press release * Bratislava, Slovakia, July 4th, 2012
The International Animation Festival Fest Anča has announced the winners for the fifth annual presentation of its awards. Festival took place between June 28th and July 1st, 2012 in Žilina, Slovakia.
Anča Award
Anča Award is an international competition of animated films up to 30 minutes that were created in the last two years. This year, 496 films from 49 countries entered the competition. From these were chosen 38 pictures, evaluated by the three-member international jury composed of Frank Braun (SWI), Zuzana Gindl-Tatárová (SK) and Anna Solanas (ESP).
At the final ceremony on Sunday July 1st, 2012, the name of the winner of the award and of the 1.000 € prize money was announced: Polish film Sleepincord (Snępowina) by Marta Pajek for "the simple and surprising visual style and storytelling of the author, which leads us to discover the intimate space of female dreams that appears more real than what we perceive when we are awake".
In addition to that, the jury decided to give a Special Mention for Short Animation to Oh Willy by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels from Belgium because, according to their opinion, "the choice of a soft material in order to tell such a monstrous story resulted in an extraordinary match".
Another Special Mention for Short Animation was given to the film Big House (Suur maja) by Kristjan Holm from Estonia for the jury appreciated that in the film "the metaphorical sound of night becomes the hero of the story".
Anča Student Award
For the first time in the festival history the jury members had the pleasant duty to select also the winner of a student prize (and the 300 € prize money). As a part of the international competition, Fest Anča assigned an award for the best student film of the last two years. Among the 38 films selected for the Anča Award, there are 10 student films that also competed for the Anča Student Award. The jury decided to give Anča Student Award to the French film De riz ou d'Armenie by Samy Barras, Romain Blondelle, Hélène Marchal and Céline Seillé as they were impressed with the way "how the young team of directors displayed a unique understanding and empathy in describing a couple's relationship at the end of their lives".
The jury members decided to give a Special Mention also in this category and they chose the student film BAKA!! by Immanuel Wagner from Switzerland for "its appealing character design and special sense of humour together with a great marriage of image and sound".
Anča Music Video Award
The jury members Noro Držiak (SK), Alexandr Jančík (CZ) and Johnny Kelly (IR) decided to give Anča Music Video Award (the 700 € prize money) to the animated music video Mound by Allison Schulnik from the USA for "the combination of the music and picture that creates a hypnotic experience." In their view, "the video demonstrates Alison's intimate knowledge of her craft without becoming simply a technical showcase".
Fest Anča, Krížna 10, 811 07 Bratislava, Slovakia
