Several Hungarian films awarded at Annecy festival

Several Hungarian works were awarded prizes at the 2023 Annecy International Animated Film Festival late on Saturday.

“Four Souls of Coyote” directed by Aron Gauder received the jury award in the feature film category. The film was produced by Réka Temple from Cinemon Entertainment and received support from the Hungarian National Film Institute. During the festival the film had eight sold-out screenings. The script of the film, written together with Géza Bereményi, draws attention to the challenges facing all of humanity through the creation myth of the Native Americans and asks whether we will all manage to find our place in the great circle of life before it is too late.

Áron Gauder previously won the “The Cristal for best feature” award in 2005 in Annecy for his film “Nyócker!”. “I made a film again after 18 years, and the fact that both of my films have reached this point is a great joy,” Gauder told MTI after the awards ceremony. “Tonight I calmed down a bit, as it was not in vain that at the age of 12 I decided to become a cartoonist.”

“27”, a Hungarian-French coproduction directed by Flóra Anna Buda, received the top crystal award in the short film category. The short film had previously also received the best original music award for short films at the festival. The short film was produced by the French company Miyu and Hungarian Boddah with producers Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Gábor Osváth and Benjamin Lukács Péter. The story follows 27-year old Alice, who feels oppressed because she still lives with her parents but she spends her time daydreaming to escape her dreary everyday life.

The film also received the Short Film Palme d’Or award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and the best Hungarian animated film award at the 11th Fresh Meat Festival in Budapest. Flóra Anna Buda told MTI at Annecy that it was probably the honest and vulnerable content of the autobiographically inspired story that impressed juries at all three festivals.

“Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light”, a Czech-Slovakian-Hungarian coproduction directed by Filip Posivac, was awarded the Contrechamp jury award in the feature film contrechamp category. The family film’s production was also supported by the Hungarian National Film Institute.