Annecy Prizes: ‘Chicken for Linda!,’ ‘Robot Dreams,’ ‘Pebble Hill’ Take Top Honors

variety.com:

Ben Croll Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s hand-painted marvel “Chicken for Linda!” took home dual honors at the Annecy Animation Festival on Saturday, scooping up the festival’s top prize, the Cristal Award for best feature, as well as the Gan Foundation award for distribution.

A bittersweet childhood tale that finds screwball humor in mourning and melancholy, the French-language film premiered to some acclaim out of Cannes’ ACID sidebar last month, and was picked up for North American distribution by Gkids while competing in Annecy. “We wanted something both funny and affecting,” said co-director Chiara Malta. “The two elements were never in conflict, because we made the film for children, putting ourselves in their perspectives while adopting their language.” “We wanted a [joyful mess],” added co-director Sébastien Laudenbach. “The film is sad and funny.

It’s full of energy and emotion, and as a result, the graphic style is dynamic as well.” Hungary’s Áron Gauder won the Jury Award for “Four Souls of Coyote,” which makes use of 2D and 3D animation to reframe a Native America creation myth as an epic adventure with an ecological conscience.

The Hungarian filmmaker had previously won an Annecy Cristal for his 2005 comedy “The District!.” Rounding out the main competition, director Tomohisa Taguchi claimed the Paul Grimault Award for  “The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes,” a magical realistic manga adaptation about a pair of teens who discover a fantastical tunnel that grants any wish, but at tremendous personal cost.