The 40th anniversary edition of the Ottawa International Animation Festival wrapped up this weekend, culminating in the 2016 awards ceremony held at Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts. The festival received a total of 2,311 entries from 86 different countries, whittled down to 80 shorts and seven feature films chosen for competition.
The Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short went to Diane Obomsawin’s home-grown J’Aime les Filles (“I Like Girls”), while the Grand Prize for Features went to Louise en Hiver by Jean-François Laguionie — the director previously took a Grand Prize at Ottawa in 1982 for La traversée de l’Atlantique à la rame.
The Competition Short Jury included animator Ann Marie Fleming, Brooke Keesling; Director of Animation Talent Development at Disney Television Animation; and animator Sarina Nihei, winner of the OIAF 2015 Grand Prize for Short Animation. The Competition Feature Jury included animation historian Giannalberto Bendazzi, former Grand Prize winner and animator Peter Millard, and animation director and optical effects specialist Elise Simard. A jury of Ottawa-area children aged 8-12 judged the Shorts and Series for Young Audiences Competition.
OIAF 2016 Award Winners
Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short Animation
J’Aime les Filles by Diane Obomsawin
(Canada, 2016)
Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature
Louise en Hiver by Jean-François Laguionie
(France/Canada, 2016)
Honorable Mention
Cafard by Jan Bultheel (Belgium/France/Netherlands)
Cartoon Network Award for Best Narrative Short Animation
Blind Vaysha by Theodore Ushev
(Canada, 2016)
Best Experimental or Abstract Animation
Suijun-Genten (Datum Point) by Ryo Orikasa
(Japan, 2015)
Best Undergraduate Animation
Cialo Obce (Foreign Body) by Marta Magnuska
(Poland, 2016)
Walt Disney Animation Award for Best Graduation Animation
Frankfurter Str. 99 by Evgenia Gostrer
(Germany, 2016)
Best Commissioned Animation
Honda “Paper” by PES
(USA, 2015)
Best Short Film Made for Young Audiences
Three Little Ninjas Delivery Service by Karim Rhellam & Kim Claeys
(Belgium, 2016)
Honorable Mentions:
Accidents, Blunders, Calamities by James Cunningham (New Zealand)
Novembre by Marjolaine Perreten (France)
Best Animated Series Made for Young Audiences
Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas by Jay Grace
(UK, 2015)
Honorable Mentions:
Summer Camp Island by Julia Pott (USA)
Hey Duggee “The Omelette Badge” by Grant Orchard (UK)
Best Script:
Fired on Mars by Nick Vokey & Nate Sherman (USA, 2016)
Best Design:
The Absence of Eddy Table by Rune Spaans (Norway, 2016)
Best Animation Technique:
Velodrool by Sander Joon (Estonia, 2015)
Best Sound:
Squame by Nicolas Brault (Canada, 2015)
DHX Public Prize:
Fired on Mars by Nick Vokey & Nate Sherman (USA, 2016)
Canadian Film Institute Award for Best Canadian Animation:
Blind Vaysha by Theodore Ushev
Honorable Mentions:
4 min 15 sec au Revelateur by Moia Jobin-Paré
Begone Dull Care by Paul Johnson
VIA Rail Award for Best Canadian Student Animation:
Nihil by Khoebe Magsaysay (Sheridan College, 2016)
Honorable Mentions:
Der Tod Ist ein Dandy by Daniela Vargas (Vancouver Film School)
The Clitoris by Lori Malepart-Traversy (Concordia)
De Racines et de Chaines by Francis Lacelle & Robert M. Lepage (INIS)
Bouncing Blunders by William Martin (Sheridan College)
