Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi’s The Dam Keeper has won the inaugural Best Animated Short Award at the Spark Animation Conference, Film Festival and Job Fair. The film was awarded the honor at the final shorts program on October 26 in Vancouver’s Vancity Theatre. The Dam Keeper has so far received awards from the San Francisco International Film Festival, New York International Children’s Film Festival and TIFF Kids.
Produced by Tonko House Studio, the short tells the tale of a young pig with an important job, and a new classmate who changes everything. The film blends traditional hand-drawn animation with digital painting techniques.
Other key award winners were Nils Hedinger’s Timber (President’s Prize), Jaime Giraldo’s Religatio (Honourable Mention – Best Student Short) and Muh Chen’s Sodagreen: Story (Special Mention for Excellence in Animated Music Video). See www.sparkfx.ca for more information.
