{"id":136889,"date":"2025-10-21T21:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T21:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/136889\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T21:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T21:43:11","slug":"little-amelie-or-the-character-of-rain-wins-grand-jury-prize-at-aif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/136889\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Little Am\u00e9lie or The Character of Rain’ Wins Grand Jury Prize at AIF"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cLittle Am\u00e9lie or the Character of Rain<\/a>\u201d has won the Grand Jury Prize at the 8th annual Animation Is Film<\/a> Festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe features jury said, \u201cShowing us the world from the perspective of a toddler, \u2018Little Am\u00e9lie or the Character of Rain<\/a>\u2018 portrays the wonders and pains of being alive like poignant revelations. As it finds whimsy in the everyday through its dazzling style, the film also grapples with the complexity of two cultures clashing, connecting, and simultaneously shaping the young protagonist\u2019s nascent identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Fumi Kitahara Special Jury Prize was awarded to \u201cDecorado.\u201d During opening night of the festival, AIF director Matt Kaszanek announced the prize\u2019s renaming in memory of beloved publicist Fumi Kitahara, who died in February.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFumi devoted her professional career to championing animators and was one of the earliest and most vocal supporters of Animation Is Film and its mission. While there is a tremendous sadness at her not being at AIF this year, we take comfort in knowing that we\u2019re about to spend the weekend doing what she would\u2019ve wanted for us \u2014 coming together as a community in celebration of great animation,\u201d Kaszanek said. The jury praised Decorado, stating, \u201cSet in a dystopian reality where authoritarian forces control every aspect of the individual\u2019s life, Decorado cleverly explores how we adapt and push back against accepted normalcy. Though it unflinchingly tackles timely and mature sociopolitical themes, it does so through satirical humor and fantastical characters \u2014 including the protagonist couple, Arnold and Maria \u2014 making it a wholly unexpected experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cArco,\u201d directed by Ugo Bienvenu, was awarded the Audience Award. This imaginative, inventive and tender time-travel adventure, which weaves together themes of friendship, collective memory and the forces of a shifting planet, resonated strongly with the AIF audience.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Shorts Jury Grand Prize went to Cynthia Calvi\u2019s \u201cGigi,\u201d described by jurors as \u201ca deeply intimate, conversational chronicle of the title character\u2019s gender transition. \u2018Gigi\u2019s\u2019 strong visual metaphors ably enrich a story of inherent personal authenticity. It is a film that works on every level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Special Jury Prize in Shorts was awarded to Giovanna Ferrari\u2019s \u201cEiru.\u201d The jury noted, \u201cWith visually stunning use of light and color, this rousing adventure set in ancient Ireland unfolds as a tale of mortal courage and divine reckoning, elevated by its breathtaking technical execution.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnimation Is Film offers its sincerest congratulations to all of the filmmakers who participated in this most recent edition,\u201d Kaszanek said in a statement. \u201cThe 2025 Festival experienced record-shattering numbers in terms of attendance. This doesn\u2019t happen in a vacuum. Thank you to the filmmakers, the audiences, the festival sponsors and community partners for celebrating the art of animation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2025 feature competition lineup included \u201cAll You Need Is Kill,\u201d \u201cArco,\u201d \u201cChao,\u201d \u201cDecorado,\u201d \u201cI Am Frankelda,\u201d \u201cLesbian Space Princess,\u201d \u201cLittle Am\u00e9lie Or The Character Of Rain,\u201d \u201cNobody,\u201d \u201cScarlet\u201d and \u201cA Story About Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLittle Am\u00e9lie or the Character of Rain\u201d has won the Grand Jury Prize at the 8th annual Animation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[81417,18,117,19,17,327],"class_list":{"0":"post-136889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-animation-is-film","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-movies"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}