Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas has declared Studio Ghibli’s animated feature The Tale of Princess Kaguya — directed by Isao Takahata — to be the audience-voted top award winner for the 2014 competition. The audience awards were presented by sponsor Maxwell Locke & Ritter. The “Next Wave” spotlight awards were presented by Dell Precision, which awarded mobile workstations to the feature winners.
The Drawn and Quartered: Animated Shorts award went to Fraser Munden’s The Chaperone, with Sol Friedman taking the runner-up spot for Day 40. A Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed on film critic and historian Leonard Maltin.
Other top awards went to live-action films It Follows by David Robert Mitchell (Next Wave Best Picture), Alleluia by Fabrice du Welz (Fantastic Features Best Picture), The Babadook by Jennifer Kent (Horror Features Best Picture), Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead by Tommy Wirkola (Comedy Features Best Picture), The Stomach by Ben Steiner (Horror Shorts) and The Voice Thief by Adan Jodorowsky (Fantastic Shorts).
Visit fantasticfest.com/films for more about the winners.
