The 23rd Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) wrapped up in the German city over the weekend, and the selected prize winners definitely lived up to the year’s motto “Animation for Grown-Ups,” representing the broad spectrum of stories that can be told through animated artistry, and the hunger of audiences around the world for films with powerful messages and impactful stories.
The 2016 festival welcomed roughly 80,000 visitors to the seven cinemas and the Open Air theater at the Schlossplatz — which on a day of record-breaking cold still attracted about 1,000 eager viewers to a screening of Mark Osborne’s The Little Prince.
Key awards went to International Grand Prix-winning short Kaputt by Alexander Lahl and Volker Schlecht, Tricks for Kids Best Children’s Series international winner The Long Long Holiday from Les Armateures and Blue Spirit studio, and AniMovie feature winner Psychonauts, the Forgotten Children by Pedro Rivero and Alberto Vazquez.
This year’s ITFS also introduced the first Amazon Audience Award, determined by online voting, and Local Heroes Games Award. The festival was further enriched by partnerships with the Stuttgart Opera, an Animation Lounge hosted at Das Gerber, the Arab Animation Forum at Stiftung Geisstrasse and the Wall of Animation at Breuninger Modehaus, where the world’s largest animation canvas evolved over the course of eight days of live painting.
The next IFTS will take place May 2-7, 2017. The 2016 Stuttgart Festival of Animated Films winners are:
International Competition
Grand Prix: Kaputt (Broken)
Directors: Alexander Lahl, Volker Schlecht
Production: Die Kulturingenieure (Germany)
Lotte Reiniger Promotion Award: Afternoon Class
Director: Seoro Oh (Korea)
SWR Audience Award: Paniek!
Directors: Joost Lieuwma, Daan Velsink
Production: il Luster Films (Netherlands)
TELE 5 “Leider geil!” Special Award: Ivan’s Need
Directors: Veronica L. Montano, Manuela Leuenberger, Lukas Suter
Production: Hochschule Luzern – Design & Kunst (Switzerland)
Amazon Audience Award: Chateau de Sable
Directors: Quentin Deleau, Lucie Foncelle, Maxime Goudal, Julien Paris, Sylvain Robert
Production: Ecole Superieure des Metiers Artistiques (France)
Best Student Film: Pro Mamu (About a Mother)
Director: Dina Velikovskaya
Production: School Studio Shar (Russia)
FANtastic Award: Toutes Nuancees (All Their Shades)
Director: Chloe Alliez
Productions: Ecole National Superieur des Art Visuels de la Cambre (Belgium)
Tricks for Kids
Best Animated Children’s Short Film: Alike
Directors: Daniel Martinez Lara, Nicolas Matji
Production: La Fiesta PC (Spain)
Best Children’s Animated Series – National: Petzi: Schildkroteninsel
Directors: Michael Bohnenstingl, Paul Cichon, Johannes Weiland
Production: Studio Soil (Germany)
Best Children’s Animated Series – International: The Long Long Holiday: The Secret
Director: Paul Leluc
Production: Les Armateurs, Blue Spirit Studio (France)
AniMovie
Best Full-Length Animated Film: Psychonauts, The Forgotten Children
Directors: Pedro Rivero, Alberto Vazquez
Production: Basque Films, ZircoZine Animation, Abrakam Estudio, La Competencia (Spain)
German Animation Screenplay Award: John Chambers, Die Olchis – der Film
German Voice Actor Award: Kostja Ullmann as Sam in Sam O’Cool (a.k.a. Yellowbird)
Crazy Horse 48-Hour Animation Jam
Winner: Team Lebanon: Lea Azar, Marylin Haddad
Local Heroes Games Award
Winner: The Inner World by Tobia Frisch
Production: Studio Fizbin
Publisher: Headup Games
 wrapped up in the German city over the weekend, and the selected prize winners definitely lived up to the year's motto "Animation for Grown-Ups," representing the broad spectrum of stories that can be told through animated artistry, and the hunger of audiences around the world for films with powerful messages and impactful stories.){kind=link}