Jun 14, 2021

Taiwan's short "Night Bus" wins Grand Prix at Animafest Zagreb 2021

On Sunday, Animafest Zagreb wrapped up its in-person edition in the Croatian capital. It will likely end up as the only major animation festival to have held onsite events throughout both years of the pandemic.

The top short film prize went to Night Bus, a self-produced work by Taiwanese animator-director Joe Hsieh, which follows the events that unfold after a crime is committed on a late-night commuter bus. The jury said in a statement: “Night Bus is a miraculous journey that captures all the protagonists and the audience. Some of the jury members would die for this film. So that everyone remains unharmed, we award it the Grand Prix.”

The equivalent feature film prize was won by The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks, a darkly satirical journey through 19th- and 20th-century Russian history and culture. The chiefly cut-out film, by veteran director Andrei Khrzhanovsky, played at Annecy last year, and later qualified for an Oscar.

The short film jury consisted of Nadja Andrasev, Michael Frei, Shoko Hara, Draško Ivezic, and Sasha Svirsky. The feature film jury consisted of Otto Alder, Hrvoje Štefotic, and Karin Vandenrydt. The student film and Croatian film jury consisted of Denis Alenti, Paula Bristot, and Petrit Gora. The vr jury consisted of Agne Adomene, Mario Kalogjera, and Stefan Stratil. The children's film jury consisted of Flora Bokic, Tara Gladovic, Ana Gladovic, Luka Križanac, and Tia Županic.

Here is the list of winners in full:

Night Bus by Joe Hsieh (Taiwan)

Easter Eggs by Nicolas Keppens (Belgium/France/Netherlands)Monachopsis by Liesbet van Loon (Belgium)Hide by Daniel Gray (Hungary/France/Canada)In My Chest of Fire There Is Still Place to Temple Your Dagger by Pablo Ballarín (Spain)Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic by Paul Bush (Denmark/U.K.)

Maalbeek by Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis (France)

The Fourth Wall by Mahboobeh Kalaee (Iran)

I'm Here by Julia Orlik (Poland)

Ant Hill by Marek Náprstek (Czech Republic)Room With a Sea View by Leonid Shmelkov (Estonia)

Can You See Them- by Bruno Razum (Croatia)

The Stork by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tšinakov (Estonia)

The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks by Andrei Khrzhanovsky (Russia)

Kill It and Leave This Town by Mariusz Wilczynski (Poland)

Otawamure by Yoriko Mizushiri (Japan)

Replacements by Jonathan Hagard (Japan/Germany/Indonesia)

Reflection by Juan Carlos Mostaza (Spain)

BusLine35A by Elena Felici (Denmark)

The Stork by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tšinakov (Estonia)

Wolfwalkers by Tom Moore and Ross Stewart (Ireland/U.K./Luxembourg/France)