Seven short animation films from Switzerland will be screened at the 29th Anima 2010, the Brussels Animation Film Festival (February 12-20). The films "Valise" by Isabelle Favez and "Retouches" by Georges Schwizgebel, which already attracted a great deal of international attention in 2009, will participate in the short film competition. Prizes amounting to a total of EUR 25,000 will be awarded at the Anima Festival in Brussels by two juries comprised of animation filmmakers.

Presented in the Student Films competition are "Chrigi" by Anja Kofmel and "Signalis" by Adrian Flückiger, both of which were produced at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. Other films from Lucerne include "Pink Nanuq" by Jeanine Reutemann, which will be screened in the Young Audience competition, as well as "Tôt ou tard" by Jadwiga Kowalska, which will be presented in the Kids programme. The film "Land of The Heads" by Claude Barras and Cédric Louis, produced in collaboration with the Canadian National Film Board, will be presented in the "D’humour et d’os frais" programme.

The festival in Brussels will present 128 short films from all over the world in nine programmes. There are three additional programmes featuring Belgian films, a short film night and a competition presenting five feature animation films. Three graduates from the Lucerne School of Art and Design - Adrian Flückiger, Anja Kofmel and Jeanine Reutemann - will attend this major animation film festival, thanks to the support from the film promotion agency, SWISS FILMS.

Valise
Retouches
Land of the Heads (Picture)
Pink Nanuq
Signalis
Tôt ou tard
Chrigi

The seven-minute Swiss cartoon film "Die Seilbahn" (2008) by Claudius Gentinetta and Frank Braun is one of four winners of an "Excellence Prize" in the category "Animation Division" at the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival 2009. The event will be held from 3 to 14 February 2010 in Tokyo. The prize of 300,000 Yen (approx. 3,450 CHF) is awarded by a five-man jury of Japanese cartoon film makers. The film’s co-director, Frank Braun, will be flying to Tokyo to receive the trophy at the awards ceremony which will take place on 2 February at the National Art Centre in Tokyo.

2,592 projects from 54 countries were submitted to the festival in the categories "Art", "Entertainment", "Animation" and "Manga". There were 473 contenders for a prize in the "Animation" category.

It is the 17th prize for the film "Die Seilbahn" which combines cartoon and 3-D techniques. The film’s protagonist is an old man who gets stuck when travelling in a run-down cable car.

In addition to presentation of the works awarded prizes and recommended by the jury, the festival organises events, conferences and exhibitions devoted to the award winners and various works. Amongst other things, the Japanese public and the film professionals can discover the decor, the storyboard, photos and posters of the film "Die Seilbahn".

The Japan Media Arts Festival awards one major prize, four "Excellence Prizes" in each of the four categories mentioned above. It is devoted to the promotion of creation and development in artistic performances, the entertainment industry, cartoon films and Mangas.

Die Seilbahn

Irene Ledermann’s film "Schonzeit", which was produced as her graduation film from the Zurich School of the Arts, was honoured with an award for Best Short Film at the 31st Max Ophuels Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken on January 24. 2010. The prize, presented by the five-member festival jury, is endowed with EUR 5,000.

The jury provided the following statement: "Schonzeit" is a tremendously poetic, personal film. It floats across the screen, like a dream, entirely via emotions, atmosphere and mood. The cinematic means are used skilfully, successfully narrating without the use of many words, comments or explanations; "Schonzeit" refrains from patronising the audience, but rather relies on the subtext that is created in the viewers’ mind and, in the process, tells the touching story of a child’s emotional suffering and life, sensitively and imaginatively."

Schonzeit

Three Swiss film productions will be screened in the short film competition of the 31st Max Ophuels Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken (January 18-24, 2010) : Chris Niemeyer’s "Las Pelotas"; Felix von Muralt’s "Brandstifter"; and Irene Ledermann’s "Schonzeit". The festival is devoted to the new generation of filmmakers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Las Pelotas
Brandstifter (picture)
Schonzeit

Two short fiction films and one animation film (Swiss coproduction) are among the 39 films to be screened in the competition at the 19th Flickerfest International Short Film Festival in Sydney (January 8-17, 2010). Chris Niemeyer’s comedy film "Las Pelotas", Judith Kurmann’s graduation film "Connie" and the animation film "Le petit dragon" by French director Bruno Collet, coproduced in Switzerland, are all in the running for the Cooper’s Award, endowed with 5,000 Australian dollars (ca. CHF 5,000).

The five-minute film "Las Pelotas" (production: Plan B Film, Zurich) tells the story of two friends who are willing to do anything to make Argentinean football stars out of their children. The eight-minute film "Connie" (Zurich University of the Arts) uses the style of a modern Western to depict rivalries between village youth after a new girl arrives on the scene. Both films won awards at the Locarno International Film Festival, where they celebrated their premiere in August 2009. The 3-D animation film "Le petit dragon", coproduced by Nadasdy Film in Geneva, is an homage to Bruce Lee and has already garnered over ten awards at numerous festivals around the world.

In addition, Pipilotti Rist’s three-minute film "I Drink Your Bathwater" will be screened in Sydney. The film was produced in conjunction with a 60-minute collective film in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Flickerfest in Sydney is the first festival in the New Year devoted entirely to the short film genre. It kicks off the summer cinema season in Australia with an open air on the Bondi Beach and showcases some 100 short films selected from 1,600 submissions. It is the only Australian film festival with a short film competition accredited by the Academy Award of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Las Pelotas
Connie
Le petit dragon