Ryo Orikasa’s Miserable Miracle was the winner of the Grand Prize for Short Animation and director Joel Vaudreuil’s Adam change lentement (When Adam Changes) received the Grand Prize for Feature Animation at the 2023 Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival on Saturday. Canadian animated short, Albums de familles (Families’ Albums) (dir. Moïa Jobin-Paré), received the award for Best Non-Narrative Short.
This year’s DGC Award for Best Canadian Animation winner was Un trou dans la poitrine (A Crab in the Pool) (dirs. Alexandra Myotte and Jean-Sébastien Hamel), while the OIAF’s latest award created in memory of the late Hélène Tanguay, the Hélène Tanguay Award for Humour, was awarded to Pipes (dirs. Kilian Feusi, Jessica Meier, and Sujanth Ravichandran).
Coming off its recent win at the Toronto International Film Festival, Electra (dir. Daria Kashcheeva), a film that blends live-action and stop-motion animation, was awarded the Wacom Public Prize. Best Narrative Short, Zima (dir. Tomek Popakul and Kasumi Ozeki), painted a portrait of a world turned inhospitable leaving audiences to question their perception of self.
The 2023 OIAF jurors were Jessica Borutski (Canada), Xi Chen(China), Joel Frenzer (United States), Alla Gadassik (Canada), Parissa Mohit (Canada), and Matthew Rankin (Canada). Borutski, Frenzer, and Rankin formed the Festival’s Features Jury, while the Shorts Jury was comprised of Chen, Gadassik, and Mohit.
Grand Prize for Short Animation: Miserable Miracle (dir. Ryo Orikasa)
Jury Comment: This film embraces animation as an intoxicating cocktail of image, word, and movement. It activates the spectator’s hallucinatory and synaesthetic sensibilities. For exploring the boundaries of animation and affirming it as a timeless and poetic art form, the jury awards the grand prize to Ryo Orikasa’s Miserable Miracle.
Grand Prize for Animated Feature: Adam change lentement (When Adam Changes) (dir. Joël Vaudreuil)
Jury Comment: This film about an impressionable teenager left an impression on us. For the filmmaker’s skillful walk of the delicate line between irony and sincerity; for his mastery of the absurd; for the detail and precision of his artistic approach; and for authentic heartfelt humor, this year’s Grand Prize winner for Best Animated Feature is Adam change lentement (When Adam Changes) by Joël Vaudreuil.
Wacom Public Prize Electra (dir. Daria Kashcheeva)
DGC Award for Best Canadian Animation Un trou dans la poitrine (A Crab in the Pool) (dirs. Alexandra Myotte and Jean-Sébastien Hamel)
Honorable Mention: La fille au béret rouge (The Girl with the Red Beret) (dir. Janet Perlman)
Honorable Mention: A Bear Named Jesus (dir. Terril Calder)
Hélène Tanguay Award for Humor: Pipes (dirs. Kilian Feusi, Jessica Meier, and Sujanth Ravichandran)
Animated Short Competition – Category Prizes
Best Non-Narrative Albums de familles (Families’ Albums) (dir. Moïa Jobin-Paré)
Best Narrative: Zima (dir. Kasumi Ozeki and Tomek Popakul)
Best Commissioned: 14th Anibar Animation Festival Trailer ‘Love’ (dir. Sander Joon)
Bento Box Award for Best Student Animation: Cyclepaths (dir. Anton Cla)
NBCUniversal Award for Best Canadian Student: Between You and Me (dir. Cameron Kletke, Emily Carr University of Art + Design)
Animation for Teen Audiences 13+ Competition: Daffy in Wackyland (dir. Max Winston)
Animation for Young Audiences 7+ Competition: The Goose (dir. Jan Mika)
Animated Series Competition: Haha, You Clowns ‘Episode 1: Movie Night’ (dir. Joe Cappa)
Virtual Reality Competition: My Inner Ear Quartet (dir. Koji Yamamura)
Animated Short Competition – Craft Awards:
Best Script: Box Cutters (dir. Naomi van Niekerk)
Best Design: Furrie (dir. Lucie Grannec)
XPPen Award for Best Animation Technique: The Miracle (dir. Nienke Deutz)
Best Sound Design: Eeva (dirs. Morten Tšinakov and Lucija Mrzljak)
For the complete list of winners and comments from the jury, visit animationfestival.ca.
