Note that this program is geoblocked and only available in Canada. Take in the best in the world of animation with this year's SPARK ANIMATION FESTIVAL award-winners as selected by the <a href="https://sparkcg.org/festivals/information.php?SA23-J" target="_blank">Festival Jury</a>.

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, Best in Show, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 For almost half a century, Don Ritchie would approach people contemplating suicide at the edge of a cliff, just 100 feet from his home, his palms facing up. Voiced by Hugo Weaving, Teacups explores Don's surreal interactions with years of suicidal individuals and his journey to reconcile the suicide of his best friend. The film asks, can a simple act of kindness save a life? <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6539a8ba4fe4b400488a1461" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with the directors</a>. Image Credit: Teacups © 2023 Varicoloured OÜ. All rights reserved.

Teacups

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Runner Up, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 Karen Lips is a researcher and has lived for several years in a tiny little shack in Costa Rica to observe frogs. When she leaves the cloud forest for a short time and returns, the frogs are gone. All of them. Karen sets out to find them – and encounters a horrible truth. Image Credit: The Waiting © 2023 Voker Schlecht. All rights reserved.

The Waiting

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, Canadian Film, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 In a run-down neighbourhood, Zoe and her little brother Theo are left to fend for themselves. A young adolescent, Zoe is a ball of anger haunted by an intimate terror. Theo, still a child, flees reality into a fantastical world. During a scorching summer day, the two children will have to burst the abscess of their relationship so as not to lose each other. <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/65399efe4fd47500ba1210a7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with the directors</a>. Image Credit: A Crab in the Pool © 2023 Travelling Distribution. All rights reserved.

A Crab in the Pool

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, Diversity Award, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 An Iranian girl unfolds her school memories through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform. <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6539a5c2844d130026b270fb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with the director</a>. Image Credit: Our Uniform © 2023 Yegane Moghaddam. All rights reserved.

Our Uniform

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, Diversity Award, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 As a child in Vietnam, Thao's mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history. Co-directed by Thao Lam and Kjell Boersma, the film employs a hybrid of traditional 2D animation, stop-motion multiplane, and 3D rendering to capture the unique aesthetic of Lam’s handmade paper textures and patterns. Image Credit: Boat People © 2023 National Film Board of Canada. All rights reserved.

Boat People

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, Student Film, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 A Tapir mother reveals the story of her tragedy in an embroidery. She experienced a violent attack, the loss of her home and the disappearance of her son. Will she find him? <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6534a25c28f71d005eac4154" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with director Pedro Nel Cabrera Vanegas</a>. Image Credit: Tapir Memories © 2023 Hochschule Luzern – Design &amp; Kunst. All rights reserved.

Tapir Memories

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Runner Up, Student Film, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 Wannabe musical legend Slouch is pushed by his song-writing-demon Nuffti to deep dive into his darkest emotions, while his girlfriend Lisa is pregnant and wants him to transition into a harmonic family life… <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6534a25c28f71d005eac4153" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with director Michael Bohnenstingl</a>. Image Credit: Slouch © 2022 Michael Bohnenstingl. All Rights Reserved.

Slouch

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Special Mention, Artistic Achievement, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 The sorrowful son was standing beside the rope weeping, while his creator was hanging. <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6534a25c28f71d005eac4155" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with the directors</a>. Image Credit: Stabat Mater © 2023 Pôle 3D. All Rights Reserved.

Stabat Mater

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Special Mention, Comedy, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 In this episode of The Bubby Bear Show, Bubby introduces the alphabet until a sinister figure appears. Bubby must escape while trying to keep the alphabet lesson going. Image Credit: The Bubby Bear Show © 2023 Ringling College of Art and Design. All rights reserved.

The Bubby Bear Show

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Special Mention, Technical Achievement, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 It took 7 days to create the world, it only took one to disrupt its balance. <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6534a25c28f71d005eac4151" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with co-director Alicia Massez</a>. Image Credit: On the 8th Day © 2023 Pôle 3D. All Rights Reserved.

On the 8th Day

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, Commercial, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 "We're not gonna make a short film about potatoes…" – "Just fry and stop me!", said the potato. So we made a short film about potatoes. <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/653b2798e0c41e0065db3ad4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with the director</a>. Image Credit: Potato Falls © 2022 Janina Putzker. All rights reserved.

Potato Falls

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, VFX, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 Fearing that her younger sister will be wed off Just like she was, Ahlam lures Yasmin to run away with her by telling a story of a mythical sea that lies beyond the desolate desert and its mountains. Yasmin’s childish curiosity overturns her father’s apprehension and his warnings of the monster that resides beyond the borders of their house. In search of this mystical sea, the two sisters journey away far from their home, predetermined fate and secluded life with their father. Along the way, young Yasmin is forced to face her inner demons and further her understanding of the world she lives in. Image Credit: A Calling. From the Desert. To the Sea © 2022 Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH. All rights reserved.

A Calling. From the Desert. To the Sea

In a dreamlike and metaphorical world, an adult abandons a child to sink into a dark and uncertain future. The child will face his greatest fears to try to reconnect with this adult he sorely needs. Image Credit: Still Alive © 2022 Guido Ekker. All rights reserved.

Still Alive

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, Director's Prize, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 An indefatigable citizen grabs his bootstraps and lives the dream! <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6534a25c28f71d005eac4152" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with director Ben Meinhardt</a>. Image Credit: Living the Dream © 2023 Ben Meinhardt. All Rights Reserved.

Living The Dream

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Special Mention, GameVerse, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 Astrolander is an action-packed PS5™ exclusive local co-op game featuring dramatic cinematics, intense action, and lush levels. Two players work together to control Haptic and their sidekick Feedback, adventure-seeking cute robots on a mission to save the MVP’s (Most Valuable Programs)! Manipulate and sense the world around you with innovative immersive uses of the DualSense™ Wireless Controller. Create tidal waves and tornadoes using the touchpad to avoid the wrath of the Cyberquax and Cybermoos, topple dangerous enemies by blowing into the integrated microphone, feel lifelike sensations as Cybertrains rumble towards you, hide in the seaweed to evade lurking Cybertrackers, and whiz around mischievous creatures while exploring action-packed worlds. Play solo or grab a friend for a unique co-op experience where two players join in this thrilling adventure together. The Astrolander PS5™ exclusive announcement trailer has been featured by PlayStation™ on their social media accounts and has appeared on a CBC The National news segment. <a href="https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/653b260405b338005fa07935" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the conversation with the director</a>. Image Credit: Astrolander © 2023 Maximus Trest. All rights reserved.

Astrolander

<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/100729e8d74db139fd9c4b4a092421dd.png" style="max-width: 100%; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Winner, GameVerse Prize, SPARK ANIMATION 2023 With the Overwatch Task Force out of commission, former Captain Sojourn settles into a quiet life of corgis, coffee, and croissants… or so it seems. Image Credit: Overwatch 2 “Calling” feat. Sojourn © 2023 Blizzard. All rights reserved.

Overwatch 2 "Calling" feat. Sojourn

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Celebrate 15 years of the world's best animation SPARK ANIMATION! British Columbia's only Oscar®-accredited festival packs world-class films and talks into one grass-roots, volunteer run festival which is now available world-wide! We know animation. Share our passion with us!

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