Jun 19, 2019

Annecy Announces Winners of Mifa Pitch

The Mifa Pitches at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival has announced its award winners for the 2019 edition. The event showcases promising original animation projects in early stages of development across four categories: feature films, short films, tv series and specials, and interactive creations/transmedia.

The competition is open to creators from around the world and aims to reflect the global state of animation project development. Back in 2015, Mifa added a new category named Animation du Monde, which specifically supports projects from countries where animation is still an emerging industry.

This year, 37 projects were presented during the Mifa pitches, which took place at Annecy last week. The pitches were selected from a total of 498 submissions: 26 from North America, 83 from Latin America, 252 from Europe, 28 from the Middle East, 40 from Africa, 65 from Asia, and 4 from Oceania.

Various sponsored awards are presented to the winners including cash prizes, residences, development funding, and post-production services. Among the biggest awards is the Ciclic Prize, which offers €35,000 ($39,200) and a 6-month animation residency in Vendôme, France. The winner of that award was Denis Do for his feature film pitch Sorya (pictured at top), which tells the story of a 17-year-old Cambodian girl who moves to the capital city of Phnom Penh to work and provide for her family, and soon discovers her talent and passion: singing.

Do's feature film debut, Funan, won the Feature Film Cristal at Annecy in 2018 and recently debuted theatrically in the United States through GKIDS.

Here is the full list of winners:

Ciclic PrizeSorya by Denis Do (France)

Titrafilm PrizeTistou of the Green Thumbs by Amandine Taffin (France)

Cristal Publishing PrizeTistou of the Green Thumbs by Amandine Taffin (France)

SACD PrizeLa Grande Arche by Camille Authouart (France)

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma/Bourse des Festivals PrizeSweeter is the Night by Fabienne Wagenaar (France)

Ciclic PrizeHide by Daniel Benjamin Gray (Hungary, France, Canada)

Les Affranchis/Ville de Toulouse PrizeLeo by Antoine Presles (France)

Studios Alhambra PrizeSweeter is the Night by Fabienne Wagenaar (France)

NEF Animation PrizeHide by Daniel Benjamin Gray (Hungary, France, Canada)

Open Workshop PrizeDino Doom on Desert Planet by Zsuzsanna Kreif and Balász Turai (Hungary)

Arte France PrizeThe Crimson Season by Clémence Bouchereau (France)

Disney Channel Prize for a New SeriesHedgehog by Gleb Belyakov (Russia)

Ciclic PrizePatouille by Inès Bernard-Espina, Mélody Boulissière, and Clémentine Campos (France)

Titrafilm PrizeThe Stone by Joachim Herisse (France)

SACD Interactive Creation PrizeNéphélé by Alexandre Perez (France)

INA Expert PrizeDreamin'Zone by Fabienne Giezendanner and Pascal Conicella (Germany, South Korea, France, Switzerland)

Folimage PrizeWhen I Am Sad by Lilit Altunyan (Armenia)

Ciclic PrizeUzi (Thread) by Naddya Adhiambo Oluoch-Olunya (Kenya)