GIRAF21 Awards
We’re proud to share the winners of this year’s jury and audience awards for GIRAF21!
JURY STATEMENT
This year’s collection of work was a reminder of how alive and multifaceted animation can be. The range of voices, techniques, and perspectives, especially from local artists, made the festival feel like a series of personal creative invitations for engagement. Our jury came from varying artistic backgrounds, and instead of creating friction, it helped us see the films from multiple angles. We often found ourselves returning to a group of works that stood out for their clarity of vision, strong craft, and bold imagery. The filmmakers this year reached a high standard for originality and authenticity, and we want to congratulate all of them on contributing to an amazing festival experience.
- Written by Winston Hacking on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
JURY AWARDS
Our jury awards for Best Canadian Short Film and Best International Short Film.
The Gnawer of Rocks is a visually stunning short that follows two young girls trapped in the Mangittatuarjuk’s lair. It evokes the primal terror of fireside folklore through masterful lighting, precise camerawork, and expressive character design. The film’s technical craft elevates the narrative rather than distracting from it, creating a world that feels both mesmerizing and deeply unsettling. Each shot draws you further in; captivating, eerie, and impossible to look away from.
- Written by David Kativu on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
Honourable Mention - Cow Man
Cow Man is a refreshingly fun and free-spirited short film. It captures the creative energy that comes from not fully knowing what you’re doing and turning that uncertainty into real comedy. Its distinctive look blends blobby clay characters with a mix of cinematic slow motion and bizarre, jittery movements, creating a striking balance between something cute and something unsettling. That tension really stuck with us, and paired with the dramatic sound design it made the film stand out in a big way.
- Written by Michelle Ku and Winston Hacking on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
Vinnie Ann Bose wonderfully captures the emotional nuances and complexity around leaving home for the promise of a better life, weaving together past & present. The flashback scenes are depicted in a colourful watercolour style, contrasting with the present day scenes animated in stop motion - coming together to seamlessly explore a wide range of emotions and experiences while still staying cohesive and centered with food as a connecting thread. A film that touches the heart, and a unanimous choice for this award.
- Written by Michelle Ku on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
Honourable Mention - Dollhouse Elephant
Psychedelic style can easily take over a film, but here it supports a surreal mix of intimate moments and encounters with wonderfully unique characters. The layered, hand-painted look pulls you in almost hypnotically, yet the film still feels grounded because the filmmaker’s presence and point of view comes through in every frame.
- Written by Winston Hacking on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
JURY SPECIAL MENTIONS
Paradaïz balances heavy subject matter with playful animation and whimsical imagery, immersing the audience in the emotional world of the character while offering moments of lightness and laughter. Live action footage and photo collage are incorporated delightfully and thoughtfully with the linework and colour of the drawings. The film feels grounded in real life through unique details, while also making excellent use of elements of fantasy and surrealism to capture those internal, invisible experiences that stay with us throughout time.
Written by Michelle Ku on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
Autokar takes us on an imaginative journey with Agata as she travels to Poland, inviting us to see the world through her eyes as something grand, slightly daunting, and full of undiscovered wonder. The film exaggerates scale, plays thoughtfully with colour, and introduces whimsical animal characters whose personalities feel instantly relatable. The distinctive visual style heightens the sense of curiosity and adventure, bringing a feeling of emotional warmth.
Written by David Kativu on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
The loneliness and strange magic of being a child is a feeling that can be difficult to capture, but “The Night Boots” transports and immerses us in the world of monsters, imaginary friends, and mysteries of the forest, through beautifully done pinscreen animation. All of this comes together to create a lasting impression, leaving us wanting to follow these charming characters on more future adventures.
Written by Michelle Ku on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
My Wonderful Life is hilariously grotesque and hits right where it hurts, reminding us of the deep solace found in brief moments of reprieve from an under appreciated, chaotic life. As artists, we can seriously relate. The playful and extreme elements of its mixed-media style, along with colour shifts that distinguish blissful relief from chaotic despair, pair perfectly with the gruesome, unnervingly detailed scenes. It’s the icing on a wonderfully twisted cake.
Written by David Kativu on behalf of the GIRAF 21 Jury
Sisowith Quay brings a terrifying story of an ill-fated romance to life through a profoundly vibrant and remarkably unique visual style, blending multiple animation techniques to heighten its unsettling atmosphere and leaning on each style to support the narrative. Truly chilling and unforgettable.
Written by David Kativu on behalf of the GIRAF 21 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!
Right in line with our Jury's pick, the audience for GIRAF 21 this year was held in awe by the suspenseful tale spun from GNAWER OF ROCKS. Another film from Toronto's Stop Motion Department studio (who also created past festival favourites THE MURDERER and THE SHAMAN'S APPRENTICE), this film expertly weaves craft and atmosphere together into a spellbinding tale of old powers that lurk in the world and how, without vigilance, you can find then time and again slipping across your threshold.
RUNNER UP
WE'RE KINDA DIFFERENT closed out our Late Night Special pack of films at the GIRAF Festival of Independent Animation with a riot of laughter. After a long night of films that took us down strange and shadowed pathways, this final musical about embracing our differences brought us all back together into the light. A beautiful message that reminds us that we all have parts of ourselves that are unique, and these special features should be embraced - even if we were born with a butt right under our face.
Another film that saw our jury and audience joined onto the same wavelength, SULAIMANI expertly weaves layers into its story that resonated with many of our audience members. In turns comforting, heartbreaking and hopeful, it explores multiple facets in the path one can take in choosing to leave your home for a better life elsewhere, and the quiet ways home can still find it's way back to you when you don't expect it. A very well-made and nuanced film.
RUNNER UP:
The final film we showed in GIRAF 21's Indie Mixtape, Side B pack, this film brought peels of laughter from our audience as it explored the inner workings of hair loss from the point of view of a bold hair follicle ready to break free and find it's place in the world. While we sometimes dearly wish they would stay, sometimes we must accept when it's time to bid our trusty hairs adieu and embrace our future with a shiny scalp. This film keeps the punchlines coming all the way to the finish line, and embraces the bizarre as only our mixtape films can.
ABOUT THE JURY
Winston Hacking
GIRAF 21 Spotlight and Visiting Artist – An animation magician and inventor of (at least) 3 animation techniques: the infamous TONERMORPH, INFINIFOLD, and the nastiest one… PHOTOSLOP! We are honoured to have Winston visit Calgary for GIRAF 21 to share his insights and skills, with the local animation community.
David Kativu
A Calgary-based Creative Director at Hot Neon, with over 15 years of animation and creative experience. Recognized at festivals including GIRAF18, Halifax Animation Festival, and Dawson City Film Festival, he has creatively led hundreds of learning-focused animation projects across North America, guiding teams of animators and designers. His work blends illustration, animation, and music, using both digital and traditional media to tell compelling stories.
Michelle Ku
A visual artist, film maker, and muralist mainly working with acrylic paint and traditional materials. Her work often explores healing and the ways in which the mind, body, and spirit are connected and can become disconnected. Michelle is currently based in Treaty 7 Territory (Calgary).
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Congratulations to all filmmakers, GIRAF21 was an amazing time! See you next year!