The seventh AniFest, International Festival of Animated Films, is successfully over. According to latest data, around 35,000 visitors came to see the festival programs in 14 different venues around Třeboň. AniFest has brought the traditional mixture of good mood, beautiful setting, and what is most important, animation. AniFest Grand Prix was awarded to the French feature-length film “Persepolis” directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud.
The winner of the International Competition is the feature-length film “Persepolis”
The Selection Committees have chosen 287 films altogether. All jurors say that the standard of this year’s competition was very high. Rony Oren described his work as a juror and the competition films as follows: “I was in the company of wise people. And also very good films, which sometimes makes it easier and sometimes it is even more difficult because there were too many good films.”
The results of the International Competition at AniFest 2008 were announced at the Closing Ceremony on Monday, 12 May. A total of 13 prizes were awarded in the 7 categories of the International Competition. The jury for original films, comprising Břetislav Pojar, American producer Ron Diamond and Israeli animator and Head of Animation Department at the Bezalel Academy Rony Oren, awarded the Prize for Very Short Film to John and Karen (Matthew Walker, UK) and two Special Mentions to Sandbox (Avi Ofer, Israel) and KJFG No. 5 (Aleksey Alekseev, Hungary). The Prize for Short Film was awarded to Japanese director Koji Yamamura for Franz Kafka: A Country Doctor and a Special Mention to the film Hare the Servant (Elena Chernova, Russia). The Prize for the Best Feature-Length Film was awarded to Persepolis directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, which is also the absolute winner, receiving the AniFest Grand Prix.
The jury for TV films, comprising British journalist Phillip Bergson, Corean director Moon-Saeng Kim and Italian animator Gabrielle Zucchelli, awarded the Prize for the Best TV Film or Serial to Tales of the Old Piano: Ludwig van Beethoven (Irina Margolina, Russia), the Prize for the Best Video Clip, Advertisement or Introductory Spot to the advertisement VW Phaeton Schattenspiel by Michael Reissinger (Germany) and the Prize for Internet Animation to Jaromír Plachý for The Clod.
The jury for Student Films, comprising József Fülöp, Krzysztof Rynkiewicz and Lucie Štamfestová, awarded the Best Student Film Prize to the French film The Man with a Chicken Head (Sylvain Jorget, Axel Morales, Mathias Rodriguez, from the Supinfocom Valenciennes school, France) and a Special Mention was awarded to Lovesick (Špela Čadez, Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, Germany, Slovenia). The Prize for the Best School Collection goes to the French La Poudriére.
At the Closing Ceremony, a prize was also awarded to the winners of the International Competition of Films Made by Children for When Disaster Struck at Youth Club (made by children from the Grindale Youth Club, UK).
The Třeboň Prize was awarded to Jaromír Plachý for The Clod by the AniFest audience.
The overall results, including the justifications of the jury, are attached.
People at AniFest
Film screenings were attended by a total of 35,000 viewers approximately. There were about 2,000 visitors with accreditations, including 369 film professionals.
It was an honour to welcome distinguished guests from all over the world at the festival. During the festival week you could meet in the streets the AniFest Honorary President and leading German animator Raimund Krumme, and the juries comprised American producer Ron Diamond, Israeli artist Rony Oren and popular Czech author Břetislav Pojar. All of them have also presented their work in person to wide audience.
From the Accompanying Film Program
In 2008, two leading personalities of Czech animation celebrated their jubilees: Vladimír Jiránek and Václav Bedřich. To celebrate the 70th birthday of Vladimír Jiránek we prepared a series of screenings and an exhibition in the Chateau Gallery, which was opened by Vladimír Jiránek personally. The incredible 90th birthday of Václav Bedřich was celebrated by the screening of many films the shooting of which he supervised. Among others, children enjoyed Bedřich’s “Stories of Amelia, the Forest Sprite”, “Great Cheese Robbery” and “The Sheep Granny’s Fairytales”.
Apart from competition films, visitors were able to attend a vast array of accompanying programs. On the Masaryk square on Saturday, they were able to see the dreamy and subtle film by Galician author Miguelanxo Prado, who also arrived at the festival and presented the entire screening. “I am glad I could be in one place with so many wonderful people, and be part of the harmony that reigns here,” said Prado about the atmosphere at the festival.
From the Professional Program
Every year, the festival also addresses film professionals and enthusiasts at its Profifora. This year, there was, for instance, the CAS Presentation, a comprehensive presentation of Czech, Slovak and Austrian animation from 2006 on. CAS was presented by Prof. Jiří Kubíček (Head of the Animation Department of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU), Prague) and Thomas Renoldner (member of ASIFA Austria, Professor at the Academy of Applied Arts, Vienna). New in this year’s Profifora was an animation Pitching Zone, where filmmakers met producers to present projects that they are currently preparing. Pitching Zone gives filmmakers an opportunity to present their projects to producers, who can give feedback and advice. Among others, there was Jan Švankmajer’s feature film which is currently under preparation.
On Saturday, 10 May, the Hungarian MTV presented its new TV project “Oh deer”. Also new to this year’s programme was the Visegrad Symposium, bringing together representatives of film schools from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. They formed groups and directly at AniFest they created brand new animations. These films were then presented on Monday at a joint presentation. In the Konírna Hall of the Třeboň Chateau, Animazoo presented its real time motion capture system, which is used for animating the movements of a human body on a computer.
From the Accompanying Program
AniFest is not only films. It is also theatre performances and concerts. Visitors had the chance to enjoy the dynamic concerts of The Tap Tap, Tata Bojs and The Prostitutes, or a pleasant party at the Club in the company of James Harries. The theatre performances were taken care of by “Buchty a Loutky” (Cakes and Puppets), who played for both children and adults (“Tibet – Through the Red Box”).
AniFest is ending
Weather did not let AniFest down for a single day. The Closing Ceremony, taking place on Monday, 12 May at the Roháč Hall, was presented by the members of “Buchty a Loutky” (Cakes and Puppets), and Bohemia Saxofon Quartet took care of the festive fanfares. Under the direction of Jiří Trnka, they took the audience on a spaceship tour, with stops at various planets whose inhabitants presented the festival prizes to the authors of awarded films or their representatives. The festival was then declared closed. Screenings of all awarded films take place at the Světozor Cinema and at the Puppet Theatre on Tuesday, 13 May.
We would like to thank all those who came to the festival and helped to create its unique atmosphere. However, AniFest 2008 does not say good-bye yet. AniFest Selection (Ozvěny AniFestu) will be screened throughout the year in the Czech Republic and abroad.
For more information and photographs from the festival, visit www.anifest.cz. For photographs in printing quality and additional information, please contact Festival PR, Jiří Kubalík (jiri.kubalik@anifest.cz, GSM: +420 739 592 313).
Chatelin Bruno 
