The third annual GLAS Animation Festival wrapped Sunday night in Berkeley, CA, handing out awards in six separate categories along with special mentions, the GLAS 2018 GIF Competition and — new this year — the FXX Elevation Award, which is sponsored by FX Networks and provides a $25,000 grant to develop an original animated project with FXX.

Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s stop-motion existential musical short The Burden was the big winner at GLAS 2018, receiving the FXX Elevation Award, the Audience Award and the Grand Prix Award.

Organizers of the festival also announced a brand-new grant program, entitled GLAS Cash, which is aimed at supporting independent animators making short films in the United States. Funded by an anonymous donor with additional support from stop-motion specialists Screen Novelties, GLAS Cash will provide two $2,500 grants to two filmmakers in the U.S. Applications and full eligibility information for the inaugural grant will be available starting May 1st on the GLAS Animation website.

“We want to help independent animators working in the United States get their films made,” GLAS Animation Festival organizers commented about the new grant program. “It’s kind of as simple as that. We think this community is making some of the most exciting work out there, and we want to help support it in every way we can.”

The full list of winners is shown below:

GLAS 2018 GIF Competition
Sad Black Friday by Jon Frickey

FXX Elevation Award
The Burden — Niki Lindroth von Bahr

U.S. Competition
Jury: Reca Busci, Simon Wilches Castro and Michael Frei

• Winner: Strange Fish — Steven Subotnick
• Special Mention: △▽ (Triangle Up Triangle Down) — Conner Griffith

Children’s Competition
Jury: Rachel Sale, Erick Oh and Sophie Coco Gate

• Winner: Hedgehog’s Home — Eva Cvijanović
• Special Mention: Birdlime — Evan DeRushie

Audience Award
The Burden — Niki Lindroth von Bahr

International Competition: Special Mentions
Competition Jury for Grand Prix, New Talent, High Risk: Jonathan Hodgson, Ruth Lingford and Boris Labbé

• Pussy — Renata Gąsiorowska
• A Photo of Me — Dennis Tupicoff
• Clemence’s Afternoon — Lénaïg le Moigne

International Competition: High Risk
Who’s the Daddy — Ping Wong

International Competition: New Talent
Ugly — Nikita Diakur

International Competition: Grand Prix
The Burden — Niki Lindroth von Bahr

Jennifer Wolfe is Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.