We present the list of winners of the 18th Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF) that took place from October 21st – 25th in Bucheon, South Korea.
Festival Awards
Feature Film
BIAF Grand Prize
The Girl without Hands (La jeune fille sans mains) by Sébastien Laudenbach
France | 2016 – 76 min.
In hard times, a miller sells his daughter to the Devil. Protected by her purity, she escapes but is deprived of her hands. Walking away from her family, she encounters the goddess of water, a gentle gardener and a prince in his castle. A long journey towards the light…
Jury Prize
Window Horses by Ann Marie Fleming – Canada | 2016 – 85 min.
Window Horses is a feature-length animated film about a young Canadian poet who embarks on a whirlwind voyage of discovery—of herself, her family, love, history, and the nature of poetry. The film is filled with poems and histories created by a variety of artists and animators, who set out to blend a vast myriad of differences between cultures, philosophies, arts, and time frames.
Special Distinction Prize
Your name by Shinkai Makoto – Japan | 2016 – 107 min.
A high-school girl named Mitsuha spends gloomy days in a remote village deep in the mountain. She wishes to leave this small town for a bit city, and as time goes by her desire gets stronger and stronger. One day, she has a strange dream, in which she is a boy living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, a high-school boy living in Tokyo named Taki also has a a strange dream. In his dream, he is a high-school girl living in a village deep in the mountain that he’s never seen before. They both repeatedly have such strange dreams. Soon, Mitsuha and Taki realize that their bodies have been switched in another space and time, affecting their memories.
Audience Prize
Your name by Shinkai Makoto – Japan | 2016 – 107 min.
Short Film
BIAF Grand Prize
Before Love by Igor Kovalyov – Russia | 2015 – 20 min.
Before Love questions solitude, misunderstanding and disunity in our life. The title suggests that everything happening to the characters is not a true love yet. Human shortcomings tie the dramatic knot of the story. Everybody finds his way to be unhappy. Everybody is looking for love.
Jury Prize – Bucheon University President’s Prize
Blind Vaysha by Theodore Ushev – Canada | 2016 – 9 min.
Her left eye sees only the past. Her right, only the future. Like a terrible curse, Vaysha’s split vision prevents her from living in the present. Blinded by what was and tormented by what will be, she remains trapped between two irreconcilable temporalities. “Blind Vaysha,” they called her.
Special Distinction Prize – The Catholic University of Korea President’s Prize
Noevus by Samuel Yal – France | 2016 – 8 min.
Fragments of porcelain, enamels and rust…. Nœvus explores the mystery of femininity and choreographs a metamorphosis.
Cold Coffee by Stephanie Lansaque, Francoise Leroy – France | 2015 – 15 min.
Saigon, Vietnam. After her mother’s death, a young girl has to quit her studies to take over the family cafe. Facing a radical change of life, loneliness and sorrow, she gradually gets confused….
Audience Prize – Bucheon University President’s Prize
Grand Slam Ovalie (Les Demoiselles d’Ovalie) by Laurent Kircher – France | 2015 – 14 min.
Here in Ovalie, the men live for the ‘third-half’ of rugby – leaving their women to the burden of running all the domestic affairs. But the lovely Sheila, returning to her home town from Paris, isn’t too happy about the situation….
Graduation Film
BIAF Grand Prize
The Noise of Licking by Nadja Andrasev – Hungary | 2016 – 10 min.
A woman is being watched every day by the neighbor’s cat, as she takes care of her exotic plants. Their perverted ritual comes to an end when the cat disappears. Next spring a peculiar man pays her a visit.
Jury Prize – Yuhan University President’s Prize
Rubik by Xenia Smirnov – Germany | 2016 – 4 min.
It’s a normal day in a communal apartment. Someone is reading, someone else ironing. A child runs down a corridor. But then suddenly the room quakes; everything changes and life is turned upside down.
Audience Prize – The Korean Society of Cartoon & Animation Studies President’s Prize
Eraser Father by Jung Seo-hee, Jang Hyo-won, Kim Eun-hye
South Korea | 2016 – 10 min.
Estranged daughter finds her father’s love, which she never knew before.
TV & Commissioned Film
Jury Prize (International) – Korea Animation Producers Association President’s Prize
A Town Called Panic: Back to School by Vicent Patar, Stéphane Aubier
Belgium, France | 2016 – 26 min.
Indian and Cowboy are about to set off on a magnificent cruise on a luxury liner, but they have made a big mistake. They completely forgot that today is the first day of school! Goodbye tropical islands, our friends are back at their desks in school listening as the teacher drones on and on.
Jury Prize (Domestic) – Korea Animation Industry Association President’s Prize
The Forks with Spiky Hands by Koh Il-jun – South Korea | 2015 – 10 min.
The Forks with Spiky Hands focuses on Tilly, the world’s most premature child. Tilly’s unique family has many interesting experiences with ordinary people. Tilly herself can see ghosts and she wants to be the protagonist of the world’s scariest ghost story. Will Tilly achieve her dream?
Online
Best Online Prize
Their Eyes by Son Hye-min – South Korea | 2016 – 4 min.
Special Awards
Short Film / TV & Commissioned Film
Beans Road Prize
Accidents, Blunders and Calamities by James Cunningham – New Zealand | 2015 – 6 min.
A father possum reads his kids a story that’s an alphabet of the most dangerous animal of all – HUMANS! Inspired by the Edward GOREY classic, this black-comedy for kids and parents alike is a hilarious and brutal alphabet of death and mayhem exacted upon animals by ignorant humans.
Graduation Film
DHL Diversity Prize
Radio Wave by Miyajima Ryotaro – Japan | 2016 – 3 min.
Numbers stations were prominently used during the Cold War. A boy was tuning the radio in the snow mountain and happened to tune the shortwave of codes.
Graduation Film (Online)
Yoo Kwang-sun Prize (International)
Merlot by Marta Gennari, Giulia Martinelli – Italy | 2016 – 6 min.
In a blue fairy-tale forest, a grumpy granny loses a bottle of wine. This event will give rise to a crescendo of linked events: consequently establishing a dialogue, a funny repartee between frames and characters, which will lead to an unexpected development.
Yoo Kwang-sun Prize (Domestic)
The Cycle of Mija, the Heartbroken by Lee Gyu-ri – US, South Korea | 2016 – 3 min.
Mija is your average next-door girl who dreams of someday finding her own romance, just like those soap operas. One day, she meets a newspaper boy and falls in love at first sight. The cycle continues.
Online
Netizen Choice (International) – Korea Animation Artist Association President’s Prize
Dado by Donna M. Partha – India | 2016 – 4 min.
Dado is a small girl living in Coorg with her family. She is a dreamer, lost in her own world of fantasies. She loves nature and keeps getting lost in its beauty. This film is an attempt to bring back childhood memories, different feelings and a reminder of the beauty of Coorg, nature, which is now on the verge of getting destroyed.
Netizen Choice (Domestic) – Korea Animation Artist Association President’s Prize
Their Eyes by Son Hye-min – South Korea | 2016 – 4 min.
To know more about this festival visit the FESTIVAL PROFILE or go to the official webpage of the festival HERE.
Categories: Film Festival
Asian Film Festivals 