Citing an exceptional level of quality among this year’s competing projects, the jury of the ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum 2021 has determined that nine out of the 15 selected films will walk away from the Łódź, Poland event with distinctions from the Pitching showdown. Prizes of cash, software and professional consultation will bring heartfelt stories, comedies and socially engaged animations one step closer to the screen.
The award ceremony is one of the final events of the ANIMARKT program, which this year gathered over 300 creators from around the world. The jury, consisting of Bea Bartolome, Alicja Gancarz and Denis Walgenwitz, had quite a task and underwent many hours of debate to select the winners.
“Despite many years of work in this industry, the quality of selected projects this year is new to me,” notes Walgenwitz. “In recent years, in the stop-motion animation industry, we have observed a tendency to have better and better cooperation between producers, directors, teams and technical teams. That is why we have this variety, quality and the ability to tackle many topics and issues, which I think is good news for everyone.”
Awarded projects:
- 2000 euro to be spent on production in one of the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) was won by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharova for Hello Summer (Slovakia)
- Sound Award funded by The Audiovisual Technology Center (CeTA) went to 3 cups of coffee, dir. Natalia Krawczuk (Poland)
- A voucher worth PLN 60,000 funded by The Audiovisual Technology Center (CeTA) went to 9 Million Colors, dir. Bara Anna Stejskalova (Czech Republic)
- Dragonframe software won by Desire to Win, dir. Michaela Rezova (Czech Republic)
- Consultation with Marcin Zalewski on puppetmaking went to three projects: 9 Million Colors; Becarias, dir. Marina Donderis, Nuria Poveda & Maria Corton (Spain); and Humanity, dir. Tereza Covandova (Czech Republic)
- Industry accreditation for the Mifa 2022 in Annecy was won by Petra & The Sun, dir. Maria Luisa Furche and Stefania Malacichini (Chile)
- RIA ANIMATION RESIDENCY AWARD by Apa and Apa Lab – including accommodation in Unquillo, Argentina) for 10 days, creative writing workshops, advice on directing and script, or full accreditation for Apa Lab – went to Galaxia, dir. Robinson Moreno (Venezuela)
- Festival distribution led by RADIATOR IP Sales was won by Petra & The Sun
- CEE Animation Forum Award went to 3 cups of coffee
- ANIMOND Award went to Hello Summer
Due to the high level of the projects, the jury also decided to award two special non-competition awards to Butterfly, directed by Suncana Brkulj, and Becarias (dir. Marina Donderis, Nuria Poveda, Maria Corton).
“The program includes over 30 events: workshops, discussions, consultations and meetings with experts. We are very pleased that despite the difficult organizational conditions related to the pandemic, we managed to invite so many wonderful guests to Łódź,” says Agnieszka Kowalewska-Skowron, co-organizer of ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum.
“We can proudly say that this year each continent had its representatives here. The event was attended by participants from Turkey, Chile, Australia, China or India,” adds Paulina Zacharek from MOMAKIN. “You could feel the festive atmosphere at every step. You can see that everyone felt good here and we all missed this opportunity to meet.”
ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum is co-financed by the International Visegrád Fund and the Polish Film Institute. The main partners of ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum 2020 are EC1 Łódź – City of culture and Lodz Film Commission.
The event is organized by MOMAKIN, a company connecting the world of animated filmmakers with the international production, distribution and promotion market, which specializes in stop motion projects. It supports animation projects at every stage of their development: from planning and financing, through production, to distribution. It deals with the education and professionalization of the film industry.
