Koji Yamamura can add the Hiroshima International Animation Festival's Grand Prix to his long list of awards for Kafuka Inaka Isha (Kafka's A Country Doctor, 2007). The festival wound up yesterday and by all accounts was a great success.
Other winners included Tsumiki no ie (La Maison en Petits Cubes, 2008) directed by Kunio Kato, who walked away with both the Hiroshima Prize and the Audience Prize. Jean-Claude Mbotti Malolo of France won the Debut Prize for his film Le Coeur est un Métronome (2007). Izabela Plucinska's Sniadanie (Breakfast, Poland/Germany, 2006) won the Renzo Kinoshita Prize (named in memory of the co-founder of the festival). The Rene Laloux Prize went to François-Marc Baillet for D'un peu plus loin (A Little Farther, France, 2007).
The wide range of countries reprented at the festival demonstrates the truly international flavour of the Hiroshima Festival, whose aim since its inception in 1985 has been to promote love and peace between nations. I really admire Sayoko Kinoshita for the hard work she has put into continuing this biannual festival for so many years.
Jury special prizes went to Madame Tutli-Putli (Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski, NFB, Canada, 2007), KJFG No. 5 (Alexey Alekseev, Hungary, 2007), Oktapodi (Julien Bocabeille, et al., Talantis Films, France, 2007), Zhiharka (Oleg Uzhinov, Russia, 2006), Candid (Zepe, Portugal, 2007), and Don't Let It All Unravel (Sarah Cox, UK, 2006).
Other special pizes were awarded to John and Karen (Matthew Walker, UK, 2007), Minuscule-La Coccinelle (Miniscule - the Ladybug, Thomas Szabo, France, 2006), Beton (Ariel Belinco & Michael Faust, Israel, 2006), Lapsus (Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina, 2007), Lavatory-Lovestory (Konstantin Bronzit, Russia, 2007), and Lost in Snow (Vladimir Leschiov, Latvia, 2007).
