Japan emerged as the big winner at the 2022 Edition of the Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival (OIAF) as Atushi Wada’s Bird in the Peninsula received the Grand Prize for Short Animation and Koji Yamaura’s Dozens of Norths won the Grand Prize for Feature Animation. In addition Sumito Sakakibara’s lizuna Fair took home the prize for Best Non-Narrative Short.
This year’s Canadian Film Institute Award (CFI) for Best Canadian Animation winner, The Flying Sailor (dirs. Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis), lifted audiences’ spirits amidst its depiction of an explosive moment in Canadian history.
Decided by the Festival’s attendees, the Wacom Public Prize was awarded to Sierra (dir. Sander Joon), a tale of a father and son who work together in unexpected ways. Best Narrative Short, Letter to a Pig (dir. Tal Kantor), created moments for reflection and explored intergenerational trauma through a new lens.
The OIAF welcomed the expertise of Hugo Covarrubias (Chile), Marc Bertrand (Canada), Pilar Newton-Katz (United States), Terril Calder(Canada), Jonni Phillips (United States), and Marko Tadic (Croatia) as jurors for this year’s Official Competition. Covarrubias, Bertrand and Newton-Katz formed the Festival’s Features Jury, while the Shorts Jury was comprised of Calder, Phillips, and Tadic.
The Complete Competition Prize Winner List
Grand Prize for Short Animation
Winner: Bird in the Peninsula (dir. Atsushi Wada)
Jury Comment: By challenging the medium through its cryptic universality, the following short film is glacially-paced with captivating movement. Expressive, comedic, complete, and concise.
Grand Prize for Animated Feature
Winner: Dozens of Norths (dir. Koji Yamamura)
Jury Comment: This film engages the spectator to use their five senses. It breaks the boundaries and structures of storytelling. The imagery used is consistent with the creative process. The author successfully describes a world and an ecosystem of the senses. Everything is beautifully tied together: creativity the senses and visual poetry.
Wacom Public Prize
Winner: Sierra (dir. Sander Joon)
First Runner Up: The Flying Sailor (dirs. Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis)
Second Runner Up: Dog Apartment (dir. Priit Tender)
Canadian Film Institute (CFI) Award for Best Canadian Animation
Winner: The Flying Sailor (dirs. Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis)
Comment: For its striking, inventive combination of animation styles and its
thoughtful, poetic evocation of the dignity of humanity in times of
catastrophe.
Special Mention: Animal Collective – We Go Back (dirs. Winston Hacking & Michael Enzbrunner)
Comment: For its witty, unpredictable, and imaginative journey through pop
culture history and personal memory
Animated Short Competition – Category Prizes
Best Non-Narrative
Winner: lizuna Fair (dir. Sumito Sakakibara)
Jury Comment: For its immersive unearthing and exploratory polyrhythm which creates a kinetic experience within its medium.
Best Narrative
Winner: Letter to a Pig (dir. Tal Kantor)
Jury Comment: By viscerally tearing down walls for internal conversation, the affecting narrative and structure at the core of the following film provide a challenging, hard-hitting story. Exploring multi-generational trauma through a fresh new lens.
Best Commissioned
Winner: The Humane Society International – Save Ralph (dir. Spencer Susser)
Jury Comment: Whilst artfully playing with the viewer’s emotions, the following film breaks beyond the confines of traditional marketing. With an empathetic character at its core that resonants long past the film’s initial viewing.
Bento Box Award for Best Student Animation
Winner: The Seine’s Tears (dirs. Alice Letailleur, Eliott Benard, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Lisa Vicente, Nicolas Mayeur, Philippine Singer & Yanis Belaid)
Jury Comment: Firmly standing on all levels of narrative, directing, visual design, sound, technique, and editing — the following film addresses a relevant historical event which echoes into our current political landscape.
Animation for Young Audiences 3+ Competition
Winner: My Name is Fear (dir. Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez)
Animation for Young Audiences 7+ Competition
Winner: Luce and the Rock (dir. Britt Raes)
Animated Series Competition
Winner: My Year of Dicks ‘The Sex Talk’ (dir. Sara Gunnarsdottir)
Virtual Reality Competition
Winner: Biolun (dir. Abel Kohn)
Canadian Student Competition
Winner: I Had a Dream of A House at Night (dir. Charlie Galea McClure)
Animated Short Competition – Craft Awards
Best Script
Winner: Drone (dir. Sean Buckelew)
Best Design
Winner: Backflip (dir. Nikita Diakur)
Best Technique
Winner: Hotel Kalura (dir. sophie koko gate)
Best Sound Design
Winner: Zoon (dir. Jonatan Schwenk)
Watch the Winners’ Trailers:
For more info, visit animationfestival.ca
