Ottawa International Animation Festival Announces Award Winners

I Like Girls. Courtesy of the NFB

The Ottawa International Animation Festival has announced its winners for 2016. On the 40^th birthday of Ottawa’s top festival and the largest animation showcase in North America, OIAF fêted a nice contingent of Canadian films with Canuck flicks earning both top jury prizes. (I had planned to attend this year, but wasn’t able to make it, unfortunately, due to various commitments/unexpected hitches.)

Diane Obomsawin’s queer comedy I Like Girls won the festival’s highest honour, the Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short Animation. The jury, which consisted of Window Horses director Ann Marie Fleming, Brooke Keesling (Director of Animation Talent Development at Disney Television Animation), and Sarina Nihei (animator and winner of the OIAF 2015 Grand Prize for Short Animation), remarked, “Fresh, funny, sweet. We were delighted by the charming coming of age tales, told from different perspectives. The vignettes were strong. The design and colours were excellent. Simple, lovely animation.” I Like Girls is now eligible for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film as a result. Other big OIAF winners included the Canada/France co-production Louise en hiver in the feature animation category and OIAF favourite Theodore Ushev did double duty winning the CFI Award for Best Canadian Animation and the prize for Best Narrative Short Animation for his spectacular Blind Vaysha.

I Like Girls (trailer) from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short Animation

J’aime les filles (I Like Girls)

Diane Obomsawin, Canada

Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature

Louise en hiver

Jean-François Laguionie, France & Canada

Honourable mention

Cafard, Jan Bultheel (Belgium/France/The Netherlands)

Canadian Film Institute Award for Best Canadian Animation

Blind Vaysha

Theodore Ushev, Canada

Honourable mentions

4min15 sec au revelateur, Moia Jobin-Paré

Begone Dull Care, Paul Johnson

VIA Rail Award for Best Canadian Student Animation

Nihil

Khoebe Magsaysay, Sheridan College

Cartoon Network Award for Best Narrative Short Animation

Blind Vaysha

Theodore Ushev, Canada

Award for Best Experimental or Abstract Animation

Suijun-Genten (Datum Point)  

Ryo Orikasa, Japan  

FROM THE JURY

Award for Best Undergraduate Animation

Cialo Obce (Foreign Body)

Marta Magnuska, Poland

Walt Disney Animation Award for Best Graduation Animation

Frankurter Str. 99

Evgenia Gostrer, Germany

Award for Best Commissioned Animation

Honda – ‘Paper’

PES, USA

Award for Best Short Film Made for Young Audiences

Three Little Ninjas Delivery Service

Karim Rhellam & Kim Claeys, Belgium

Honourable Mentions

Accidents, Blunders, Calamities, James Cunningham (New Zealand)
Novembre,  Marjolaine Perreten (France)

Award for Best Animated Series Made for Young Audiences

Shaun the Sheep – ‘The Farmer’s Llamas’

Jay Grace, UK

DHX Public Prize

Fired on Mars

Nick Vokey and Nate Sherman, USA 

  

Award for Best Script

Fired on Mars

Nick Vokey and Nate Sherman, USA

Award for Best Design

The Absence of Eddy Table

Rune Spaans, Norway

Award for Best Animation Technique

Velodrool

Sander Joon, Estonia

Award for Best Sound

Squame

Nicolas Brault, Canada