Imagina 2.0 the International Festival for Digital Images, was held in Monaco on February 12 - 14 , 2002 and THE TALE OF THE FLOATING WORLD, directed by Alain Escalle, won the Grand Prix Imagina over such prestigious nominees as AMÉLIE, SHREK and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. The Grand Prix Imagina rewards a unique production that reflects current trends in animation, both technical and artistic. The 24 minute short film, co-produced by Mistral Films and TEVA, combines animation and live-action with modern digital techniques and special effects. It is an evocation of Hiroshima in the form of an imaginary and cruel tale seen through the eyes of a child. Other winners at Imagina included a Special Jury Prize for director Phil Robinson's HUBERT'S BRAIN, and the Prix de L'animation, awarded to TOP GUM, a short film by Spanish filmmaker Victor Vinyals.
Brussels Announces Winners & Cartoon d'Or Hopefuls. The Brussels Cartoon and Animation Festival concluded on Sunday, February 17, 2002 with an awards presentation and the announcement of Brussels' Cartoon d'Or nominations. The Brussels Cartoon and Animation Festival is one of the eight European partner festivals for the Cartoon d'Or and nominated six short films from its official selection. The nominees are Frodo Kuipers' ANTIPODEN (Belgium), Frédéric Hainaut's AROUND THE RING (Belgium), Phil Mulloy's INTOLÉRANCE (Great Britain), Jérôme Boulbès' LA MORT DE TAU (France), Tim Webb's SIX OF ONE (Great Britain) and Victor Vynials' TOP GUM (Spain). Because Brussels is the capital of Belgium, a country with two separate language-based communities, there are two national Grand Prizes awarded, and a third for the capital. Receiving 2,480 Euros each (approximately US$2,143), The Flemish Community Grand Prix winner was ANTIPODEN directed by Frodo Kuipers and The French Community Grand Prix winner was Frédéric Hainaut's AROUND THE RING. The Festival awarded the Brussels Capital Grand Prix and 2,500 Euros (US$2,160) to David Geertsma for his film WINTERSLEEPER.
