“Bird in the Peninsula” by Atsushi Wada, “Dozens of Norths” by Koji Yamamura, and “Iizuna Fair” by Sumito Sakakibara were awarded at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada) which took place from September 21 – 25, 2022.

Grand Prize for Short Animation

Children are dancing on the music under the supervision of their teacher. A young lady witnesses the scene and disrupts their rituals. (Indie-AniFest 2022)

Jury Comment: By challenging the medium through its cryptic universality, the following short film is glacially-paced with captivating movement. Expressive, comedic, complete, and concise.

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Grand Prize for Animated Feature

An overworked writer gets his quill hijacked by two miniature figures who use it as some kind of relic on their expedition to dozens of northern places. They resist the hard weather conditions, and meet all kinds of people in their journeys. Fragmentary, dreamlike (sometimes even nightmarish) hand-drawn exploration of self-doubt, writer’s block and societal ills, with a magical atmosphere. Featuring the music of Willem BREUKER. (Camera Japan Festival 2022)

Jury Comment: This film engages the spectator to use their five senses. It breaks the boundaries and structures of storytelling. The imagery used is consistent with the creative process. The author successfully describes a world and an ecosystem of the senses. Everything is beautifully tied together: creativity the senses and visual poetry.

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Animated Short Competition – Best Non-Narrative

In the midst of the frenzy night a man finds himself lost in the crevasse of time. It was not the grotesque beings nor the monsters, but it was he who “was here, but wasn’t here”. He was the phantom. Buried under memories full of inhibition and promises that never kept – words washed up on the shore – time keeps him at a distance from the “place”. And he hears poems coming on the waves from the other side ryhming and lapping against the shore. (Indie-AniFest 2022)

Jury Comment: For its immersive unearthing and exploratory polyrhythm which creates a kinetic experience within its medium.

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