La Laguna (Tenerife) (EFE).- The animation works from Portugal, Spain and Argentina monopolized the largest number of awards in the sixth edition of the Quirino Awards, which seeks to recognize the talent of Ibero-American creators in this field.
In a special way, the Portuguese filmmakers were the stars of the gala held on Saturday afternoon at the Teatro Leal in La Laguna, obtaining four of the nine awards.
This contest aims to recognize talent in the animation industry in Latin America and aims to generate ties and networks between both sides of the ocean.
The call brings together the flourishing Latin American industry every year, together with that of Portugal, Andorra and Spain in order to “build a true twinning to jointly develop a large market” in this space.
The feature film “Nayola” and the short films “O Homem do Lixo”, “Ice Merchants” and “Garrano” were the Portuguese works recognized in an edition that also coincides with the centenary of the first animation works in this country. The gala has the main sponsorship of the Cabildo de Tenerife and could be enjoyed by everyone through the video broadcast on the internet, in addition to the spectators who packed the theater in La Laguna.
The general director of Tourism of the Tenerife Council, Laura Castro, indicated that this type of initiative fits perfectly into the commitment they have made to diversify the island’s tourist offer, beyond being a privileged beach and sun destination, which is not they resign.
He said that the insular institution is proud that Tenerife has been chosen every year as the venue for the contest and assured that they will do everything possible so that it continues to happen in the future.
The award for Best Animated Feature Film went to Portugal with “Nayola”, which tells the story of three generations of Angolan women marked by the civil war; The Spanish “Jasmine & Jambo” was chosen as the best animated series, which seeks to explain musical concepts to children, and the best short film went to the Portuguese “O Homen do Lixo”, by Laura Gonçalves, which reflects poetry, nostalgia and stamp auroral that characterizes Portuguese animation in recent years.
The best short film in the Animation School category was received by the Spanish and Ecuadorian co-production “Chimborazo” and the best commissioned animation went to “Este perro está raro” from Argentina.
As for the best Videogame animation, the award went to the Spanish Endling – “Extinction is forever”, the best visual development of Ibero-American animation work went to “Ice Merchants” a co-production of Portugal, France and the United Kingdom, as for the best The Argentine work “Pasajero” was chosen for design, and finally the Portuguese and Lithuanian co-production “Garrano” was chosen in the category of best sound design and original music.
The list of winners was completed with the Argentine stop motion short film “Pasajero”, winner of the Best Animation Design award.
The winners were chosen by an international jury made up of Andrea Fernández, Julio Bonet, Risa Cohen, Robert Jaszczurowski and Simón Wilches-Castro.
At the gala, a tribute was also paid to Claudio Biern Boyd, producer and creator of animated series such as “David, the Gnome”, “D’Artacán and the three Mosquehounds” and “Around the World with Willy Fog”.
Born in Palma de Mallorca in 1940 and died on October 17, Boyd was the founder of BRB Internacional and Apolo Films, production companies behind some of the series and films that marked Spanish animation at the end of the last century.
With this new edition, the organizers of the Quirino Awards consider that their relevance is confirmed “in the construction of a common space for the animation of the 23 countries of the Ibero-American region, made up of the countries of Latin America, Spain and Portugal”.
The Awards were named in honor of Quirino Cristiani, creator of the first animated feature film in history (“The Apostle”, 1917), an Argentine production that used 58,000 hand-drawn drawings shot on 35mm.
In addition to recognizing the best animation works in nine categories, the Quirino Awards serve as a framework for the Co-Production and Business Forum, which is organized in response to the need to create links between companies in this geographical area.
The contest is sponsored by the Tenerife Cabildo through Turismo de Tenerife y la Tenerife in addition to the support of the Cabildo, also that of Spain Export and Investment – ICEX, Animation From Spain and Proexca. In total, almost two hundred participants were counted and an economic movement of around 18 million has been generated.
A total of 223 works have been registered in these editions, from 18 countries that cover 51 hours of animation. The participating authors come from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
This year’s programming took place between May 3 and 13 and consisted of a talk with the finalists, another on the rise of adult animation in Latin America or the exhibition of the finalist works.
On May 9, a master class was held with Simón Wilches-Castro from the Sarah Connor Academy to learn how to draw hands and feet under the motto, “How to resist robots taking our jobs”.
There was a meeting between professional creators and illustration students, a meeting of European public television stations, another of Ibero-Americans and one more of both. A workshop on the role of women in this sector was also scheduled, as well as a co-production and business forum in which producers, purchasing agents, distributors, television channels and investors participated, and finally the awards ceremony. EFE
The entry Portuguese, Spanish and Argentinean animations monopolize the Quirino Awards was first published in EFE Noticias.