Before Love, Cafard Win Holland Animation Festival Awards
The welcome return of the Russian animation direcotr Igor Kovalyov at the 2016 Holland Animation Film Festival with his world premiere of Before Love was crowned with the Grand Prix award for a narrative film.
Before Love has a construction worker on a scaffold observing a young woman who is spying on a man.
The jury, comprised of Dave Cooper (CA), Bernard Granger (FR/DE), aka Blexbolex and Tatsutoshi Nomura (JP) described the film as a masterwork - a lush feast of undulating light and textures that tells a mouthwatering ambiguous story.
The non-narrative award for a short film was reserved for Track by Tochka, Kazue Monno & Takeshi Nagata (Japan, 2015).
The mo-cap feature Cafard by Jan Bultheel took home the Grand Prix for a feature film.
Hans Heesen (Netherlands), Stuart Pound (UK), and Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia), the jury for feature films stated that Bultheel created a wonderful movie in a surreal style, with a consistent flow of characters and big shots.
Cafard tells the story of Mordant who is crowned the Wrestling Champion of the World during WWI, where back in Ostend his daughter Mimi is raped by German soldiers. Jean swears to avenge her and enrolls in the prestigious ACM, the first ever armored car division, yet he embarks on a a dramatic odyssey which will drag him around the world.
UK director Nina Gantz took home another festival award (best student film) with the stop-motion fiilm Edmond.
The full awards list:
Winner Grand Prix short narrative: Before Love, Igor Kovalyov (Russia, 2016)
Winner Grand Prix short non-narrative: Track, Tochka, Kazue Monno, Takeshi Nagata (Japan, 2015)
Winner Grand Prix feature film: Cafard, Jan Bultheel (Belgium/ The Netherlands/ France, 2015)
Winner Grand Prix student film: Edmond, Nina Gantz, National Film and Television School (UK, 2015)
Winner Grand Prix Dutch animation: De Staat: Witch Doctor, Floris Kaayk and Studio Smack (The Netherlands, 2015)
HAFF Audience Award Dutch animation: Paniek! (Panic!), Joost Lieuwma, Daan Velsink (The Netherlands, 2015)
MovieZone HAFF Award (in cooperation with EYE): Track, Tochka, Kazue Monno, Takeshi Nagata (Japan, 2015)
HAFF Junior Audience Award (in cooperation with EYE): (Otto), Job, Joris & Marieke, (The Netherlands, 2015)
Winner web competition HAFFTube: Melting POP, Alexandre Dubosc (France, 2015)
The 19th edition of Holland Animation Film Festival took place 16-20 March in Utrecht.
Igor Kovalyov receives the Grand Prix at HAFF . Photo: Nichon Gierum
Jan Bultheel (right) receives the award for best feature film at HAFF. Photo: Nichon Gerium