ANIMATION FILM “NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL” WINS GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE AT THE OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL
NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL

The animation film “NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL” wins the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature, at the Ottawa International Film Festival held in Ottawa, Canada between Wednesday, September 20th and Sunday, September 24th. This is the first time that a Japanese movie, and also as well, a Japanese director has been awarded the Grand Prize at the film festival in this feature category. The film is an animation movie version of original story, NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL (Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd), a best seller novel written by author Tomihiko Morimi which has sold over 1.5 million copies so far. Masaaki Yuasa who is the director for this film, was awarded the ‘Cristal Award’ for his animation film ‘Lu Over the Wall,’in the original full-length feature film category as a Grand Prix, at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which was held in France in June. This was an accomplishment in over 22 years for a Japanese.

Here is a comment from Director Masaaki Yuasa

I have some great memories from the time I came to Ottawa 4 years ago, for the short film “Kick-Heart”. It’s such an honor to be awarded in such a great city like Ottawa. Congratulations to all the staff and cast members! It’ll be so nice if even more people could see the film. A girl who walks around Kyoto will now walk around the world.

What is the Ottawa International Film Festival?

Alongside, Annecy, Zagreb and Hiroshima, it is one of the 4 major animation Film Festivals in the world. As a film festival specialized for animation, it is also known as the biggest in North America. Since it was established in 1976, this year is its 41st festival. This time round, 1,992 works from over 85 countries applied for entry to the event. Including Masaaki Yuasa’s NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL and LU OVER THE WALL, 5 pieces were nominated for the full-length feature film category. This is the first time in history, for the film festival to have 2 films by the same director having nominations in the full-length feature film category. News of this also sent around waves of excitement at the festival.

Festival Venue: Ottawa, Canada
Wednesday, September 20th thru to Sunday, September 24th.
Official Website: http://www.animationfestival.ca/

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