‘Rio 2096′ Nabs Top Prize at Annecy Fest
ANNECY– Luiz Bolognesi’s feature debut “Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury” won the Crystal nod, Annecy’s top award, at a ceremony on Saturday.
Nod illustrates the flourishing of toon industries in emerging markets. The $3 million animation pic is the first Brazilian movie to play in competition at Annecy where it received a standing ovation.
Repped by Europa Filmes and aimed at adult auds, the hand-drawn “2096” sheds light on four milestones in Brazilian history as told through the eyes of underdog survivors.
Helmed by Marc Boreal and Thibaut Chatel’s “My Mommy Is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill” earned a special mention. Based on Jean Regnaud and Emile Bravo’s best-selling children novel, the 1970’s heartfelt and tender film turns on a five year-old boy who receives postcards from his mother. He misses her so much that he starts imagining where she could be. It’s produced by France’s Label Anim and Luxembourg’s Melusine Prods.
Fernando Cortizo Rodriguez’s feature debut “The Apostle,” Spain’s first stop-motion feature, nabbed the audience nod. Produced by Artefacto Prod, “Apostle” is set in a Spanish pueblo inhabited by various aging grotesques, toon has a dark edge reminiscent of Grimm tales, according to Variety reviewer.
Jean Lachaeur, Max Lang’s “Room on the Broom” nabbed the Crystal prize for best Tv production. It’s produced by British shingle Magic Light Pictures.
Julian Frost’s “Dumb Ways to Die,” produced by McCann Melbourne, won best commissioned film.
“Subconscious Password” from Canada’s Chris Landreth, nabbed best short. It’s produced by ONF and Copper Heart Entertainment Production.
This festival edition, which marked Canadian film critic Marcel Jean’s first as artistic director, was rich in U.S. films’ presence.
Indeed, Annecy hosted the sneak peak previews of the three big Hollywood movies at Annecy this year: “Monsters University,” “Despicable Me 2” and “How To Train Your Dragon 2,” seen as a work in progress.
Other highlights at the 37th Annecy Festival included: the forest replete with slugs and horny winged gremlins in “Cochemare,” a new short from Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, Oscar-nommed for “Madame Tutli-Putli;” new visuals from Gregoire Solotareff and Eric Omond’s “Loulou, The Incredible Secret,” and Thomm Moore’s “Song of the Sea,” his follow-up to Oscar-nommed “The Secret of Kells,” both seen in Annecy’s Work in Progress strand; the high-gothic romance of EuropaCorp’s “Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart,” presented by its co-director, France’s rock-pop poet Mathias Malzieu, who conquered Annecy with a performance of the film’s songs.
Pixar short “The Blue Umbrella,” “Monsters University” and extracts from “How To Train Your Dragon 2” all underscored the recent quantum leap in naturalism achieved by new-generation rendering which in the totally animated “Umbrella,” for example, made audiences doubt if they were seeing animation or a mix of animation and live-action.
Despite a train and air strike which complicated the access to Annecy, attendance at the market (MIFA) was up for the ninth consecutive year, drawing nearly 2400 registered participants, 454 exhibitors, 340 buyers, distributors and investors – a 17% year-on increase –, and 80 countries represented.
Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival 2013 winners:
FEATURE FILMS
ANNECY CRYSTAL AWARD
“Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury,” (Luiz Bolognesi, Brazil)
SPECIAL MENTION
“My Mommy Is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill,” (Marc Boreal, Thibaut Chatel, France, Luxembourg)
AUDIENCE AWARD
“The Apostle,” (Fernando Cortizo Rodriguez, Spain)
TV PRODUCTION
ANNECY CRYSTAL
“Room on the Broom,” (Jean Lachaeur, Max Lang, U.K.)
SPECIAL AWARD, TV SERIES
“Tom & The Queen Bee,” (Andreas Hykade, Germany)
TV SPECIAL
“Poppety in the Fall,” (Pierre-Luc Granjon, Antoine Lanciaux, France)
SHORT FILMS
ANNECY CRYSTAL
“Subconscious Password,” (Chris Landreth, Canada)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
“The Wound,” (Anna Budanova, Russia)
FIRST FILM
“Trespass,” (Paul Wenninger, Austria)
SPECIAL MENTION
“The Triangle Affair,” (Andres Tenusaar, Estonia)
AUDIENCE AWARD
“Lettres de femmes,” (Augusto Zanovello, France)
JUNIOR AWARD
“Feral,” (Daniel Sousa, U.S.)
GRADUATION FILMS
BEST GRADUATION FILM
“Ab ovo,” (Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi, Poland)
OTHER PRIZES
UNICEF AWARD
“Because I’m a Girl,” (Raj Yagnik, Mary Matheson, Hamilton Shona, U.K.)
FIPRESCI AWARD
“Gloria Victoria,” (Theodore Ushev, Canada)
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