email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

ANIMEST 2019 Awards

Latvian animation Away wins the Best Feature Award at Animest

by 

- All of the winning titles at the Romanian festival's 14th edition hail from Europe

Latvian animation Away wins the Best Feature Award at Animest
Away by Gints Zilbalodis

The Animest International Animation Film Festival (4-13 October), the most popular festival organised in Romania's capital, Bucharest, has announced the winning titles of its 14th edition. Twenty-five-year-old Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis' Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
film profile
]
(Latvia) won the Best Feature Award. The jury – consisting of Jürgen Hagler, the director of Austrian festival Ars Electronica, French director Sarah Van Den Boom and Estonian director Kaspar Jancis – favoured Away for its “balance between aesthetics and story”.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Animest has been an Oscar-qualifying festival since 2017, which means that the winner of the Short Film competition is automatically considered for an Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category. This year, the winner was Tomek Popakul's Acid Rain (Poland). The jury, consisting of Canadian artist Robert Valley, French producer Richard Van Den Boom and Danish animator Sara Koppel, justified their decision by saying the film “takes the audience on several, simultaneous journeys, with a hyper-artistic approach and a remarkable rhythm”.

With an increase in available funding, the festival has enjoyed a record-breaking edition this year, with 30 features selected, 400 short films, a plethora of sidebars and special programmes, and 150 international guests.

Here is the complete list of winners. All hail from Europe, with French productions winning as many as four awards:

Best Feature
Away
 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
film profile
]
- Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia)

Best Short Film
Acid Rain
– Tomek Popakul (Poland)

Best Student Short Film
Hors de l'eau
– Simon Duon Van Huyen, Joël Durand, Thibault Leclerq, Valentin Lucas, Andrei Sitari (France)

Special Mention
Hide N Seek
- Barbora Halířová (Czech Republic)

Best Romanian Short
Shoes
– Anton Groves, Damian Groves (Romania)

Best Music Video
Your Eyes, Will I Ever
- Félicien Colmet Daâge (France)

Audience Award
Memorable
– Bruno Collet (France)

Best Film (Minimest sidebar)
Zoo
– Nina Heckel (France)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy