Jun 29, 2020

"Klaus", "Guardians of Maine and the Amazon" win the 2020 Quirino Award (full list of winners)

The winners of this year's Quirino Awards, which were inaugurated in 2018 to recognize achievements in Ibero-American animation, have been revealed. The ceremony took place online, complete with quirky animated photocall.

The most high-profile winner was Klaus, Sergio Pablos's much-lauded Santa Claus origin story, which took the prizes for best feature and best animation design. The film was produced for Netflix by Pablos's SPA Studios and co-produded by Atresmedia Cine, both of which are Spanish - hence its qualification for the Quirinos.

Tainá and the Amazon's Guardians, a Brazilian preschool show with a strong ecological angle, was named best series. It is produced by Hype and Sincrocine Produções, and debuted on Nickelodeon in Latin America. It now streams on Netflix in Latin America. The best short film prize went to The Cubicbird, a Colombian stop-motion adaptation of a Marcos Mas novel about a caged bird.

The Quirinos are supposed to encompass animation from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, but this year's awards were dominated by the European countries. Of the nine prizes, only three went to Latin American productions: Tainá, The Cubicbird, and the multinational short Mate-, which won best commissioned film. This trend inverts last year's awards, six of which went to Latin America.

The prizegiving caps a month-long virtual edition of the Quirinos, which featured business meetings and various industry events. Round tables were held on subjects including “women in Ibero-American animation,” “sustainability in animation,” and “new technologies applied to animation production.” The organizers claim that these events drew more than 170,000 views combined.

Here is the complete list of winners from the 2020 Quirinos:

Klaus directed by Sergio Pablos; produced by SPA Studios, Atresmedia Cine (Spain)

Tainá and the Amazon's Guardians directed by André Forni; produced by Hype, Sincrocine (Brazil)

The Cubicbird directed by Jorge Alberto Vega; produced by La Valiente Estudio, Cintadhesiva, Animaedro (Colombia)

Nestor directed by João Gonzalez; produced by Royal College of Art (Portugal, U.K.)

Mate- directed by Buda.tv; produced by Buda.tv (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay)

Gris directed by Conrad Roset; produced by Nomada Studio (Spain)

The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr Jay directed by Bruno Caetano; produced by Cola - Colectivo Audiovisual, Wild Stream (Portugal, France)

Klaus directed by Sergio Pablos; produced by SPA Studios, Atresmedia Cine (Spain)

Nestor directed by João Gonzalez; produced by Royal College of Art (Portugal, U.K.)

(Images at top, left to right: “Klaus,” “Tainá and the Amazon's Guardians.”)