The 2018 ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum wrapped up in Lodz, Poland on Saturday, and has announced Astra from Polish director Michal Łubiński as the first place winner of the Pitching event.
Currently in development, Astra will be a story of a six-year-old girl who tries but fails to prevent her older sister Anna from going to space. When her life is at risk, Astra comes to the rescue. The story consists of two interlacing moments in the lives of these girls that are combined in a nonlinear fashion. Łubiński was awarded with the Audiovisual Technology Center contribution in-kind in the amount of 60,000 PLN (approx. €14,000).
“The story has lots of heart. The pitch was excellent, very complete and well organised. Characters design was nicely presented and researched. Fantastic execution!” the jury wrote in its official statement. This year, the Pitching jury was composed of Jean Thoren (Animation Magazine), Edwina Liard (Ikki Films) and Jacek Spychalski (CeTA).
Second prize went to Cynthia Levitan and her project Forbidden Love (Audiovisual Technology Center contribution in-kind in the amount of 40,000 PLN) — the touching story of Pierre, who lives in the conflict of two souls inhabiting the same body and two bodies sharing the same home.
The winners of ANIMARKT Pitching 2018 are:
- 1st Prize (Audiovisual Technology Center contribution in-kind in the amount of 60,000 PLN / €14 000) – Astra (dir. Michał Łubiński), Poland
- 2nd Prize (Audiovisual Technology Center contribution in-kind in the amount of 40,000 PLN / €9,300) – Forbidden Love (dir. Cynthia Levitan, prod. Vytautas Tinteris), Lithuania/Portugal
- Dragonframe 4 program licence and a Bluetooth controller: Crab (dir. Piotr Chmielewski, prod. Wojciech Leszczyński), Czech Rep./Poland
- Industry Accreditation for Mifa 2019 in Annecy: Papo & Pepe (dir. Viktoria Filmako, prod. Viktoriia Cherniaha), Ukraine
- Ale kino+ Special Award (TV channel Ale kino+ will buy a licence rights for pitched projects when they are ready):
- Astra (dir. Michał Łubiński)
- Crab (dir. Piotr Chmielewski, prod. Wojciech Leszczyński)
- Prime cuts (dir. Marnik Loysen), U.K.
- Sound post-production services in Playade Sound Studio – Incoherence (dir. Quentin Haberham), The Netherlands
- Dito Gear special award – Prime Cuts (dir. Marnik Loysen), U.K.
- One year subscription of FestivalWhizz app – Noah’s Tree (dir. Péter Vácz, prod. Gábor Osváth), Hungary
- Special mention – See You Soon (dir. Jennifer Skarbnik Lopez, prod. Jennifer Skarbnik Lopez, Ela Chrzanowska), Mexico/Poland
