Fredrikstad Animation Festival prizes to Turku animators, Elli Vuorinen and Samppa Kukkonen

 

Fredrikstad Animation Festival is the oldest and largest of its kind in the Nordic region, dating back to 1994 and the festival Animerte Dager in Oslo, Norway. The annual festival now takes place each October in the town of Fredrikstad, outside of Oslo. One of the cornerstones of the festival is the Nordic-Baltic animated short film competition, with the awarding of the prize known as the Golden Gunnar.

 

This year festival´s Golden Gunnar Grand Prix was given to Elli Vuorinen´s short animation Still Lives ( Kiirehessä liikkumaton).

Jury’s motivation:
The winning film is in equal parts funny, sacral and contemplative. Dancing between modernity and history, it seems grounded in reality, yet not. We like its visual language, humor and delicacy. It leaves us with many questions, as this film has made us consider that there is life even within that which seems still. Jury members were Michael Frei, Rune Spaans and Aggie Pak Yee Lee.

Best Commissioned Film prize also came to Turku. It was given to Belzebubs – Cathedrals of Mourning, directed by Samppa Kukkonen.

Jury’s motivation:
The process of choosing a winner was surprisingly easy. There was no doubt in our minds as there was one film that clearly stood out among the others. Technically wonderfully executed, stylish, appropriate, innovative, and humorous, the film was unanimously selected as this year’s winner. Jury members were  Irene Sparre, Yngve Aasen and Sverre Fredriksen.

Both films are produced by Turku based animation studio Pyjama Films and producer Terhi Väänänen.