‘Flow,’ ‘Memoir of a Snail’ Take Top Prizes at Animation Is Film Festival

variety.com:

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Gints Zilbalodis’“Flow” — which follows a cat at the brink of the end of the world, learning to survive alongside other species — won the Grand Prize at the 7thAnimation Is Film festival that wrapped Sunday in Hollywood.

Additionally, Adam Elliot’s “Memoir of a Snail” collected the Special Jury Prize, along with the Audience Award in a tie with Naoko Yamada’s “The Colors Within.” For the Shorts section of the festival, “Wander to Wonder” won the Grand Prize and “A Crab in The Pool”earned the Special Jury Prize.

The feature jury said in a statement: “Without a word of dialogue, Gints Zilbalodis weaves sound, music and immersive animation to show how powerful the medium can be when coupled with the right story. ‘Flow’ seriously considers how human actions are impacting the environment, and what effect that has on animals, centering their perspective in a way that only animation can.” “Memoir of a Snail,” the second ‘clayography’ feature from Elliot, is a stop-motion drama that captures the life of a snail enthusiast as she undergoes immense hardships and learns to love herself despite them.

Said the jury: “The distinctive personality of Adam Elliot’s stop-motion feat flows directly from its well-crafted screenplay.