The 26th Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF 2024 | biaf.or.kr) has announced the awards winners from the Korean event’s competition, which ran from October 25 to 29.
The top feature film award went to the Australian stop-motion indie Memoir of a Snail, while the hand-drawn war documentary I Died in Irpin received the Academy Award-qualifying short film prize.
Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail took home the BIAF Grand Prize for Feature Film. The feature film jury, composed of director Ann Marie Fleming, managing director of CoMix Wave Films, Kazuki Tsunami, and writer Lee Woo-hyuk, praised the film for its delicate stop-motion animation that explores life’s traumas with dark yet warm humor and childlike wonder.
Jury President Fleming described Memoir of a Snail as “a unique work that delves into life’s traumas through intricate stop-motion animation, blending dark humor with a sense of childlike wonder.”
The Jury Prize for Feature Film was awarded to Kim Yong-hwan for Your Letter. Juror Tsunami noted, “Your Letter signals the emergence of a promising new director in the Korean animation industry, and I look forward to seeing the director’s future growth.”
Your Letter also won the Cocomics Music Prize, judged by Yoon Sang and Ryu Su-jeong of Lovelyz, as well as the Korea Animation Industry Association President’s Prize for Technical Achievement.
The Special Distinction Prizes for Feature Film were shared by Jean-François Laguionie’s A Boat in the Garden and Masahiro Shinohara‘s Trapezium. Woo-hyuk praised A Boat in the Garden as “a beautifully understated portrayal of simple joys in dreams.” The jury also commended Trapezium for its “sincere depiction of the complex relationships and sacrifices in the idol world, deeply expressing the protagonist’s growth.”
The Audience Prize went to Akira Amemiya’s Gridman Universe, which garnered significant attention and applause.
The international short film jury, consisting of filmmakers Flóra Anna Buda, Nienke Deutz and Theodor Ushev, awarded the BIAF Grand Prize for Short Film to Anastasiia Falileieva for I Died in Irpin, making it eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film category of the Academy Awards.
Buda praised the short as “an outstanding work that powerfully portrays the physical and emotional pain of war through the intense technique of charcoal animation.”
The Jury Prize for Short Film was awarded to Nina Gantz for Wander to Wonder. Deutz described it as “a precise yet spontaneous black comedy with excellent narrative and visual quality.”
The Special Distinction Prizes for Short Film went to Veronica Martiradonna for Supersilly, Mario Radev for [S] and Jung Yu-mi for Circle. Juror Ushev praised Circle for “expressing complex emotions within simplicity, portraying the alienation and isolation of modern society with sophistication.”
The Audience Prize for Short Film went to Torill Kove for Maybe Elephants.
In the Student Short Film category, Pola Kazak’s Weeds received the Jury Prize. Jang Won-young commended the film for “its excellent combination of striking visual direction and heartwarming storytelling.”
The Jury Prize for TV & Commissioned Film went to Kim Ju-eun for Dandelion Kid.
And Nagai Tatsuyuki’s FURERU won the Korean Society of Cartoon and Animation Studies President’s Prize for the most popular film, the DHL Diversity Prize (Music) and the Kinolights Feature Film Prize, achieving three awards alongside Your Letter.
