Jun 15, 2024

Annecy Film Festival 2024; "Memoir Of A Snail," "Percebes" and "Flow" on the list of winners

While Hollywood glitz has dominated the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France in recent years, the heart of the 64-year-old festival is its competition program, which honors films often far removed from commercial sensibilities.

Tonight, this year's award winners were announced in Annecy, France. The winning films in both the feature and short film categories reflect the breadth and diversity of global animation production taking place outside of the mainstream animation industry.

The Cristal Award for Best Feature went to Adam Elliott's Australian stop-motion film "Memoir of a Snail," which had its world premiere in Annecy. Elliott is best known for Harvie Krumpet (2003), which won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. His first feature, Mary and Max, screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

IFC Films recently acquired North American distribution rights to Elliott's latest film.

The other big winner in the feature film category was Gints Zilvarodis' CG film "Flow," which won four awards, more than any other film tonight: the Jury Prize for Best Feature Film, the Audience Award, the Gunn Foundation Award for Distribution, and Best Original Music for a Feature Film. The $4.1 million Belgian/French/Latvian co-production premiered last month in Un Certain Regard at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and has already been picked up for North American distribution by Sideshow and Janus Films.

In the short film category, Laura Gonsalves and Alexandra Ramirez's "Percebes" won the top prize, Cristal. The film follows the life cycle of goose barnacles, also known as "Percebes," a popular delicacy in Spain and Portugal. In Annecy 2024's short film preview, Chris Robinson wrote of the film:" With beautiful watercolor designs and a chilling soundtrack dominated by the ambient sounds of the sea and the passing voices of locals and tourists, 'Percepes' is a meditation on local culture, the conflicting nature of tourism, and the boundless joys of life by the sea."

The film was produced in Portugal, which is also the star of this year's festival. Gonçalves' previous film, The Garbage Man, won the Grand Prix at the 2022 Zagreb Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Four other short films featured in the Annecy Short Film Festival Preview were among tonight's winners: "The Car that Came Back from the Sea" by Jadwiga Kowalska, "Hurikán" by Jan Saska, Florence Meirhe Florence Miailhe's "Papillon" and Nicolas Capens' "Beautiful Men". For more information on these films, please click here.

At the closing night gala, festival organizers announced that next year's Annecy (June 8-14, 2025) will be held in Hungary.

Already the largest international animation event in the world, the festival continues to grow at a dizzying pace. This year, the festival recorded more than 17,400 participants from 103 countries, up nearly 10% from last year's record 15,820 participants.

The full list of winners at this year's festival includes:

Crystal Award (Best Feature Film)

"Memoir of a Snail" (Adam Elliott, Arenamedia, Australia)

Jury Prize

" Flow" (Directed by Ginz Zilvarodis, Dream Well Studio, Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Belgium/France/Latvia)

Paul Grimaud Award

"Totto-chan: The Girl at the Window", Kwasinosuke ( Shin-Ei Animation, Belgium / France / Latvia 0]

Gan Distribution Foundation Prize

"Flow" Gints Zilvarodis (UFO Distribution, Belgium/France/Latvia)

Contrechamp Grand Prix

"Sultana's Dream" Isabel Elguera (Abano Productions, El Gato Verde Produciones Sultana Films, Uniko, Fabian&Fred, Spain/Germany)

Contrechamp Jury Prize

Living Large, Kristina Dufková (Barletta Productions, Inc. Novinski, Novanima, Czech Republic/Slovakia/France)

Audience Award

Flow, Gints Zilbalodis (Dream Well Studio, Crystal Award for Best Short Film

Percebes, Laura Gonçalves, Alexandra Ramires (BAP Animation Studio, Ikki Films, Portugal/France)

Jury Prize

The Car That Came Back from the Sea, Jadwiga Kowalska (Switzerland)

Alexei Parker Award

Beautiful Men, Nicolas Keppens (Animal Tank, Mille Productions, Ka Chin Cartoon, Belgium/France/Netherlands)

Jean-Luc Sibelius Best First Film

[S], Mario Radev (UK)

Off Limits Award

House of Glass Boris Labbé (France)

Audience Award

Frican Jan Saska (Last Films, Moore Films, Lidac Films, Artichoke, Ion Productions, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Czech Republic/France/Slovakia)

Crystal Award (TV Production)

The Drifting Guitar, Sophie Roze (JPL Films, Nadasdy Film, France/Switzerland)

Jury Prize (TV Series category)

My Life in Versailles "Versailles Ghost," "Clémence Madeleine- Perdrillat, Nathaniel H'limi (Films Grand Huy, Mélusine Productions/Studio 352, Film Fund Luxembourg, France/Luxembourg)

Jury Prize, TV Special

Lola et le Piano à bruits, Augusto Zanovello (Komadori Studio, Folimage, Mamaquin, Nadasdy Film, France/Poland/Switzerland)

Audience Award

The Drifting Guitar, Sophie Roze ( JPL Films, Nadasdy Film, France/Switzerland)

Cristal for a Commissioned Film

Pictoplasma "Opener 2023," Will Anderson (UK)

Jury Prize for a Commissioned Film

TED-ED "How did apartheid in South Africa happen and how did it end?"

Jury Prize

Pubert Jimbob Quirijn Dees (KASK & Conservatorium/School of Arts Gent, Belgium)

Lotte Reiniger Award

Maatitel Govinda Sao (NID - National Institute of Design Goia, 76]

VR Work Award (Cristal)

" Gargoyle Doyle" Ethan Shaftel (Detona Cultura, Easyaction Ltd, Amilux Film, Austria/Argentina/USA)

Connexion Film Festival Award

Beautiful Man, Nicholas Keppens (Animal Tank, Mille Productions, Ka-Ching Cartoons, Belgium / France / Netherlands)

Connexion Film Festival VR Award

The Emperor, Marion Berger, Ilan Cohen (Reynard Films, France Télévisions, Atlas V, France/Germany)

Andre Martin Award for Best French Short Film

Butterfly Florence Meille (Sacrebleu Productions, XBO Films, 96]

Best Original Music Feature

Flow Rihards Zalupe, Gints Zilbalodis (Dream Well Studio, Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Belgium/France/Latvia)

Best Short Film Original Music Award

Joko, Aliaksandr Yasinski (Animoon, Czech/Germany/Poland)

Young Audience Award

Hello Summer, Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová (Studio Bororo, Maur Film, Last Films, Vivement Lundi, Czech / France / Slovakia)

Canal+ Junior Jury Award

Noodles au Naturel, Matteo Salanave Piazza (La Poudrière, France)

France TV Award for a Short Film

The Car That Came Back from the Sea, Jadwiga Kowalska (Switzerland)