Adam Elliot’s oddball Aussie feature Memoir of a Snail has won the Cristal award for best feature film at the 2024 Annecy Film Festival, the world’s leading international animation fest.
The dark dramedy, about a lonely, snail-obsessed hoarder — voiced by Succession star Sarah Snook — recounting her life story to one of her beloved gastropods, is Elliot’s first feature since 2009’s Mary and Max, which also won the top honor at Annecy. An impressive group of Australian A-listers, including Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jacki Weaver, Eric Bana and Nick Cave provide supporting voice work. IFC Films picked up North American rights to Memoir of a Snail ahead of the festival.
Flow, a drama from Latvian animator Gints Zilbalodis (Away), which follows a cat that survives a world-destroying deluge on a boat with a collection of other animals, won this year’s jury award and audience prize, voted on by Annecy attendees. It also took home a special award for best music for the score by Rihards Zalupe and Gints Zilbalodis. Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window, Shinnosuke Yakuwa’s animated adaptation of the memoir by Japanese television star Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, took Annecy’s Paul Grimault honor.
Isabel Herguera’s Sultana’s Dream, which had its world premiere in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival last year, won the Grand Prix honor in Annecy’s Contrechamp section, with the jury award going to Living Large, the stop-action feature film debut from Czech director Kristina Dufková.
Among Annecy’s special awards, the Festivals Connexion award for best VR production went to Emperor from Marion Burger and Ilan Cohen. The work, which had its world premiere at Venice Immersive last year, explores Burger’s attempts to understand her father, suffering from aphasia, as he begins to lose his faculties of speech and language comprehension. Another Venice Immersive highlight, Ethan Shaftel’s Gargoyle Doyle, won the Cristal prize for best VR work at this year’s festival.
The City of Annecy award went to Italian director Margherita Giusti for her short The Meatseller, which follows a young Nigerian woman on a harrowing journey to Italy as she pursues her dream of following in her mother’s footsteps and becoming a meat seller.
The awards, handed out in Annecy Saturday night, closed the 2024 French festival after a week that confirmed its position as the leading event on the international animation calendar. Highlights of this year’s festival included the world premiere of Despicable Me 4; sneak peeks at the upcoming Wallace and Gromit film and Andy Serkis’ Lord of the Rings Anime movie The War of the Rohirrim; and Disney unveiling new footage and the lead character’s opening song from Moana 2.
See the full list of 2024 Annecy Festival award winners below.
Feature Films
Cristal for a Feature FilmMemoir of a SnailAdam ElliotAustraliaArenamedia
Jury AwardFlowGints ZilbalodisLatvia, Belgium, FranceDream Well Studio, Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions
Paul Grimault AwardTotto-Chan: The Little Girl at the WindowShinnosuke YakuwaJapanShin-Ei Animation Co., Ltd.
Feature Films – Contrechamp
Contrechamp Grand PrixSultana’s DreamIsabel HergueraSpain, GermanyAbano Produccións S.L., El Gatoverde Producciones, Sultana Films, Uniko, Fabian&Fred GmbH
Contrechamp Jury AwardLiving LargeKristina DufkováCzech Republic, Slovakia, FranceBarletta Productions, Novinski, Novanima
Audience Awards
Feature FilmFlowGints ZilbalodisLatvia, Belgium, FranceDream Well Studio, Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions
TV Film
The Drifting GuitarSophie RozeFrance, SwitzerlandJPL Films, Nadasdy Film
TV and Commissioned Films
Cristal for a Commissioned FilmPictoplasma “Opener 2023”Will AndersonUnited Kingdom
Jury Award for a Commissioned FilmTED-Ed “How Did South African Apartheid Happen, and How Did It Finally End?”Aya MarzoukUSA, South Africa, EgyptTED-Ed
Cristal for a TV ProductionThe Drifting GuitarSophie RozeFrance, SwitzerlandJPL Films, Nadasdy Film
Jury Award for a TV SeriesMy Life in Versailles “Versailles Ghost”Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat, Nathaniel H’LimiFrance, LuxembourgFilms Grand Huit, Melusine Productions / Studio 352, Film Fund Luxembourg
Jury Award for a TV SpecialLola and the Noisy PianoAugusto ZanovelloFrance, Poland, SwitzerlandKomadoli Studio, Folimage, Momakin, Nadasdy Film
Graduation Films
Lotte Reiniger AwardMaatitelGovinda SaoIndiaNID – National Institute of Design, GOIA
Jury AwardPubert JimbobQuirijn DeesBelgiumKASK & Conservatorium / School of Arts Gent
Cristal for a Graduation FilmCarroticaDaniel Sterlin-AltmanGermanyFilmuniversitaet Babelsberg Konrad Wolf
Feature Films
Gan Foundation Award for DistributionFlowGints ZilbalodisLatvia, Belgium, FranceUFO Distribution
VR Works
Cristal for the Best VR WorkGargoyle DoyleEthan ShaftelUSA, Austria, ArgentinaDetona Cultura, Easyaction Ltd, Amilux Film
Short Films
Cristal for a Short FilmPercebesAlexandra Ramires, Laura GonçalvesPortugal, FranceBAP – Animation Studio, Ikki Films
Off-Limits AwardGlass HouseBoris LabbéFrance
Audience AwardHurikánJan SaskaCzech Republic, France, Slovakia, Bosnia and HerzegovinaLast Films, Maur Film, Laïdak Films, Artichoke, Aeon Production
Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film[S]Mario RadevUnited Kingdom
Alexeïeff – Parker AwardBeautiful MenNicolas KeppensBelgium, France, NetherlandsAnimal Tank, Miyu Productions, Ka-Ching Cartoons
Jury AwardThe Car That Came Back from the SeaJadwiga KowalskaSwitzerland
Special Prizes
Best Original Music Award for a Feature FilmFlowRihards Zalupe, Gints ZilbalodisLatvia, Belgium, FranceDream Well Studio, Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions
France TV Award for a Short FilmThe Car That Came Back from the SeaJadwiga KowalskaSwitzerland
Best Original Music Award for a Short FilmJokoAliaksandr YasinskiPoland, Germany, Czech RepublicAnimoon, Las Sztuki Foundation, Clay Traces, Maur Film
CANAL+ Junior Jury AwardNoodles au NaturelMatteo Salanave PiazzaFranceLa Poudrière
Young Audience AwardHello SummerMartin Smatana, Veronika ZacharováSlovakia, Czech Republic, FranceStudio Bororo, Maur Film, Last Films, Vivement Lundi !
André Martin Award for a French Short FilmButterflyFlorence MiailheFranceSacrebleu Productions, XBO Films
Festivals Connexion AwardBeautiful MenNicolas KeppensBelgium, France, NetherlandsAnimal Tank, Miyu Productions, Ka-Ching Cartoons
Festivals Connexion VR AwardEmperorMarion Burger, Ilan CohenFrance, GermanyReynard Films, France Télévisions, Atlas V
City of Annecy AwardThe MeatsellerMargherita GiustiItalyFrenesy Film Company
