Mary and Max Wins At OIAF 2009

Ottawa International Animation Festival Ran From October 14 - 18

Oct 20, 2009

Mary and Max won the prize for Best Animated Feature Film at the OIAF 2009. Who else walked home with trophies? Click the link to find out.

Adam Elliot's stop-motion Mary and Max beat a field of 7 features (including Coraline) to take the prize for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival.

While the prize-giving was free of the controversy that surrounded last year's feature film winner, there were a few raised eyebrows over the love given to Estonian animation. As one animator said, "Those guys need an editor!" However, no one disputed the three awards given to Bastien Dubois' 'Madagascar.'

"That's f*****g brilliant!" gasped one animation professional during a screening.

Below, is the list of winners at this year's OIAF, plus a blurb by the jury supporting their decision. Standout shorts (both positive and negative) also receive pointed commentary by yours truly.

Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature

“The film tells a simple and strong story about friendship, deep understanding of the human condition with all its defects. It is a perfect balance between tragedy and comedy.”

Mary and Max was a worthy film, but Sunao Katabuchi's Mai Mai Miracle appeared to get a lot more love from OIAF moviegoers.

Honourable Mention:

“The jury was profoundly touched by one particular film therefore would like to award an honourable mention. This film has an outstanding style and above all, the way in which it allows the audience to identify with the characters and the relationships.”

Nelvana GRAND PRIZE for Best Independent Short Animation

"We selected 'Obligations' because of its compelling portrayal of sexual politics, its disturbing but effective metaphors and the director's bold and provocative vision."

Animation professor Lowell Boston (Philadelphia's University of Art) disagreed, saying, "That short looked like a bad 1980's music video."

HIT Entertainment Prize for Best Student Animation

"This remarkably confident animation takes its exotic graphic style to an extreme as its characters carry out an intense, elegant and brutal mating dance."

Prize for Best Commissioned Animation

'Madagascar, carnet de voyage' (Madagascar, A Journal Diary) – by Bastien Dubois, France

"A deeply personal and touching documentary. The film buoyantly realizes 3-D space, and combines a hand-drawn feel with a dimensionality that hovers just off the page."

Best Animation School Showreel

Best Narrative Short

"A film that compels us to reassess our notions of aesthetic execution and beauty in computer animation. The film has a fragmented story structure and surprisingly personal character interactions."

Honourable Mention:

'Köögi Dimensioonid' (KitchenDimensions) – directed by Priit Tender, Estonia

At one of the screenings, a viewer turned to her neighbor and said, "This short was brought to you by the letters W, T and F!"

Best Experimental/Abstract Animation

"A series of lavish and mysterious vignettes which use 3-D animation to suggest sculptural metaphors suspended in space."

Honourable Mention:

Adobe Prize for Best High School Animation

'Did U See That; – by Yuri Rhee, Ha Jung Kim, Paul Kim and Hyun Jung Lee, Korea Animation High School, South Korea

"With simple and strong line drawings the filmmakers create a modern fairytale."

Best Undergraduate Animation

'The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9!' – directed by Jake Armstrong, School of Visual Arts, USA

"An expertly designed, scripted and animated tale of a space explorer and a monster who just wants to play fetch."

This short got huge laughs when it screened in competition, and the credits were very funny as well. Very nicely done.

Honourable Mention:

"Mac Daddy is worth this mention because of its uninhibited expressiveness in animation."

Best Graduate Animation

'Lebensader' – directed by Angela Steffen, Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemburg, Germany

"A moving portrait of a child's vision is created through the rich realization of natural form, dynamic animation and sophisticated design."

Best Promotional Animation

'Nick Idents' – by Ljubisa Djukic, Ole Keune and Bettina Vogel, Dyrdee Media GmbH & Co. KG, Germany

"A funny, spare, well-conceived series of network IDs that use Nick's iconic orange colour to humourous and clever effect."

Best Music Video

"A mix of pulsing 8-bit graphics and glitch imagery provide a jolting backdrop to the bloops and bleeps of video game-inspired music."

Best Television Animation for Adults

'Madagascar, carnet de voyage' (Madagascar, A Journal Diary) – by Bastien Dubois, France

Best Short Animation Made for Children

Best Television Animation Made for Children

Honourable Mention:

Tom and the Slice of Bread with Strawberry Jam & Honey 'Tom's Band' / 'Tom and the Nice Family' (Tom und das Erdbeermarmeladebrot mit Honig), directed by Andreas Hykade, Germany

The National Film Board of Canada Public Prize

'Madagascar, A Journey Diary' (Madagascar, carnet de voyage), directed by Bastien Dubois & Guilaine Bergeret, France

Canadian Film Institute Award for Best Canadian Animation

'Le Tiroir et le Corbeau' (The Drawer and The Crow) – by Frédérick Tremblay, Canada

"A poetic, artfully-realized stop-motion film about alienation, love and memories."

Many OIAF audience members were shocked that Cordell Barker's 'Runaway' didn't take this award.

Honourable Mentions:

- For its visual variety and inventive animated interpretation of a classic French Canadian folk song, the CFI Award goes to 'Vive La Rose', by Bruce Alcock

- For its daring, dynamic graphic visualization of the Billy Collins poem, 'The Art of Drowning', by Diego Maclean

- For its intelligence, wit, and achieving maximum impact with minimal means, 'The Paper Prince', by Hamish Lambert

Look for more coverage of OIAF 2009, including exclusive interviews with directors Henry Selick, Cordell Barker and My Dog Tulip's Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, coming soon to Suite 101.

The copyright of the article Mary and Max Wins At OIAF 2009 in Animated Films is owned by Dominic von Riedemann. Permission to republish Mary and Max Wins At OIAF 2009 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Oct 22, 2009 2:01 PM

Dominic Messier :

That's awesome. Mary & Max was actually in theatres in Paris, last month during our honeymoon.