First place awarded to the Animation Unit at Ottawa Festival 2007

Festival Ottawa 2007, the most important International Animation Festival in North America and one of the most important in the world, concluded at the beginning of October. The Animation Unit at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design was awarded first place for the best collection of films.

The Festival's jury included: Bruce Alcock, Canada; Hanan Kaminski, Israel; Harvey Turkovitzh, Croatia; Tomek Baginski, Poland – a young creator who has received worldwide recognition for his computerized films; Ruth Lingford and Joanna Kevin, two animation artists from the UK, considered to be at the forefront of animation artists in the world.

Here are the judges comments with regards to Bezalel, presented by Tomek Baginski

Judging the school’s showreel this year wasn’t an easy task. The works presented by the schools this year were both good and extremely different so this year’s choice was not between good and bad schools, it was between different visions of what animation should be, and what students of animation should take from the school. Discussion over the

verdict was very long and the Jury checked a lot of different angels before making the final decision. Final round was played between Bezalel Academy of Art and Design from Israel and National Film and Television School from UK. The final decision was not unanonymus.

 Jury decided to honor Bezalel Academy of Art and Design from Israel.

Jury awarded for the attention to traditional strengths of animation: well drawn, variously stylized picture, clarity in the stories and attention to character animation. Jury also perceived the wide spectrum of techniques used in the student’s films. The showreel presented by the Bezalel Academy of Art was also very steady – their production and visual style retained a good quality throughout.

 Jury decided also to give a Special Mention for the film “Immeasurable” by Gergely Cziraki from National Film and Television School from UK. In general Jury opinion it was the best single short film in all this year’s School showreels. Very good and professional direction and realization. Wise use of computer animation and high level of technical complexity makes this film recognizable in this year’s set.