Taichung International Animation Festival Competition Awards was Announced! Taiwanese Animation are insane, WANG Teng-Yu win glory for the Taiwan.

 

Taichung International Animation Festival Competition Awards was Announced!
Taiwanese Animation are insane, WANG Teng-Yu win glory for the Taiwan.

The 2023 Taichung International Animation Festival held its awards ceremony today, October 21st. The winners were announced by CHENG Chao-Hsin, the Director General of the Information Bureau of the Taichung City Government, and LIN Ying-Zhi, the Foundation's Director, along with the Juries. In a highly competitive field, the grand prix in the "Short Films in Competition" went to director WANG Teng-Yu for "Ghost of the Dark Path" marking the first time a Taiwanese work has received the festival's biggest award. The "Student Short Films in Competition" grand prix was awarded to German director Arne Hain for "The Last Bar." Meanwhile, the "Taiwanese Short Films in Competition" grand prix was claimed by the director ZHANG Xu-Zhan for "Compound Eyes of Tropical." This year, Taiwan's animation works performed brilliantly and won many awards among the competitive entries, which was a perfect ending for the 9th Taichung International Animation Film Festival.

CHENG Chao-Hsin, the Director General of the Information Bureau of the Taichung City Government stated that this year's submissions set a record for the most participating countries and regions in the festival's history. It is clear that the festival has become an important platform for international exchange. The event was further honored by the presence of prominent figures in the animation world, such as the king of the American independent animation Bill Plympton and Eiko Tanaka, the CEO of Japan's STUDIO 4℃ animation studio. Their participation served to strengthen Taiwan's connections with the international animation industry. Additionally, this year's competition featured 12 outstanding works, selected after multiple rounds of discussions on story structure, artistic, and media usage. In addition to congratulating this year's winners, we would also like to thank each and every one of the animation creators for their wonderful works, and in particular, we would like to thank the international juries and creators who traveled from the U.S.A., Chile, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong during the festival period to bring excellent works and share their experience with us.

LIN Ying-Zhi, the Foundation's Director explained that WANG Teng-Yu's "Ghost of the Dark Path" was awarded the grand prix in the "Short Films in Competition" making it the first time a Taiwanese creator has won the biggest prize in the competition. The competition of Taiwan's animation creation in the international arena is once again affirmed. WANG Teng-Yu, who has been consistently recognized on the international stage. After winning the first prize in the Taichung International Animation Festival for Taiwanese Short Films Competition grand prix and the Golden Horse Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2019 for his work "Gold Fish", director Wang Teng-Yu won the first prize in the Short Film Competition again this year for his work "Ghost of the Dark Path", a story that portrays the brave advocacy of ideas by a woman named SHI Shui-Fang within an underground political organization during the White Terror era.

For the "Student Short Films in Competition," the first prize was claimed by German director Arne Hain for "The Last Bar," a film that explores the inner struggles of the main character, who contemplates ending their life but stumbles upon a bar filled with people who do not fit into society. The film's unique style and the exploration of the beauty of life were highly appreciated by the jury. "Unscarfed" from Germany won the "Jury Distinction Award," while "Synchrony" from France and "Set Sail" from Taiwan both received the "Outstanding Award."

Chilean director Hugo Covarrubias, who is one of this year's jury members and last year's winner of the Short Films in Competition in TIAF, expressed his astonishment at the quality of this year's entries. He was particularly impressed by the Taiwanese short films, which excelled in both storytelling and artistic depth. Nobuaki Doi, also a jury member and curator of the Hiroshima Festival, shared his excitement about seeing many inspiring works at the Taichung International Animation Festival. He looks forward to more opportunities for animated exchanges in the future.

The grand prix in the "Taiwanese Short Films in Competition" went to ZHANG Xu-Zhan for "Compound Eyes of Tropical," which combines Taiwan’s unique funeral paper Mache technique with stop-motion animation. The story is based on a Southeast Asian folk tale " The Mousedeer Crossing the River" and offers viewers a unique perspective from the compound eyes of a fly while exploring a universally relatable folk story. The film also won Best Animated Short Films at the 59th Golden Horse Awards and the Gold Harvest Awards. It received a special recommendation from the Animafest Zagreb International Animation Festival. The grand prix in the "Taiwanese Student Short Films in Competition" went to LI Jo-Ti for "Set Sail" which was previously awarded the "Outstanding Award" in Student Short Films in Competition. The film is based on her grandfather's life and portrays the sacrifices made by her grandfather, who was the eldest son, for his family while pursuing a better life.

The "Best Artistic Award" and the "Best Storytelling Award" went to CHIN Tung from National Taipei University of Arts for " L.U.A (Last Universal Ancestor)" and to the team of CHANG Sih-Ching, Kenny HSIAO, and Pang HUANG from National Taipei University of the Arts for "Oh, Shoot!" respectively.

The Taiwanese animation film "The Egret River" received the "Audience Award". The short films not only focuses on the environment, but also on the relationship between the environment and human beings, as well as the impact of the disappearance of the environment on human beings, touching the hearts of many moviegoers. The " Children’s Choice Award " determined by over a hundred young judges, was won by " La Calesita " from Argentina. The film revolves around an Argentine carousel operator dedicated to bringing joy and happiness to children, with a heartwarming story and warm color tones that appeal to young audiences.

The awards ceremony which held today, brought the filmmakers together, and the festival came to a successful conclusion with the screening of the closing film, "Phoenix: Reminiscence of Flower" The festival attracted a diverse audience, including both new and old fans. Everyone is looking forward to seeing each other again at the Taichung International Animation Festival next year. For more information on the festival and the full list of award winners, please visit the official Taichung International Animation Festival website: http://twtiaf.com and the Facebook fan page : http://facebook.com/tiaf.taichung.