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The 45th annual ASIFA-East Animation Festival Awards took place last Sunday in Manhattan. The long-running ceremony, which celebrates achievements in East Coast animation, is making an effort to gradually transform its annual ceremony into a more upscale affair.

There is just one annual animation award in the United States that is older than the Oscars and that's the ASIFA-East Animation Festival. This year's ceremony will mark the 45th year in a row that the festival has been presented. It takes place this Sunday, May 18th, at the New School's newly built Tishman Auditorium (63 5th Avenue in Manhattan).

Last night in New York City, the ASIFA-East Animation Festival Awards were presented for the forty-fourth year in a row. The Best in Show prize was awarded to the NYU student short Based on a True Story directed by Jacob Kafka. In the Independent Film category, first place went to Celia Bullwinkel’s Sidewalk. Other prizes in the indie category were handed out to films by Mark Kausler, Arthur Metcalf, Bill Plympton, Richard O’Connor and David Chai.

New York veteran Candy Kugel took home first place in Commissioned Films for her TEDEd short Sex Determination, while first place in Student Films went to Michelle Ikemoto’s Tule Lake, produced at San Jose State University.

The complete list of winners is below:

BEST IN SHOW
Based on a True Story
Directed by Jacob Kafka

INDEPENDENT FILMS: FIRST PLACE
Sidewalk
Directed by Celia Bullwinkel

INDEPENDENT FILMS: SECOND PLACE
There Must Be Some Other Cat
Directed by Mark Kausler

INDEPENDENT FILMS: THIRD PLACE (TIED)
It Took A While To Figure Shit Out
Directed by Arthur Metcalf

INDEPENDENT FILMS: THIRD PLACE (TIED)
Drunker Than A Skunk
Directed by Bill Plympton

EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION
It Took A While To Figure Shit Out
Directed by Arthur Metcalf

EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN
Christmas Day
Directed by Richard O’Connor, designed by Kelsey Stark

EXCELLENCE IN WRITING
A Knock On My Door
Directed by David Chai

EXPERIMENTAL FILMS
The Productive AniJam
Produced by Katie Cropper & Cynthea Diaz

COMMISSIONED FILMS: FIRST PLACE
TEDed: Sex Determination
Directed by Candy Kugel

COMMISSIONED FILMS: SECOND PLACE
Quiet Loud (Sesame Street)
Directed by Bob Boyle

COMMISSIONED FILMS: THIRD PLACE
Sniffles
Directed by David Cowles & Jeremy Galante

STUDENT FILMS: FIRST PLACE
Tule Lake
Directed by Michelle Ikemoto

STUDENT FILMS: SECOND PLACE
Chasing Unicorns
Directed by Deena Beck

STUDENT FILMS: THIRD PLACE (TIED)
The Crawler
Directed by Seth Brady

STUDENT FILMS: THIRD PLACE (TIED)
Good Night Guard
Directed by Janice S. Rim

STUDENT FILMS: HONORABLE MENTION (TIED)
Mirror
Directed by Q-Hyun Kim

STUDENT FILMS: HONORABLE MENTION (TIED)
Register Rap!
Directed by Josh Weisbrod

It’s the time of year again when the East Coast animation community gathers to recognize its own. This Sunday in Manhattan, ASIFA-East will present the 44th annual ASIFA-East Animation Festival awards ceremony. Awards will be presented across a variety of categories including independent and student film, as well as commissioned/advertising projects.

The festivities will begin at 6pm in the New School’s Tishman Auditorium (66 West 12th St) followed by a reception. The event is free and open to the public, though non-members are encouraged to donate $5. More details can be found on the ASIFA-East website.

(Award show illustration by Dagan Moriarty)

Tonight, ASIFA-East handed out prizes for its 43nd annual Animation Festival. The Rauch Brothers took home the Best in Show for their 9/11-themed short John and Joe. Two children’s films that I particularly enjoyed at the screening were Michael Sporn’s inspiring I Can Be President (which was shown in excerpted form) and an adaptation of Mo Willems’ book Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late directed by Pete List. The latter showed that preschool animation can engage audience participation without talking down to kids.

The most surprising film of the evening was Leah Shore’s Old Man. The “old man” in question is Charles Manson, and Shore uses a breathless array of techniques and styles to illustrate recordings of his schizophrenic ramblings. Though we’ve posted Shore’s films here before—see BOOBatary and Meatwaffle—I’d suggest that Old Man is a breakout work for the young filmmaker. She is a talent to watch.

A full list of winners follows the jump.

BEST IN SHOW

John and Joe
StoryCorps/Rauch Brothers

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM

1st Place
Taxonomy
Karen Aqua – Director

2nd Place
Two
Steven Subotnick – Director

3rd Place
Old Man
Leah Shore – Director

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

1st Place
the light that died in my arms
Alan Foreman – Director

2nd Place
(Baby) It’s You!
David Cowles, Jeremy Galante, Brad Pattullo – Directors

3rd Place
Le Soleil Chante (The Sun Sings)
Delphine Burrus – Director

INDEPENDENT FILMS

1st Place
Turning A Corner
David B. Levy – Director

2nd Place
Dr. Breakfast
Stephen Neary – Director

3rd Place
The First Time Cee-Cee Did Acid
Twins are Weird
Noelle Melody – Director
Joy Vaccese – Producer

Excellence in Animation
More Than Winning
Nick Fox-Gieg – Director
Susan Murray – Animator

Excellence in Design
The Girl and the Fox
Base14/Tyler J. Kupferer – Director

Excellence in Design
Orbis Park
Andrew Kaiko

Excellence in Soundtrack
Car Crash Opera
Skip Battaglia – Director
Jairo Duarte-Lopez, Michaela Eremiasova – Composers

Excellence in Writing
Wolf Dog Tales
Bernadine Santistevan – Director

COMMISSIONED OVER 2 MINUTES

1st Place
Miss Devine
StoryCorps/Rauch Brothers

2nd Place
Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late
Mo Willems Studio/Weston Woods
Pete List – Director

3rd Place
I Can Be President
Michael Sporn Animation, Inc.
Michael Sporn – Director

Excellence in Education
Journey of a Water Molecule
The Knowledge Project/PS69x
Jose Maldonado, MB Hunnewell – Directors

Excellence in Writing
A History of Animation
Morgan Miller – Direc

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America’s oldest animation awards show—43 years running—takes place tonight: the ASIFA-East Animation Festival. It’s in Manhattan and it’s free! Details on CB Biz. Go!

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