The 12th International Animated Film Festival KROK 2005, the world’s only “floating” film forum, recently ended its traditional voyage down the Dnipro River from Kyiv to Odesa. This annual festival is hosted alternately by Ukraine and Russia.
Unlike last year’s festival in Russia, which was devoted to artistic debuts and student films, KROK 2005 featured established filmmakers aboard the Dnipro Princess steamer, which stopped in Zaporizhia, Kherson, Sevastopol, and Odesa.
Participants from 33 countries submitted 131 films for the competition. This year Ukraine was strongly represented. Yevhen Syvokon, Natalia Marchenkova, Oleh Pedan, Oleksandr Shmyhun, and Anatoliy Lavrynyshyn produced six new animated films in time for the festival.
Sevastopol hosted the closing ceremony of KROK 2005. After long deliberations the international jury, comprised of Yurii Norshtein (Russia), Volodymyr Voitenko (Ukraine), Jean-Pierre Lemouland (France), Deanna Morse (USA), and Florence Miailhe (France) rendered a decision that satisfied even the most critical viewers — fellow animation filmmakers, which is an exceptionally rare occurrence at film festivals.
JURY’S VERDICT
The prize for best short film (under 5 min.) and $1,000: I Know Who I Am, directed by Simone Massi (Italy).
The prize for best short film (5-10 min.) and $1,000: Wind Along the Coast, directed by Ivan Maksimov (Russia).
The prize for best short film (10-30 min.) and $3,000: Morir de Amor (Dying of Love), directed by Gil Alkabetz (Germany).
The prize for best short film (30 min. +) and $1,000: Nyocker! (The District), directed by Aron Gauder (Hungary).
The prize for best children’s film and $3,000: About Ivan the Fool, directed by Mikhail Aldashyn and Oleg Uzhynov (Russia).
The prize for best first film (first professional film produced by a graduate) and $3,000: A Play for Three Actors, directed by Oleksandr Shmyhun (Ukraine).
A diploma in the debut films category was awarded to Backbone Tale, directed by Jeremy Clapin (France).
The prize for applied and commissioned animation (educational films, music videos, commercials, TV trailers, episodes from a TV serial) and $3,000: the TV trailer for the television series A Pile of Gemstones, directed by Sergey Merinov (Russia).
A diploma for applied and commissioned animation was awarded to Fellows, directed by Cecilia Marreiros Marum (France-Belgium).
SPECIAL JURY PRIZES
The prize for best visual presentation: Blind Man’s Bluff, directed by Isabel Herguera (Spain).
The prize for best musical score: Man without a Shadow,” directed by Georges Schwitzgebel, music by Judith Gruber-Stitzer (Switzerland).
The prize for artistic merit and the funniest film: Morir de Amor (Dying of Love), directed by Gil Alkabetz (Germany).
The jury awarded a special prize for originality and artistic merit to the animation studio “Pilot” (Russia) for its series A Pile of Gemstones.
The Grand Prix and $5,000: Milk, directed by Ihor Kovaliov (USA).
A first for this festival, the Audience Prize, and $3,000: Morir de Amor (Dying of Love),” directed by Gil Alkabetz (Germany).
