This year we were so honoured to welcome our esteemed judging panel. They watched, assessed and debated the finer points of every single one of the films selected for competition. Below you’ll find out a little more about their decisions and why each of our LIAF 2024 winners were awarded their accolades.
Best Film of the Festival Award: Beautiful Men – Nicolas Keppens
Three middle-aged brothers go to Istanbul to get hair transplants, and end up confronting a range of insecurities and misunderstandings, which are sketched with delicacy and humour. The stop-motion animation is subtle, the puppets are expressive, and the jokes are funny – while also always revealing something about these characters. The result is a vivid, unusual portrait of the tensions and tenderness that shape these brothers’ relationships with each other. Our choice of winner for Best of the Festival is a beautiful film: it is Beautiful Men, directed by Nicolas Keppens.
Best British Film Award: And Granny Would Dance – Maryam Mohajer
This year’s stand out film invited us into an inmate moment between close friends. Seen through the eyes of a child, this innocent and curious perspective looking up at the older group of women, allowed us to share in their grief and witness the joy, resilience and healing power of sisterhood. This films delicate handling of these women’s recollections makes the love they share for one another flow out of the screen, immersing the audience in the warm glow of their friendship.
Best Abstract Showcase Award: (S) by Mario Radev
The judges felt this film balanced a beautiful approach to storytelling and a masterful control of both stop motion and hand drawn loop animation. The attention to detail in set design and sound really made this film stand out, skilfully revealing its materiality while also drawing us into its imagined metaphysical universe.
JUDGE’S HIGHLY COMMENDED
Help Desk – Edwin Rostron
Help Desk by Edwin Rostron is commended for the artist’s unique artistic voice and approach to material and form. The work is a wonderfully playful stream of consciousness which surprises the viewer with inventive interplay between 2D and 3D space.
Grain Cloud Atmosphere – Martin Moolhuijsen
Grain Cloud Atmosphere by Martin Moolhuijsen is commended for the artist’s inventive approach to time, relationship between sound and image, and creative use of an algorithm to organise hand painted frames. The judges found the work mesmerising and suggestive of both microscopic and cosmic scales.
Best Sound Design Award: Earth Coal By Pierre Caillet and Yan Volsy
The judges felt that the overall sound design was bold, constructed to compliment the striking style, and the smooth movement of the animation. A multi-layered soundscape that is subtle at times and becomes more prominent as the narrative unfolds. The sound made us feel that we were in the world of the animator, the abstract becomes more rhythmic, uplifting and atmospheric towards the latter part of the film. There are moments of darkness, and through the fog, the sound is evoking in the viewer a sense of deep reflection. This is heightened, becoming more uplifting, and through the experimental nature of the work, we are taken on a journey through sound, music and movement.
Best Original Score Award: Extremely Short – Isaji Sunao (Dir. Koji Yamamura)
The judges felt that music was orchestrated as a performance on the screen, where the animation and music are apart and soon become unified. Both poetic and transformative, each note brings forth a new energy, as the viewer is drawn into the musical realm of life, death and beyond. The music creates a richness to the animation, a highly compelling, lyrical narrative alongside the dancing, swirling and floating visuals. The music and animation are intertwined, increasing in intensity, drawing you into the beauty of the work, and it’s musical realm before lifting us out and slowly coming to a halt.
Best Late Night Bizarre Award: Desk Bugs – Hakhyun Kim
We were completely unanimous on this as the winner and loved this joyously intense film about bewildering little desk creatures. It felt truly unique, inspired and genuinely bizarre, from the tactile hand-painted animation to the brain-rattling synth soundtrack.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: The Doldrums – Chris Childs
We really loved its organic, timeless animation, the enigmatic tone and otherworldly, almost Lynchian dream logic.
Best Music Video Award: I’m Leaving – Michelle Brand
I’m Leaving understood the harmony between both its visuals and music. A relatably simple but effective idea of watching city lights speed by to the rhythm, slowly grows and morphs into sprawling textural and technically complex cityscapes for brief moments, really capturing the essence and mood of the song.
Best Children’s Film Award 8-15 year olds: Lulina and the Moon – Marcus Vinicius Vasconcelos & Alois Di Leo
Such a beautiful short film, the unique animation style is extremely evocative of magical childhood memories.
Best Children’s Film Award 0-7 year olds: Animanimals – Julia Ocker
Animanimals has fun and friendly characters for children to connect with as well as a lovely animation style and engaging story.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Finding Play – Dan Castro
An extremely imaginative animation, with super friendly characters and an engaging atmosphere encouraging the importance of play for children’s learning about the world.
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