Amorim (ANIMAIS AVPL), Vanessa Ventura (ANIMAIS AVPL), Jean-François Le Corre (VIVEMENT LUNDI !), Mathieu Courtois (VIVEMENT LUNDI !) and Pedro Medeiros (UM SEGUNDO FILMES), producers
Portugal and France
Manivald
Chintis Lundgren
Jelena Popovic (National Film Board of Canada), Draško Ivezić (Adriatic Animation) and Chintis Lundgren (Chintis Lundgreni Animatsioonistuudio), producers
Croatia, Canada and Estonia
Special Prize:
Threads
Torill Kove, director
Lise Fearnley (Mikrofilm AS), Tonje Skar Reiersen (Mikrofilm AS) and Michael Fukushima (National Film Board of Canada), producers
Canada and Norway
Catherine
Britt Raes, director
Creative Conspiracy / Belgium
Hate for Sale
Anna Eijsbouts, director and producer
The Netherlands
Please Frog, just one sip
Diek Grobler, director
Fopspeen Moving Pictures / South Africa
Cyclists
Veljko Popovic
Milivoj Popovic (Lemonade 3D / Krupni kadar), Veljko Popovic (Lemonade 3D/ Krupni kadar), Patrick Hernandez (Bagan Films) and Lado Skorin (3D2D Animatori), producers
Croatia and France
Source: The Hiroshima International Animation Festival
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
