07/05/2021 - Other winners include the Cypriot series The Olive Bunch and feature Vast Blue Antarctica, the Spanish short Ibis, the Norwegian VR project Finding Frida and the Croatian feature Dreamworld

This year's CEE Animation Forum (26 April-6 May) wrapped with a virtual ceremony on Thursday afternoon, which saw French director Nadia Nackle's Birds Don't Look Back win the main prize in the Feature Films category.

Nackle told Cineuropa that her “main intention was to convey the hope of children in exile trying to flee from war”, and producer Sebastien Onomo, of Special Touch Studios, added: “We are very proud to receive this prize. Nadia is one of the most talented directors to follow in the coming years, and we hope this is just the beginning of an adventure in the development and the production of this movie.”

In the TV Series Competition, the top prize went to The Olive Bunch by Magnus Kråvik, produced by Cyprus-based Pixel Giants. In addition, it picked up the Animond Award and the Kids Kino Industry Award.

Among the projects competing in the Short Film section, the jury opted for Ibis by Spanish filmmakers Maria Burgues and Enric Sant. The Norwegian VR project Finding Frida by director Hilde Kristin Kjøs and producer Bjørn-Morten Nerland triumphed in the XR category.

In the Rising Stars category, the student short Desire to Win by the Czech Republic's Michaela Režová bagged the main award, as well as one of the two Animarkt Awards, along with Lithuanian director Ignas Meilūnas's short The Icebreakers.

The Audience Award went to the Cypriot feature-length project Vast Blue Antarctica by Christos Panagos, which also received direct access to Cartoon Movie, as did the Croatian feature Dreamworld by Veljko and Milivoj Popović. The latter project also got a free scholarship for the CEE Animation Workshop.

The new project by Student Oscar winner Daria Kashcheeva, the short Electra. A Poem, pocketed the Ciclic Award. A free scholarship for Animation Sans Frontières went to Slovenia's Miha Reja for his student short Kurent.

Direct access to Cartoon Forum went to the TV series Robot and the Martians by Poland's Tomasz Niedzwiedz, and two Hungarian projects, the TV series Rosie and Sapphire by Anna Katalin Lovrity and the feature Senior Crush by Orsolya Richolm, received direct access to Cartoon Springboard.

The full list of CEE Animation Forum 2021 award winners is below:

Feature Films category

Main Award
Birds Don’t Look Back - Nadia Nackle (France)
Producer: Sebastien Onomo, Special Touch Studios

Special Mentions
Dreamworld - Veljko Popović, Milivoj Popović (Croatia)
Producers: Milivoj Popović, Veljko Popović, Prime Render doo

Senior Crush - Orsolya Richolm (Hungary)
Producer: Andrea Ausztrics, ULab Kft

TV Series category

Main Award
The Olive Bunch - Magnus Kråvik (Cyprus)
Producer: Maria Pavlou, Pixel Giants

Special Mentions
What the Old Moon Tells - Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez (Germany)
Producer: Carol Ratajczak, Blaue Pampelmuse

Starting with Hope - Sonia Velvien (France)
Producer: Kèota Dengmanara, Moukda Production

Short Films category

Main Award
Ibis - Maria Burgues, Enric Sant (Spain)
Producer: Maria Burgues, BLISS PICTURES

Special Mention
Patrick in Town - Eszter Sandor, Valentina Huckova (Slovakia)
Producer: Valentina Huckova, Young Glass Noodle

XR Category

Main Award
Finding Frida - Hilde Kristin Kjøs (Norway)
Producer: Bjørn-Morten Nerland, Stargate Media AS

Rising Stars category

Main Award
Desire to Win - Michaela Režová (Czech Republic)
Producer: Zuzana Bukovinska, Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague

Special Mention
The Last Drop - Anna Tokes (Hungary)
Producer: Jozsef Fulop, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest – MOME

Audience Award
Vast Blue Antarctica - Christos Panagos (Cyprus)
Producer: Charalambos Margaritis, Kimonos Animation Studio

CEE Animation Workshop – free scholarship
Dreamworld - Veljko Popović, Milivoj Popović

Animation Sans Frontières – free scholarship
Kurent - Miha Reja (Slovenia)
Producer: Boštjan Potokar, School of Arts – University of Nova Gorica

Cartoon Movie – direct access
Dreamworld - Veljko Popović, Milivoj Popović
Vast Blue Antarctica - Christos Panagos

Cartoon Forum – direct access
Robot and the Martians - Tomasz Niedzwiedz (Poland)
Producer: Tomasz Paziewski, Badi Badi

Cartoon Springboard – direct access
Rosie and Sapphire - Anna Katalin Lovrity (Hungary)
Producer: Balint Gelley, CUB Animation

Senior Crush - Orsolya Richolm

Ciclic Award
Electra. A Poem - Daria Kashcheeva (Czech Republic)
Producer: Zuzana Krivkova, MAUR Film, FAMU

Animond Award
The Olive Bunch - Magnus Kråvik

Kids Kino Industry Award
The Olive Bunch - Magnus Kråvik

Animarkt Award
The Icebreakers - Ignas Meilūnas (Lithuania)
Producer: Justė Beniušytė, Kadru Skyrius

Desire to Win - Michaela Režová (Czech Republic)