Prizes awarded for Belgian animated films
Nienke Deutz's 'Bloeistraat 11' has come away with the ‘Crystal for a Short Film’, one of the main prizes at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France. This short animated film had earlier won the ‘Festival Connection Prize’. She was not the only Belgian to win a prize.
Bloeistraat 11 is about two young girls who are inseparable friends, but their friendship is tested when they reach puberty.
The Flemish co-production Funan from the French animated film-maker Denis Do took home first prize in the feature film category. The film tells the story of a young woman who must struggle to survive under the Khmer Rouge regime and find her son again. Marc James Roels and Emma De Swaef received the André-Martin Award for the stop-motion film This Magnificent Cake! This film had earlier won the Big Prize at Animafest in Zagreb.
The festival at Annecy is one of the four major international animated film festivals and has been running since 1960. Other Belgians appearing on the roll of honour included Nicole van Goethem and Raoul Servais.