'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.