The Annency International Animation Film Festival announced Saturday evening the winners of its major awards.
Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s hand-drawn animation telling the true story of a man’s extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan, won top honors by nabbing the Annency Cristal for a feature film. Deadline’s Todd McCarthy said Rasmussen “puts you through it in a way that illustrates, instructs, makes you look inward and ask whether you’d have what it takes, if you could tough it out and survive in a cold, hostile world.”
Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau will voice the lead roles in an English language version of the film, which will debut later this year, and the pair are also executive producers on the pic.
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My Sunny Maad, the debut feature of Oscar-nominated director Michaela Pavlátová, won this year’s Jury Award. The film follows a young Czech woman who assimilates to life in post-Taliban Afghanistan after falling in love with and marrying an Afghan man.
The Crossing, the first animated feature oil painted entirely on glass, won this year’s Jury Distinction. The Florence Miailhe-directed film follows siblings Kyona and Adriel as they flee from a non-specific Eastern European country.
Read the full winners list below.
2021 Annency International Animation Film Festival Official Selection Winners – Winners List
FEATURE FILMS
CRISTAL FOR A FEATURE FILM
“Flee” (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden)
JURY AWARD
“My Sunny Maad” (Michaela Pavlátová, Czech Republic, France, Slovakia)
JURY DISTINCTION
“The Crossing” (Florence Miailhe, Germany, France, Czech Republic)
CONTRECHAMP AWARD
“Bob Spit – We Do Not Like People” (Cesar Cabral, Brazil)
CONTRECHAMP JURY DISTINCTION
“Archipelago” (Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Canada)
SHORT FILMS
CRISTAL FOR A SHORT FILM
“Peel” (Samuel Patthey, Silvain Monney, Switzerland)
JURY AWARD
“Easter Eggs” (Nicolas Keppens, Belgium, France, Neterlands)
JURY DISTINCTION (TIED)
“Affairs of the Art” (Joanna Quinn, U.K., Canada)
JEAN-LUC XIBERRAS AWARD FOR A FIRST FILM
“Hold Me Tight” (Mélanie Robert-Tourneur, Belgium, France)
OFF-LIMITS AWARD
“Tunable Mimoid” (Vladimir Todorovic, Australia)
TV SERIES AND FILMS
CRISTAL FOR A TV PRODUCTION
“Vanille” (Guillaume Lorin, France, Switzerland)
JURY AWARD FOR A TV SERIES
“Japan Sinks: 2020” “The Beginning of the End” (Masaaki Yuasa, Japan)
JURY AWARD FOR A TV SPECIAL
“Mum Is Pouring Rain” (Hugo de Faucompret, France)
COMMISSIONED FILMS
CRISTAL FOR A COMMISSIONED FILM
“Kai” “A Little Too Much” (Martina Scarpelli, U.S.)
JURY AWARD
“Help! We Have a Blind Patient” (Robin Jensen, Norway)
GRADUATION FILMS
CRISTAL FOR A GRADUATION FILM
“Hippocampus” (Zehao Li, China)
JURY AWARD
“Avant” (Marcell Mostoha, Hungary)
JURY DISTINCTION
“Butterfly Jam” (Shih-Yen Huang, France, Taiwan)
VR WORKS
CRISTAL FOR THE BEST VR WORK
“Replacements” (Jonathan Hagard, Germany, Indonesia, Japan)
SPECIAL PRIZES
FESTIVALS CONNEXION
“Beast” (Hugo Covarrubias, Chile)
JUNIOR JURY – SHORT
“People in Motion” (Christoph Lauenstein, Wolfgang Lauenstein, Germany)
JUNIOR JURY – GRADUATION FILM
“My Friend Who Shines in the Night” (Grégoire de Bernouis, Jawed Boudaoud, Simon Cadilhac, Hélène Ledevin)
YOUNG AUDIENCE AWARD
“Kiko and the Animals” (Yawen Zheng, France, Switzerland)
CANAL PLUS JUNIOR JURY
“A Stone in the Shoe” (Éric Montchaud, France, Switzerland)
FIPRESCI – SHORT
“The Shaman’s Apprentice” (Zacharias Kunuk, Canada)
ORIGINAL MUSIC – FEATURE
“Flee” (Uno Helmersson, Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden)
ORIGINAL MUSIC – SHORT
“The Awakening of the Insects” (Denis Vautrin, France)
ANDRÉ-MARTIN AWARD FOR A FRENCH FEATURE
“Marona’s Fantastic Tale” (Anca Damiaa, Romania, France, Belgium)
CITY OF ANNECY AWARD
“Clara with a Mustache” (Ilir Blakcori, Kosovo)
YOUTUBE AWARD
“Postpartum” (Henriette Rietz, Germany)
