Festivals & Events

Quirino Awards Announces Its Inaugural Winners

Published on April 7, 2018

The first edition of the Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation were held Saturday evening in Tenerife, Spain, celebrating the amazing talent and creativity of producers on both sides of the Atlantic. The winning features, series and shorts were announced at a ceremony held at the Adán Martín Tenerife Auditorium which celebrated the theme “all Ibero-America united by animation.” A total of 273 works from 14 different countries participated in this inaugural competition.

Presented by actress Noelia Noto and Brazilian producer Marta Machado, the gala featured appearances by Carlos Alonso, President of the Cabildo de Tenerife; Alberto Bernabé, VP and Minister of Tourism, Internationalization and External Action of the Cabildo de Tenerife; and José Iñesta and Jose Luis Farias, spokespersons for the Quirino Awards. One of the evening’s highlights was a tribute to Quirino Cristiani — the awards’ namesake — an Italian-Argentinian director, artist and cartoonist who in 1917 created the first animated feature film with sound. Excerpts from the documentary Without a Trace (Life and Work of Quirino Cristiani) by Diego Kartaszewicz.

The Best Feature Film winner was Mexican CG project Ana & Bruno by director Carlos Carrera, who made his animation debut with the Palme d’Or-winning short film El héroe in 1994. The film premiered at Annecy last summer and will have its theatrical release in Mexico in August. Best Series went to stop-motion short-format The Tiniest Man in the World from Argentinian animator Juan Pablo Zaramella. And festival favorite Alberto Vázquez of Spain (Birdboy: The Forgotten Children) won Best Short for his dystopian 2D piece Decorado.

The international jury was comprised of film historian Giannalberto Bendazzi, Eleanor Coleman (Indie Sales), producer-consultant Joan Lofts, and animators David Feiss and Raúl García.

You can view the list of finalist nominees here. The 2018 Quirino Award winners are:

Best Feature Film: Ana & Bruno by Carlos Carrera
(Mexico)
Altavista Films, Lo Coloco Films, in co-production with Ítaca Films, Ánima Estudios, Five 7 Media, Argos Servicios Informativos

Best Series: The Tiniest Man in the World by Juan Pablo Zaramella
(Argentina, France)
Les Films De L’Arlequin, JPL Films, Can Can Club

Best Short Film: Decorado by Alberto Vázquez
(Spain, France)
UniKo, in co-production with Autour de Minuit & Abano Producións

Best School Short Film: Tántalo by Juan Facundo Ayerbe & Christian Krieghoff
(Argentina)
Universidad de Buenos Aires

Best Commissioned Film: Cantar con sentido, una biografía de Violeta Parra by Leonardo Beltrán
(Chile)
Plastivida y Niño Viejo

Most Innovative Work: The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo by Nacho Rodríguez (Spain)

Best Visual Development: Here’s the Plan by Fernanda Frick (Chile)
Art direction: Fernanda Frick; Produced by: María José Barros.

Best Animation Design: Caminho dos Gigantes by Alois Di Leo (Brasil)
Animation directors: Tiago Rovida and Henrique Lobato; Produced by: Sinlogo Animation

Best Sound Design & Original Music: Tad, the Lost Explorer: The Secret of King Midas by Enrique Gato & David Alonso (Spain)
Sound design: Oriol Tarragó; Original music: Zacarías M. de la Riva