GIRAF20 Awards
We’re proud to share the winners of this year’s jury and audience awards for GIRAF20!
FESTIVAL STATEMENT
For 20 years GIRAF continues to show the other side of animation. This year’s films (with notable exceptions), are a little darker than before. Perhaps it’s not just the films that are darker. We now need our creative communities more than ever. This is why the incandescence of creativity needs to shine more brightly. A place where a small voice can become giant and something new might resonate within. Woah! holup there. Has it really been 20 years?
- Written by Alan Ferguson on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
JURY STATEMENT
All of the films in GIRAF’s lineup represent what it means to be independent - weird, personal, creative, and uninterested in guidelines from conventional outside forces of industry standard or conventional filmmaking tactics. Through this wide lens of originality, we are able to get a rare and honest glimpse into the mind of humanity in 2024; our fears, our strifes, our world as portrayed through art and film.
- Written by Victoria Vincent on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
JURY AWARDS
Our jury awards for Best Canadian Short Film and Best International Short Film.
The Murderer expertly delivers dark comedy by pairing twisted humor with a playful, childlike aesthetic that adds an ironic and unforgettable charm. The film’s deeply personal touch, based on a story the filmmaker Kyla Atlas wrote as a child, makes it delightfully unique and wildly entertaining, leaving us wondering where all that blood went.
- Written by Vinson Chan on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
Honourable Mention - Not enough Womb for the Two of Us
Not Enough Womb For The Two of Us wastes no time in delivering a simple and endearing story that captures hearts effortlessly. With quirky character design and playful animation, it’s a lively short that truly packs a punch—what’s not to love?
Written by Vinson Chan on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
The wind comes, and we are never quite ready for it. With the single flap of a butterfly wing (or perhaps one less computer glitch on zoom) this could have been different. The jury enthusiastically recognizes Jour De Vent as the winner of best international film this year.Without a single word of dialog and less than 7 min of run time, several stories unfold and envelop the viewer. This is an understated beautiful film that can be watched over and over.
- Written by Alan Ferguson on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
Honourable Mention - The Parade
Ryan Benjamin Lee expresses a unique director’s perspective, mixing animation methods with bold dialogue and storytelling choices. Kinetic and colorful, The Parade expresses a bold sense of optimism blossoming against all odds in an overwhelming, panic-inducing Singaporean metropolis.
Written by Victoria Vincent on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
JURY SPECIAL MENTIONS
Echo enthralls with its smooth animation and seamless integration of music, creating a distinctive and immersive vibe. Dylon's exploration of sound as the fundamental force behind the creation of all things is both innovative and thought-provoking, showcasing a refreshing approach to animation that is inspired and beautifully executed.
Vinson Chan on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
Life needs order. This is more than something a burned out parent says, it’s a law of physics. This cerebral abstract animation shows what is hard to express in words. The gloomy prediction of heat death, and life’s struggle to not to fall into equilibrium. This film has an epic majestic feel and sense of scale.
Alan Ferguson on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
Jesus 2 is an unexpected interstellar dark comedy that thrusts the audience into a vast and unpredictably bizarre world with little context but high stakes and a whole lot of fun. Its bold world-building and surreal narrative create an experience that’s jarring, captivating, and hilarious from start to finish.
Vinson Chan on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
Deeply anxiety- inducing yet strangely meditative, In Dreams follows a faceless individual grappling helplessly with their state-assisted suicide. Disorientating moments of lucidity fight back against the medically-induced flurry of random abstractions in a sad, beautiful frenzy of a mind clinging onto it’s final moments of consciousness.
Victoria Vincent on behalf of the GIRAF 20 Jury
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
We ask our audience to rate all the shorts they watch at GIRAF, so we can say with mathematical certainty that the films below are the selections that blew their minds.
Congratulations to all the filmmakers!
Atmospheric, terrifying, and powerful, Spotted Fawn Productions short film resonated with the GIRAF 20 audience! With many in attendance calling for this story to be turned into a feature length film, the tale of self discovery was undoubtedly captivating.
When Amanda was the GIRAF 13 visiting artist they were just beginning to write this story. To see it completed and with such a strong vision and masterful craft is truly inspiring. Congrats to Amanda Strong and the whole team behind this masterpiece!
RUNNER UP
THE MURDERER started off the 20th edition of the GIRAF Festival of Independent Animation with a roar! The audience couldn’t contain their laughter as this charmingly-dark and innocently-sinister short film was inspired by a short story Kyla wrote when she was 8 years old.
This film is a master class of storytelling. Reminiscent of Scorsese’s After Hours, it follows an escalation of how one bad thing leads to something even worse, all while the main character just wants to relax with a refreshing adult beverage!
RUNNER UP:
This film beautifully introduces a collection of characters that all share a disruption in their life as a big wind storm knocks their lives around. This is a beautiful metaphor that resonated with the audience as it screened before the feature film Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds. Congrats to the filmmakers!!
ABOUT THE JURY
Vinson Chan
Vinson is a multidisciplinary animator and filmmaker based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta). His body of work spans from various forms of animation to live-action short films to, lo, even interactive XR projects. He usually makes movies with his biological brother, but when he's not, he's probably relishing in his frank obsession with hot dogs. Don't ask him why (unless you mustard up some real good questions to grill him about it).
Victoria Vincent
Known online as Vewn, is an American animator and film director. Her works often focuses on the disillusionment and anxiety of characters living in distorted, unstable worlds..
Alan Ferguson
Alan Ferguson is a former QAS Production Coordinator and now a regular creator at Protospace - Calgary's Makerspace.
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Congratulations to all filmmakers, GIRAF20 was an amazing time! See you next year!