Planet Carnom takes us on a fantastic voyage into the microscopic landscapes of the human body, without the protection of a Magic School Bus. The film channels the compelling beauty of anatomical illustration and the uncanny qualities of medical animation toward a visceral journey of bodily and planetary change. We were unsettled and transported by this otherworldly take on a post-pandemic landscape.

- Alla Gadassik

From the first frame of Andrew Cormier’s film, The Statue feels like it’s from an alternate-timeline – a queer fairytale TV interstitial hidden in the BBC archives since the 70s, and just now being rediscovered. We appreciated the repetition in both the film’s sequencing and classic limited animation style. The textures of the watercolour paper gave a tactile feeling, with characters sometimes peeling right off the page as they came to life. A timeless fable, excellently crafted.

- Evan DeRushie

For our international prize, we chose a film that poked at the vulnerable memories of adolescence that some of us would be happier to forget. Like a game of spin the bottle where the bottle stops in the middle of two people, and YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE!! Inglorious Liaisons captures one particular night, with a group of friends who are familiar with each other, but whose desires and relationships are changing. Everyone at the party is made of light-switches and electrical plugs, and although filmmakers Chloé Alliez & Violette Delvoye don’t waste any time drawing attention to it, we appreciated the significance of lights on/off in our teenage lives, and commentary on the false binary in young queer relationships. Plus, the layered performances of the voice cast were stellar.

- Evan DeRushie

In the Big Yard Inside the Teeny-Weeny Pocket is a frantic loose film, full of ever changing mark making, a highly distinctive style, and sound design that made us scream(!) with delight. It’s fast paced, and the amount of intense labour to create it is evident, but it’s freewheeling line work gives it a feeling of purposeful amateurism, reminiscent of manga found in Garo magazine. Watching it feels violent, with bright flashing colours at every turn, but the characters in their mayhem remain sweet and cute to us, even giving us beautiful lines of poetry to break up the chaos. This maximalist animation pushed our senses to the limits but at its core, it’s a perfect poetic film that just makes sense.

- Arelle McCuaig

Bye Little Block! is a tender study of a housing development from the perspective of a reluctantly departing resident. Structured as a series of interlocking vignettes, the film blends close observation of everyday life with poignant commentary on urban neighbourhoods and community rhythms. We were delighted by the filmmaker’s ability to find wonder and humour in the mundane through the use of carefully structured visual gags and comedic timing, in the silent slapstick tradition of Buster Keaton or Jacques Tati. Viewers familiar with planned apartment complexes may recognize the characters who populate this block and will appreciate the empathy the film brings to their stories.

- Alla Gadassik

Swallow the Universe is a mind-bending fusion of underground art comics and virtuosic CGI visual effects, patterned after emakimono handscrolls and placed in the service of an epic post-humanist tale. The music of Colin Stetson forms the right hypnotic soundtrack to the film’s spellbinding and nightmarish vision. After regaining our senses, we applauded the film’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of animated form and storytelling. We also acknowledge that this film tests the boundaries of indie authorship, as it claims to be a collaboration between a French filmmaker and a reclusive Japanese outsider artist, but may in fact be a fictional product of Japanophilia fantasy.

- Alla Gadassik