“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”Wins Best Canadian Animation at the 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival

“The Girl Who Cried Pearls” by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski Wins Best Canadian Animation at the 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival

The week-long 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) concluded on September 27th, officially announcing the winners of this year’s competition categories. Animation artists and production companies from around the world gathered to celebrate the most creative and influential works in the global animation industry over the past year.

Among the winners, the short film The Girl Who Cried Pearls, created by renowned animation artists Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), won the prestigious Best Canadian Animation award. This award once again affirms the two directors’ outstanding achievements and innovative spirit in the art of animation.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls stood out among numerous excellent local works, winning high praise from the jury for its unique visual style and profound narrative depth. The film continues Lavis and Szczerbowski’s signature dark poetry and visual spectacle, telling a surreal and thought-provoking fable. This award recognizes not only the film’s artistic value but also the NFB’s long-standing commitment to supporting innovative and experimental filmmaking.

The Ottawa International Animation Festival is one of the most important animation events in North America. Its Best Canadian Animation award aims to honor the year’s most artistically accomplished and influential domestic animation work. The award is highly competitive and is considered one of the highest honors in Canadian animation.

Directors Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski are internationally renowned for their 2007 Oscar-nominated film, Madame Tutli-Putli. They are distinguished in the global animation community for their masterful stop-motion techniques, meticulous attention to detail, and a unique aesthetic blending gothic and grotesque elements. This latest award marks another significant milestone in their artistic careers.

The Executive Producer of the NFB’s Animation Studio commented: “We are incredibly proud of Chris and Maciek. The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a masterpiece that perfectly embodies the NFB’s mission to push the boundaries of the art of animation and support artists in their bold creative visions. This award is the best possible recognition of the talent and hard work of the entire creative team.”

The success of The Girl Who Cried Pearls signals that Canadian animation will continue to shine on the international stage with its unique creativity and artistic appeal.

The festival’s competition was intense, with the jury selecting winners for the following main awards from a vast field of entries:

Grand Prize

Grand Prize for Short Animation

Winner: Il burattino e la balena (The Puppet and the Whale) (dir. Roberto Catani)

Grand Prize for Animated Feature

Winner: La mort n’existe pas (Death Does Not Exist) (dir. Félix Dufour-Laperrière)

Honorable Mention: La gran historia de la filosofía occidental (The Great History of Western Philosophy) (dir. Aria Covamonas)

Wacom Public Prize

Winner: S the Wolf (dir. Sameh Alaa)

CFI Award for Best Canadian Animation

Winner: La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles (The Girl Who Cried Pearls) (dirs. Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski)

Honorable Mention: We’re Kinda Different (dir. Ben Meinhardt)

Hélène Tanguay Award for Humor

Winner: Poor Marciano (dir. Alex Rey)

Animated Short Competition – Category Prizes

ASIFA International 65th Anniversary Best Non-Narrative Award

Winner: Green Lung (dir. Simon Hamlyn)

Animation Mentor Best Narrative Short Award

Winner: Rakugaki (The Graffiti) (dir. Ryo Orikasa)

Best Commissioned Animation

Winner: Desi Oon (dir. Suresh Eriyat)

Bento Box Award for Best Student Animation

Winner: Anklebones (dir. Nicole Altan)

TVPaint Canadian Student Award

Winner: Lullaby for a Deathdream (dir. Charlie Galea-McClure)

Honorable Mention: Music in My Pocket (dir. Veronika Kostyuk)

Honorable Mention: When the Moon Sings (dir. Jesu Medina)

Animation for Teen Audiences 13+ Competition

Winner: Autokar (dir. Sylwia Szkiłądź)

Animation for Young Audiences 7+ Competition

Winner: Les bottes de la nuit (Night Boots) (dir. Pierre-Luc Granjon)

Honorable Mention: Omedodeedu (Edu’s Fear) (dirs. Bruno Mazzilli and Tiago Judas)

Animated Series Competition

Winner: Eggland (dirs. Cole Kush and Christopher Rutledge)

Honorable Mention: Common Side Effects ‘Pilot’ (dir. Camille Bozec)

Animated Short Competition – Craft Awards

Best Script

Winner: S the Wolf (dir. Sameh Alaa)

Best Design

Winner: 海星，乌鸦，独角兽 (Crow, Starfish, and Unicorn) (dir. Xiaoxuan Han)

XPPen Craft Award Prize for Best Animation Technique

Winner: Fusion (dir. Richard Reeves)

Best Sound Design

Winner: Evacuations (dir. Lilli Carré)

The Festival’s Artistic Director stated at the awards ceremony: “This year’s submissions showed remarkable diversity and artistic depth. From deeply moving narratives to avant-garde visual experiments, these works not only entertained us but also expanded the boundaries of the animation art form. We extend our warmest congratulations to all the winners and thank all participants for sharing their unique visions with us.”

About the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF)
The Ottawa International Animation Festival is one of North America’s longest-running animation festivals. It is dedicated to showcasing the world’s most cutting-edge and artistic animation works and provides a vital platform for exchange and exhibition for animation artists, industry professionals, and enthusiasts. The winning films of this year’s festival will be available for online viewing after the event concludes for a global audience.

animationfestival.ca

About the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada’s public producer and distributor, renowned worldwide for its innovative work in documentary, animation, interactive fiction, and narrative film. The NFB has won over 7,000 international awards, including 12 Academy Awards.