Meet our esteemed 2018 winners...

BEST 2D ANIMATION ~ "BILLIE"

Director - Maki Yoshikura
 
Billie was funded by Channel4 (UK) as a part of their Random Acts series. Maki is a Japanese 2D animator living and working in London. She has worked on numerous projects and commercials such as Vitra, Uniliver, Sony game Hohokum, Headspace and more. This is the first film Maki Yoshikura wrote and directed.
 
Director Statement

It was never an intention, but it just so happened my film was created with an all female lead: Female director, designer, composer and compositor. I am very proud of this, not because I was amazed with what we could do together (I know we are all very capable in our own fields), but because we don’t often get a chance to work together like this. I can’t remember the last time I worked on a job that was directed by a woman. I do think things are changing, slowly but surely. There are more female animation students than ever before, and I had a few very talented female recent graduates working on my film as assistants too. I hope they will carry on to be animators and directors, and become the next generation of women and in the animation industry and lead the way. I’m glad and proud that BILLIE brought together a team of talented professionals, women and men together.

BEST STUDENT ANIMATION ~ "ADIJA"

Director - Apollonia
 
Apollonia and her team created this film as their senior capstone project at the DigiPen Institute of Technology.
 
Director Statement

We wanted to tell the story of a young girl attempting to cope with the trauma of a childhood overshadowed by her parents’ conflict, and to do so in a way that reflects a child’s approach to a difficult and frightening situation. Our blend of 2D and 3D animation represents the contrast between her interior “safe space,” and the reality of the outside world.

BEST ALL-FORM ANIMATION ~ "AM I ORIGHT"

Director - Yen Liang Chen

Yen Liang Chen was born in Taiwan 1992, who received his MFA degree from the Department of Multimedia and Animation Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts. In his childhood, he started drawing after he bought a racing game. He learned 3d animation in university, and continued to specialize in Animation Arts in the MFA Program, while he changed his direction and learned 2d hand-drawn animation on his own, and produced “Two Dots, 2015”, “Be Yourself, 2016”, and “Dreaming of journey to the west, 2016”. After he created “AM I ORIGHT”, he made his decision to focus on Sounds by resorting to the form of Animation Arts.

Director Statement:

The basic performance of the experimental animation, “AM I ORIGHT”, is based on sounds. The sounds which were recorded, mixed and edited, were used as the basic performance of the animation creation. To indicate the author’s actual experience of getting lost, growing, and transforming in the process of the creation journey.

BEST MUSIC-BASED ANIMATION ~ "SOLA"

Director – Jonathan Nix

Jonathan Nix is an award winning Animator / Composer based in Sydney Australia. He has recently completed a half hour animated film "The Missing Key" with a small team. Information about the film can be found at themissingkey.com. Jonathan is fond of antique mechanical devices, and likes to go surfing when the stars align. Plays several instruments, including the Banjo, with varying degrees of skill. Distrusts the modern world, and can't help but feel shopping malls are tangible proof the end of civilization is approaching.

Director Statement:

As the world collapses around them, humanity walks on oblivious, compulsively editing selfies and updating profiles

BEST ADVERTISING ANIMATION ~ "DISAPPEAR"

Director  – Reuben McNaughton

Written & Produced by Joe Whelski & Nick Goodey (along with producer Tamsin Hicks), and voiced by Doctor Who #4 TOM BAKER, this advert takes the idea of losing one's self literally. In a world made of paper, we follow a young girl whose life is torn apart through abuse but, despite falling to pieces, finds there can be light at the end of the tunnel.

Director Statement:

This thirty second animation was commissioned by the Domestic Abuse Volunteer Support Service (DAVSS) for their annual advert to raise awareness for the organisation and its cause. The themes of the piece revolve around an idea which is commonly felt among victims of domestic abuse: that it is not only emotional and physical pain that is suffered through abuse but also feeling that you can lose a sense of yourself, who you are and what makes you, you. As the advert will be touring with DAVSS as it raises awareness by visiting schools as well as other public events, it was important that the spot had a universal appeal. A lot of care and attention was therefore paid to creating a piece which would not alienate its audience and was appropriate for all ages.