Award winners 2019

Grand Prix

15,000 euros funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Stuttgart

Lotte Reiniger Award for animation film

10,000 Euro funded by the MFG Film Promotion Baden-Württemberg

Animals

Director: Tue Sanggaard
Denmark 2019
Production: The Animation Workshop
Producers: Michelle Ann Nardone and Anja Perl

Statement of the jury: “We are set into a social observation scenario that pushes us to face the underlying animal-like behaviour, that challenges our daily life in a controlled civil environment. The lively character design and animation, contributes to this precise analysis of primeval human instincts.”

SWR Audience Award

6,000 euros, sponsored by SWR.

Mind my mind

Regie: Floor Adams
Netherlands, Belgium 2019
Produktion: CinéTé filmproduktie, Fabrique Fantastique, Curious Wolf

Young Animation – Award for the best student film

2,500 euros funded by the Landesanstalt für Kommunikation Baden-Württemberg (LfK) and MFG
Film Funding Baden-Württemberg

Sounds good

Director: Sander Joon
Estonia 2018
Producer: Priit Pärn, Olga Pärn

Statement of the jury: “Art exhibitions, mushrooms and boom operating are a unique combination, even for animation. Sounds Good explores those under-appreciated topics in a playful and experimental way. The sound-driven film connects an intriguing rhythmical montage with unconventional perspectives and a reduced graphic style and colour scheme. For us this sounds good. Looks good. Feels good, too.”

Special Mention

It’s wet! (Ça mouille!!)

Director: Alexis Godard, Nan Huang
France 2018
Producer : Alexis Godard, Nan Huang

Tricks for Kids – Award for the best short film for children

4,000 Euro funded to Studio 100 Media GmbH | m4e

The Kite (Sarkan)

Regie: Martin Smatana
Czech Republic, Slovenia 2018
Production: Bfilm

Statement of the kids jury: “… because it’s beautiful. We liked the way the subject of aging and dying was presented. The film was sad, but it also gives courage and shows that beloved people never really leave us, but live on through our memories… perhaps above the clouds, perhaps with a dragon.”

AniMovie – Award for the best feature-length animated film

Mirai No Mirai (Mirai – Das Mädchen aus der Zukunft)

Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Japan 2018
Producer: Yuichiro Saito, Takuya Ito, Yuichi Adachi, Genki Kawamura, Nozomu Takahashi
Studio Chizu

Statement of the jury: “We would like to thank everyone involved with the festival for inviting the three of us to work together on this jury. First, we would like to acknowledge every filmmaker who submitted a film for consideration, and particularly the ten whose films we viewed in the past week. Each one was a labour of love and clearly born of a deep desire to tell their story. We chose the film “Mirai No Mirai”. We appreciated so much the filmmakers inviting us into this home, and offering us the opportunity to watch this family grow together, and to help us understand our deep and human connection to those who came before us.”

German Screenplay Award

2,500 euros funded by Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart

„Aisha’s Light“

Autoren: Xavier Romero und Llorenç Español

German Voice Actor Award

Pitching of the Arab Animation Forum

Nomination for the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung for International Cooperation

Project: Traitors of the Eyes

by: Abdelrahman Dnewar und Saad Dnewar

Egypt

Statement of the jury: “The jury were impressed by the high standard of all projects. We were touched by all the pitches and those stories the world needs to see. It was a difficult choice but there was one story that really moved us. “Traitors of the Eye” is a story of loss, identity and secrets, a personal and yet universal exploration that says a lot about families around the world. It uses strong symbolism to convey a moving message. We know how challenging this will be for the creators, but we trust that their story needs to be told.”

The FANtastic Prize

1,000 euros, funded by the Animation Family, the most loyal fans of ITFS

Bear with me

Director & Producer: Daphna Awadish
Netherlands 2018

Statement of the jury: “It’s the little things that count. Everyday life, small rituals after a hard days’ work, a stroll at the lake. These little things mean so much, especially if they cannot be enjoyed daily. Our winning film tells these miniature stories, underlining in the truest sense of the word the experiences of immigrants and points out that home is where the heart is. We are very happy to award the FAN-tastic Price to “Bear with me” and welcome Daphna Awadish to the Animation Family!”

Animated Games Award Germany

5,000 euros funded by the MFG Baden-Württemberg

Trüberbrook

Developer: btf GmbH, Florian Köhne
Publisher: Headup GmbH

Statement of the jury: “The degree of innovation of the design is outstanding. The warm, hand-made backdrops invite you to explore and linger. Above all, the handcrafted quality of the backdrops used makes Trüberbrook *the* game of the year.”

Special Mention:

The Longing from Studio Seufz GbR and Anselm Pyta

Trickstar Business Award

7,500 € endowed, sponsored by the Stuttgart region

CoboStories from Copenhagen Bombay

Statement of the jury: “CoboStories is an app and a physical stand that allows teachers and pedagogues to create stop motion movies and digital books with children and pupils. The tool supports teaching in a creative process and is based on the 21st century learning skills as well as the “4 C’s”: Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration and Communication. CoboStories, developed by the Danish media house Copenhagen Bombay, impressed us not only with an exceptionally well-developed and scalable business model but also with a great product that is worth of promotion and support. We particularly admire CoboStories’ mission to tackle a socially relevant issue by offering children a playful approach to digital media that encourages creativity through a unique combination of digital and physical tools. There is no doubt in our minds that Sarita Christensen and her team will lead CoboStories to the successful future it is deserving of.”

Special Mention:

“Smosh Mosh“ von Kinky Udders

Germany’s Next Animation Talent

5.000 Euro, funded by Studio 100 Media GmbH | m4e

„Juli auf dem Zauberberg“ from Elisabeth Jakobi

Statement of the jury: ““Juli auf dem Zauberberg” is full of witty details and interesting visual solutions, and the series captivates us by being close to reality and far from it at the same time. This is all the more astonishing, as the outlandish characters have absolutely nothing to do with writer Elisabeth Jakobi’s family environment! The visual style, the first scribbles and mood pictures for “Juli auf dem Zauberberg” give us an idea of its international potential, while the created life-world could serve as a blueprint for any German patchwork family. With its subtle humour, sometimes absurd storylines, and droll cast of characters, the series project never comes across as patronising or tiring. At every turn, new adventures and surprises await us, fascinating young and old alike. And when Juli can overcome her fear of spiders alongside the course of the series too, it has a marvellous pedagogical side effect. But, same as everything else in “Juli auf dem Zauberberg”, this is a matter of sheer coincide.”

Crazy Horse Session – 48h Animation Jam

Team China: ZiYi Jin, ZiQian Zhao with „Horse“.

Jury-Statement:

“All of the films in this year’s competition are equally impressive and it is always a shame that there can only be one winner. We would like to firstly give a special mention to Noura and Louay from Lebanon for their film “TR1-X1”. This year’s winning entry goes to the team from Beijing, China. The strength of the story was matched by the skills of the artists. The film was strong in content, nicely animated in the time allowed and the camera, timing and overall storytelling really stood out. Congratulations to Jin and Zhao!“

Special Mention:

Team Libanon: Noura Kabbani, Louay Daoust with “TR1-X1“.

Music Game Jam

Fermata
Team: Lisa Nonnenmacher, Franca Bittner, Simon Robl, Henry Brandstetter & Davide Bronder