07/05/2009

Having kicked off on Tuesday, the 16th Stuttgart Animated Film Festival (May 5-10) is in full swing. Now one of the most important of its kind in the world, the event will present over 650 films.

In the main international competition section, 44 animated shorts will compete for four prizes worth a total of €36,000, including the Baden-Württemberg and City of Stuttgart Grand Prize, the Audience Award and the Best Animated Film Score Award.

Other competitive sections include Young Animation, which presents debut and student films; Tricks for Kids, focusing on young audiences; the features sidebar AniMovie; and a section devoted to TV cartoon series. This year also sees the addition of a new prize for Best Voiceover in an Animated Feature.

Two filmmakers have already been honoured: yesterday, Oliver Huzly and Reinhard Klooss received the prize for Best Screenplay for a German Animated Film, worth €5,000. Created in 2007, the award was presented to them for the project Die Konferenz der Tiere, which will be directed by Klooss and Holger Tappe and produced by Constantin.

The festival is also hosting discussions, conferences and workshops for both schoolchildren and professionals, who are turning out in greater numbers year after year to attend the FMX International Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Digital Media. The latter celebrates its 14th edition this year and features an Animation Production Day, which will bring together 56 companies in the sector from 11 different countries.

(Translated from French)