The 15th edition of Weird Market has announced its list of award-winning animation projects in all formats and short films in competition in WFest. The event held in Valencia September 25-October 1 welcomed more than 440 registered professionals and introduced a wide array of animated feature films, short films, series, webseries, transmedia projects, video games, comics and board games.
Out of the roughly 170 projects selected for the Weird Market catalog, the 2023 Movistar Plus+ Short Project Award went to El Cuerpo de Cristo (The Body of Christ) by Bea Lema; an adaptation of her own comic of the same name which deals with issues such as mental health and religion. This accolade includes acquisition of the short’s broadcasting rights by Movistar Plus+ with a payout of 9,000 euros for a period of two years (unlimited number of screenings), the first year being exclusive for the channel. In addition, the work will be officially premiered in the 2024 or 2025 edition of Weird Market.
In line with one of the event’s key aims, to serve as a showcase for emerging talent, Weird Market also bestows an award for the best project from a young creator. This year’s winner is Sacha by Keila Cepeda, who receives free accreditation for the next edition of Annecy-MIFA (MIFA professional accreditation) as the prize.
The winners of this year’s RTVE Awards for video game projects are American Arcadia by Out of Blue Games (Spain), Best Video Game Project; Atlas Negro: Infernum by Night Council Studio (Spain), Video Game Project Award; and Camper Van: Make It Home by Malapata Studio (Spain), Weird Plus Video Game. The three distinctions are awarded by RTVE’s Interactive Media Department and the winners are invited to submit their projects to the division.
This year’s WFest short film festival was juried by Aneta Ozorek (artistic director, Kaboom Animation Festival), Stefan Michel (producer, Studio Seufz), Louis-Guillaume Loy (head of distribution, Sacrebleu Productions) and Rocío Álvarez (illustrator and animation director).
Miracasas by Raphaëlle Stolz and Augusto Zanovello was awarded Best International Short Film. The Swiss work created in co-production with France has already enjoyed official selection screenings at Annecy, Sitges, Cinanima, Anima (Brussels), Animafest (Zagreb) and more, picking up awards at Fantoche, the Huesca International Film Festival and Animateka (Ljubljana) and making the shortlist for the 2024 César awards.
The jury also chose the Hungarian film A World in Chaos by David Crisp as the Best European Short Film and All Is Lost by Carla Pereira and Juanfran Jacinto, produced in Valencia, as the Best National Short Film.
In addition, two special mentions were awarded: The International pick was Slow Light by Katarzyna Kijek and Przemyslaw Adamski (Poland/Portugal) and the National distinction was bestowed on Interns by Marina Donderis, Núria Poveda and Marina Cortón, also local Valencians.
The Audience Awards were given to Conej Steps Out by Pablo Río and Sandwich Cat by David Fidalgo in the National category. In the International competition, film fans chose the Portuguese short (co-produced with France and the United Kingdom) Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez — one of the most awarded films of the last year’s festival circuit, including being one of the 2023 Oscar nominees for best animated short.
Learn more about Weird Market and WFest at weirdmarket.es/en.
