Celebrating the legacy and innovation of Francophone animation within the U.S., the 2024 festival wrapped up January 28 with 6 films receiving awards in the ‘Francophone Shorts’ and ‘Student Short Film Competition’ categories; winning films are available for online viewing through February 12.
The French Institute Alliance Française announced its winners of the Francophone Shorts and Student Film Competitions at the Animation First Festival 2024. The festival is dedicated to showcasing the legacy and innovation of Francophone animation. The winners were announced before the closing night film of the six-day animation festival, which wrapped up January 28.
Francophone Shorts 2024 Winners:
- Best Francophone Short 2024: The Purple Season (La saison pourpre). Dir. Clémence Bouchereau
- Honorable Mention: Maurice’s Bar. Dir. Tom Prezman, Tzor Edery
- Honorable Mention: Summer 96 (Été 96). Dir. Mathilde Bédouet
The jury for the Francophone Shorts included illustrator Marcos Chin, curator Marco de Blois, and filmmaker Candy Kugel.
Animation First Student Short Film Competition 2024 Winners:
- Best French Student Short: Fire - Ecole des Nouvelles Images’ students including Esther Lamassoure, Baptiste Fraboul, Florent Sabuco, Julie Le Forban, Valentin Serre, and Léna Gittler.
- Best American Student Short: The Sun is Bad - SCAD students including Chenrui Lan, Elle Yeung, Henry Ni, Ivan Chui, Laura Correal, Liren Sun, Quinn Marsh, Rachel Mow, Rielle Yap Ong, and Samson Flanagan.
- Honorary Mention for American Short: *Dance with the Seashells!*- Gobelins’ students including Théo Carme, Julie Fournier, Alessandra Rosmarino, and Anaëlle Saba.
The Student Film Competition Jury was made up of students from the participating schools including Gobelins; l’École de l’Image (Paris, France); RUBIKA (Valenciennes, France); Ecole des Métiers du Cinéma d’Animation (Angoulême, France); École des Nouvelles Images (Avignon, France); California Institute of the Arts (California, USA); Savannah College of Art and Design (Georgia, USA); School of Visual Arts (New York, USA); and University of Southern California (California, USA).
American student films and French films are available to stream online here through February 12.
Animator Kristof Serrand (The Prince of Egypt, Kung Fu Panda) presided over the student jury. The winners receive a one-on-one session with Serrand to discuss their work and gain his advice.
Source: FIAF
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
