MAF ANNOUNCE 2022 AWARD WINNERS

The winners of the Industry Excellence Awards and the MAF Awards 2022 were revealed. The ceremony was hosted by the magnificent and multi award winning comedian Amy Gledhill.

The Jury for the Manchester Animation Festival Feature Film Category included Kieran Argo (British Animation Awards), Abigail Addison (Producer/Programmer – Animate Projects) and Jo Chalkley (Director – Cosgrove Hall Films, Aardman Animations, and Factory).

The returning Short Film Category included Hanna Ines Flint (Writer), Ivana Kvesić (Director – Fantoche International Animation Film Festival), and Evgenia Golubeva (Director/Writer/Character Designer – Disney, Sky Kids, Nick Jr, and BBC).

And the winners are..

FEATURE: NAYOLA

The Best Feature Film award  was awarded to Nayola directed by Jose Miguel Ribeiro.

Angola. Three generations of women in a 25-year-long civil war: Lelena (the grandmother), Nayola (the daughter) and Yara (the granddaughter). Past and present interlace. Nayola goes in search of her missing husband at the height of the war. Decades later, the country is finally at peace but Nayola has not returned. Yara has become a rebellious teenager and a subversive rap singer. Lelena tries to contain her for fear of the police coming to arrest her. One night, a masked intruder breaks into their house, armed with a machete. An encounter like nothing they could have imagined.

The jury appreciated the complexity of representation in this film. It has a strong expressive visual style. The jury also felt the music and sound design complement the overall story very well.

SHORT: PACHYDERM

Pachyderm by Stéphanie Clement took away the award for Short Film. The jury said: “Subtle, poetic narration to tell a powerful story of survival in the face of abuse and the loss of innocence. The animation captured beautifully, harrowingly the pain and dissociative nature of trauma. This will stay with you.”

The jury also wanted to give a Special Mention to A Guitar in the Bucket by Boyoung Kim. They said: “Don’t let the cuteness of the animation make you think this short hasn’t got major things to say about capitalism, community and society – as well as the artist’s struggle. Darkly witty and playful.”

AUDIENCE: ICE MERCHANTS

Selected by the Manchester Animation Festival audience over the course of the Festival, the audience award is the film that stuck with audience members. Ice Merchants, directed João Gonzalez was our 2022 winner.

STUDENT: GODZALINA

Godzalina by Lucile Paras took home the student award for 2022. The jury said: “A hilarious, sharply-paced feminist short that brilliantly repurposes traditional art to tell a contemporary story of gender equality.”

The jury also wanted to give a Special Mention to Above the Clouds by Vivien Hárshegyi

They said it was: “A super trippy yet viscerally relatable story that takes us on a hyperbolic cruise through the choppy waters of one woman’s love life.”

COMMISSIONED: COLD HEART

Scooping the award for commissioned films was Cold Heart by Raman Djafari. The jury said: “This warmed our hearts completely. Campy, chaotic, colourful, a visual feast that had us bopping in our seats.”

The jury wanted to give a Special Mention to Head and Shoulders: The Chase. They said: A high-octane ride with a plot twist to leave you cackling.

IMMERSIVE: GLIMPSE

Glimpse by Michael O’Connor and Benjamin Cleary enveloped the jury enough to take home the award for immersive film.

The jury said: “Dynamic world building, excellent voice performance with eye-catching visuals to push the plot forward in a seamlessly entertaining way.”

A special Mention  was given to Lavrynthos. The jury said: “Intriguing use of space to tell a classic story with surprising elements, humour and existential questioning.”

SHORT FILM FOR CHILDREN: LAIKA & NEMO

Jan Gadermann’s Laika & Nemo took home the award for Short Films for Children. This award was selected by a specially formed panel of 9-14 year olds from Into Film’s Youth Advisory Group.

INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2022

The Industry Excellence Awards are our way of saying thank you to the people who work tirelessly, day in and day out to provide amazing work in animation production.

The Jury for the Industry Excellence Awards 2022 featured Alessandro Chirico (Art Director, Production Designer and Visual Development Artists – Jellyfish Pictures), Elena Wurlitzer (Development Producer – Jellyfish Pictures), Rahul Dasgupta (Senior Storyboard Artist – Blue Zoo Animation) and Steve Kimbrey (Animation Lead – Blue Zoo Animation). The full list of nominees can be found here.

And the awards go to…

SCRIPTWRITING

Alan Denton & Greg Hahn for Botbots ‘Crime and Bun-ishment’.

STORYBOARDING

Estrela Lourenço for Botbots ‘Crime and Bun-ishment’.

CHARACTER DESIGN

Guia Gandi for The Adventures of Paddington.

CHARACTER ANIMATION

Arianna Gheller for Hypno Tidoo.