'Easter Eggs', 'Archipel' in the 2021 Cinanima Festival Winners

'Easter Eggs' by Nicolas Keppens won the CINANIMA 2021 Grand Prix – Short Films / Espinho City Prize of the 2021 edition of CINANIMA – Espinho International Animation Film Festival.

In a small town, word goes around that Mister Ping’s exotic birds are on the loose. Two bored teenagers go on a quest to find them. During their adventure, they find that escaping daily life isn’t quite the same as escaping each other. Easter Eggs is a short animated film about finding extraordinary things in ordinary places.

Jury Statement: In this work with a unique trait and a disturbing narrative, we will accompany two friends in search of lost exotic birds, with an open cage serving as a catalyst for a series of events that will illustrate the interpersonal difficulties of adolescence, the cruelty that we can always succumb and a whole world of frustrated possibilities.

The Special Jury Prize was awarded to 'Obervogelgesang' by Ferdinand Ehrhardt and Elias Weinberger, a sensitive insight into racism in modern-day Germany through the emotional conflict of a young woman confronted with the heavy cultural heritage of Nazism .

Archipel by Felix Dufour-Laperriere took home the prize for Best Feature.

Half-invented documentary on Quebec and the islands of the St. Lawrence River, real or imaginary. Archipel is an animated feature film for two narrators, a film with a free drawing and a precise language that tells and dreams of a territory and its inhabitants, to say and dream a little about the world and the times - Film Synopsis

The following prizes were also awarded in the international competition:

SPECIAL JURY AWARD

Obervogelgesang,  Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Elias Weinberger, Germany

BEST SHORT FILM AWARD – UP TO 5 MINUTES

Selection Process, Carla Pereira, Spain

BEST SHORT FILM AWARD – OVER 5 UP TO 24 MINUTES

Swipe, Arafat Mazhar, Pakistan

Honorable mention

• Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic, Paul Bush,  Denmark
• Forever, Mitch McGlocklin,  USA

BEST SHORT FILM AWARD – ANIMATION DOCUMENTARY

Maalbeek, Ismael Joffroy Chandoutis, France

Souvenir, Souvenir, Bastien Dubois, France

CINANIMA GRAND PRIZE 2021 – FEATURES

Archipel,  Felix Dufour-Laperriere, Canada

Honorable mention

• Bob Cuspe – nós não gostamos de gente,  Cesar Cabral, Brazil

CINANIMA GRAND PRIZE 2021 – STUDENT FILMS | GASTON ROCH AWARD

Fall of the Ibis King, Mikai Geronimo, Josh O’Caoimh, Ireland

Honorable mention

• White, Black and True Love, Angel Paternoster, Slovenia
• The Edge, Zaide Kutay, Géraldine Cammisar, Switzerland
• Coffin, Yuanqing Cai, Nathan Crabot, Houzhi Huang, Mikolaj Janiw, Mandimby Lebon, Theo Tran Ngoc, France

Audience Award:

Bob Cuspe – nós não gostamos de gente, César Cabral, Brazil

The following works were awarded in the national competition:

António Gaio Award – Best Film in the National Competition:

Seja como for, Catarina Romano

Honorable mention

• Suspensão, Luís Soares
• The Monkey, Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti, Xosé Zapata

Young Portuguese Filmmaker Award:

– In the category up to 18 years old

Desconstrução do Natal, Coletivo de Jovens da Escola do Cerco

Honorable mention:

• Vírus da Felicidade,  Escola Básica e Secundária de Lousada Norte – Lustosa
• Não há boa terra sem bom lavrador,  Alunos das EB1’s do Concelho de Montemor-o-Novo

– In the 18+ category

Sanctuary, Hugo Santos, Pedro Bilé, Diogo Costa, Tyffany Reis

Honorable mention:

• Ouroboros,  Alexandre Marques, João Costa, João Figueiredo
• Perspetiva, Gonçalo de Oliveira

The 45th Cinanima Festival took place 8-14 November in Espinho, Portugal.

• Cinanima Festival