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

FESTIVALS / AWARDS Kosovo

Kill It and Leave This Town and Souvenir Souvenir win at Anibar

by 

- The victors of the 12th edition of the Peja-based animation festival also included Butterfly Jam, Those Who Drown Cling to Foam, Where Were You? and A Little Too Much

Kill It and Leave This Town and Souvenir Souvenir win at Anibar
Kill It and Leave This Town by Mariusz Wilczynsk and Souvenir Souvenir by Bastien Dubois

The 12th edition of the Anibar International Animation Festival, which took place in the Kosovar city of Peja from 23-30 July, came to an end on Friday night with an awards ceremony at the festival's picturesque Lake Cinema venue.

In the Feature Film Competition, the Polish hit Kill It and Leave This Town [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mariusz Wilczyński
film profile
]
by Mariusz Wilczynsk won the top prize, beating Félix Dufour-Laperrière's Archipel, Yan Ma's Up We Soar, Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart's Wolfwalkers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, and Andrey Khrzhanovsky's The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

In the International Competition, French director Bastien Dubois triumphed with Souvenir Souvenir, which deals with the topic of colonialism through the story of the souvenirs that the filmmaker's grandfather collected during the Algerian War.

Kosovar director Urtina Hoxha won in the Balkan Competition with Those Who Drown Cling to Foam, about a woman’s daily battles for food and survival during the war. The Human Rights Competition saw Where Were You? by Spaniard Maria Trénor Colomer pick up the main award. The film speaks about violence against women through experiences from different countries.

The winner of the Student Competition was Butterfly Jam, directed by Shih-Yen Huang and produced in France. The film adopts the perspective of a young woman who describes her father and his relationship with his many pets that he never managed to take care of. Finally, in the Animated Music Video Competition, US animator Martina Scarpelli triumphed with her video for A Little Too Much by kai.

In addition to film screenings, Anibar featured a series of presentations by animation experts such as Jürgen Hagler, Lori Malépart-Traversy, Frédéric Schuld and Mauro Carraro. They dove into subjects including expanded animation, 3D animation and animated documentaries, as well as their own personal experiences in the industry. There were also four different workshops for children on various animation techniques, one of them taught by US animator and educator Gary Schwartz, known for his work for Disney, Sesame Street and MTV.

Here is the full list of Anibar award winners:

Feature Film Competition
Kill It and Leave This Town [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mariusz Wilczyński
film profile
]
- Mariusz Wilczynsk (Poland)

International Competition
Souvenir Souvenir - Bastien Dubois (France)
Special Mention
My Galactic Twin Galaction - Sasha Svirsky (Russia)

Balkan Competition
Those Who Drown Cling to Foam - Urtina Hoxha (Kosovo)
Special Mention
Elusiveness - Marija Vulić (Serbia)

Human Rights Competition
Where Were You? - Maria Trénor Colomer (Spain)
Special Mention
We Have One Heart - Katarzyna Warzecha (Poland)

Student Competition
Butterfly Jam - Shih-Yen Huang (France)
Special Mention
Coffin - Yuanqing Cai, Nathan Crabot, Houzhi Huang, Mikolaj Janiw, Mandimby Lebon, Théo Tran Ngoc (France)

Animated Music Video Competition
A Little Too Much - Martina Scarpelli (USA)
Special Mention
Kona - Shpat Morina (Kosovo)

(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