Manchester Animation Fest unveils 2020 winners

The winners of the 2020 Industry Excellence Awards and Film Awards at Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) have been unveiled.

MAF trophies were presented to The Great Malaise, which scooped the Best Short Film gong; Pearl Diver, which took home Best Student Film, and Biplane Model Kit which secured the Best Commissioned Film prize. Selected by the MAF audience Shooom’s Odyssey won the Audience Award, with special mentions granted to films And Something Else in the student category and LLS-Grace in commissioned films.

The Industry Excellence Awards, which recognise individuals working in the industry in the fields of writing, storyboarding character design and character animation, have have been awarded to Estrela Lourenco for My Little Pony: Pony Life for Best Storyboarding; Adam Redfern, Jon Foster and James Lamont for Paddington Christmas Special: The Lost Letter for Best Scriptwriting; Character Design has been awarded to Ross Phillips for Hey Duggee, and the Best Character Animation award has been presented to Quentin Haberham for The Clangers.

Manchester Animation Festival continues online until the 30^th November, with 47 events, masterclasses, screenings, features and panels all available to view until then.

WINNERS IN FULL:

Short Film

Winner: THE GREAT MALAISE

Director: Catherine LePage

“Chosen for being a strong, funny, moving but profoundly human and poignant film. Its combination of dialogue and creative use of imagery juxtaposing with each other beautifully illustrates the anxiety that comes with the quest for perfection and the pursuit of happiness and the ideal light that society expects.”

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Student Film

Winner: PEARL DIVER

Director: Margrethe Danielsen

“Chosen for its overall engaging, great characterisation, simple yet profound design and performance it is relatable and comedic and well observed. The sound is perfectly matched to the environments and showcases the art form of animation with all its glory. A simple set up with huge satisfactory pay off”

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Special Mention: AND SOMETHING ELSE

Director: Olga Klyszewicz

“The jury would like to give a special mention in this category to a film that beautifully executes its story between the characters in an emotional connection and performance. They are placed in a new environment not by their own doing and we see their relationship play out regardless of what is thrown at them. The soundscape is exquisite and the design is perfectly balanced to draw in the audience to empathise”

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Commissioned Film

Winner: BIPLANE MODEL KIT

Director: TINE KLUTH

“Chosen for being fun, well animated, intrinsically in tune and balanced with the music it has all the qualities of vision and sound in perfect synchronicity. Inventive, playful, entertaining and well crafted, it makes great use of the medium of animation all round.”

Special Mention:

LLS- GRACE

Director: Natalie LaBarre

“The jury would like to give a special mention in this category to a film that gives a wonderful visual representation to a subject matter that can affect lives and how design and voice are integral to making it accessible to mention and manage”

Audience Award

Winner: SHOOOM’S ODYSSEY

Director: Julien Bisaro

Selected by the MAF Audience with over 2700 ballots cast for the eligible films screening at MAF in total.

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THE 2020 INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS:

Storyboarding

Phillip Warner for Hey Duggee
Catherine Salkeld for Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed!
Mick Harrison for Daisy & Ollie
Giulia Caruso & Francesco Cipolla for Rescue Bots Academy: Power Up and Energize
WINNER: Estrela Lourenco for My Little Pony: Pony Life

Scriptwriting

Produced by Blue Zoo

Alex Collier for Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed!: Pranksy
Evgenia Golubeva & Myles McLeod for Kit’n’Kate: The Tallest Tower
Sophie Dutton for Hey Duggee: The Puzzle Badge
Sam Morrison for Hey Duggee: The Tooth Brushing Badge
WINNER: Adam Redfern, Jon Foster and James Lamont for Paddington Christmas Special: The Lost Letter

Character Design