Animaze – The Montreal International Animation Festival (animazefestival.com) celebrated its 10th year at the recent edition, welcoming many international attendees and screening animated shorts from filmmakers around the globe.
“What we saw this year at Animaze was incredible works from young to seasoned filmmakers from around the globe which left us gasping at times of some of the breathtaking beautiful variety of content and engaging storytelling,” says Laurie Gordon, Founder of Animaze.
Canadian animation industry trailblazer Michael Hirsh opened the festival as special guest, keynote speaker and Lifetime Achievement Award winner in the Cinéma du Musée theater.
The individually crafted awards were this year designed by multidisciplinary Montreal artist, Nadine Samuel. Samuel’s artistic approach focuses on the democratization of culture and the development of laboratory spaces that make creative processes accessible to communities in Quebec and abroad, including in Peru and Haiti.
Animaze 2023 Award-Winning Films:
● A Tree Once Grew Here — United States – Producer/director – Johnnie Semerad (Storyline Award)
● Louis I King of the Sheep — Germany – Director – Markus Wulf (Audience Choice Award)
● Hardboiled — United States – Director – Peter Sluszka (Audience Choice Award)
● Above Ground — United States – Producer – Kevin Sharpley – (Special Social Awareness Category)
● Kauyumari – The Blue Dear (Le Cerf Blue) — Mexico – Arnold Abadie – (Special VR-360 Category)
● Pincio — Italy – Emanuele Gabbi – (Experimental Short)
● The Awakening: The First Day — U.S.A. – Jose Diaz Contreras and Santiago Carraguilla
● My Jumper, It Roars! — Australia – Isabella Spagnolo
● Frida in the Sky — Canada – Dani Sadun – (Student Canada Award)
● Ashta — Canada – Ryan Bechara – (Student Canada – QC Award)
● The Lost Courier — China – Ma ZiDong – (International Student Award)
