We present the list of winners of the 15th Korea Independent Animation Film Fest, Indie-AniFest which took place from September 19th – 24th in Seoul, South Korea.

About the festival:
The Indie-AniFest, the only film festival in Korea specializing in independent animations, now aims to become the world’s only Asian animation film festival. A film festival created and managed with the participation of independent animation filmmakers from Korea, Indie-AniFest strives for the values of independence, experimentation, passion, and vision. As we expand the scope and importance of this festival through our core values and the participation of artists, we hope that Indie-AniFest will grow into a unique film festival in the world where Asian animations come together.

Grand Prize “Star of Indie”

Movements by Jeong Dahee – Jeong Dahee | 2019 – 10 minutes

In the space of 10 minutes, the African baobab tree grows 0.008mm, the fastest dog in the world, the Greyhound, can run 12km, and the Earth travels 18,000km around the Sun. [Movements] is a10-minute animated film which I drew at a rate of 2 seconds of animation perday. We are all walking, seeing, working, running, and stopping together.

What the Jury said: This colorful and luminous film transports us into a scene in a permanent state of reconfiguration. The characters inhabiting it, whether a dog, human, or tree, seem to go through the same daily activities, according to their very different personalities and the temporalities of their various lives. Touching the subject of the relativity of passing time and out place in the world, the director achieves a great sense of delicacy through continuous formal and narrative inventiveness. The refreshing humor conveyed through the beautiful animation provides the qualities an original and outstanding film. – Boris Labee

Prize for Independent Walk

Mascot by Kim Leeha – Korea | 2019 – 7 minutes

The fox who wants to be a mascot for the city goes to a mascot training academy. He lives in a very tiny house and works many part-time jobs. He is still getting many Mascot auditions with taking loans at a high-interest rates for undergoing plastic surgery.

What the Jury said: Sometimes, we try to reach the highest summit and do everything we can to get a little bit closer to the peak, but we find ourselves being dragged to the bottom. For the youths lost in a darkness that wipes out their identities, their efforts have become mere inertia. This inertia propels them forward without a destination and becomes their only consolation. This melancholy portrait of modern Korean youths is the recipient of the Independent Walk Prize. We hope that the director finds true joy rather than bitter laughter upon their road. – Jang Nari

Prize for First Flight

Knife hanging from a tree by Nam Jihee – Korea, USA | 2019 – 3 minutes

The story in, revolves around a fruit, persimmon, based off of a Korean traditional saying, directly translated to, . It is depicting the idea of greed and karma, and what a small simple thing/object could do to people.

What the Jury said: The unique visual style of this film conveys the director’s sensibilities and talent. Without being too conscious of existing compositions, modes of thinking, and the principles of cinematic language, the director creates their own sense of timing through movement, editing, and sound, creating a sense of urgency and shocking us in a new way. We grant the First Flight Prize to the film that made us truly feel the unknown potential inside each individual. – Koji Yamamura

Jury Special Prize

Creative Evolution by Song Yungsung – Korea, Japan | 2019 – 5 minutes

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? Life keeps traveling across the universe.

What the Jury said: Creative artists know well the challenges of clear and concise expression, and making work in an intuitive way. This film achieves all of the above and was a joy for us to see. The color and composition achieve a clarity and beauty of expression that lacks unnecessary details. The use of metamorphosis remains true to the medium of animation and holds our interest while swiftly driving the film’s evolution toward its destination, ultimately gifting the audience with a sublime moment. – Lee Yongsun

Special Prize for Debut Film

The Shadow by Kim Hyejin – Korea | 2018 – 12 minutes

On the day of high school graduation, it was fashionable to share the proof photos of my classmates. Hee-ju, Ji-soo,and Do-hyeon, who become awkward now, also have their own photographs of each other. After becoming an adult, I look at the photographs and think of those days when they were shining in their own way.

What the Jury said: When we seek out our old friends, how does it feel to hear their voices again? Surely this was the impetus for this film. Some things may not change, but there are also things that we regret and feel remorse about. This film’s greatest strength may be its plain authenticity, which brings us a sweet yet bitter smile. There is a truthfulness in the rough and playful images that might have come from the sketches that we once drew in secret. This film goes a step further and makes us realize that light inevitably accompanies the shadows. – Lee Yong-cheol

Special Prize for Music & Sound

Ayaka Sato for Creative Evolution (Song Yungsung) – Korea, Japan | 2019 – 5 minutes

What the Jury said: As the members of the jury discussed the films, the Music and Sound Prize was not a hard choice. This is a film that is completed by the music to a degree that the film and music become one. The short syllables spoken by the human voice come together in harmony. This harmony becomes love, and love leads to a revolution. Ultimately, the sound achieves an evolution, singing of birth and creation. Though who see the film are sure to feel the union of the moving image and sound. – Lee Yongsun

KIAFA Special Prize

We will see someday by Hong Nari – Korea | 2018 – 7 minutes

Thisstory is about death. I had a friend, a cat. One grey drizzly day, the cat died. What I saw in the next morning looked like a dress left by the cat.

What the Jury said: This year’s films in competition are part of the modern era of content convergence and integration, coming from diverse genres to expand the field of animation into the realm of the unknown and to let the world know of their presence with a great force of energy. Among these trends, this film based on a picture book defies our expectations of original contents while giving us the feeling a music video experience. It reminds us that animation has the power to break down the hierarchies and barriers between techniques and genres that we establish subconsciously to create a genuine mixture. Rather than the world as seen through animation, this film shows us how the world can truly “see” the limitless potential of animation. – Kim Hyewon

Audience Choice “Star of Festival”

Love at the crossroads by Choi Heeseung – Korea | 2019 – 6 minutes

Love triangle between Kkum (dream), Hyeon-sil (reality), and me.

Grand Prize “Light of ASIA”

Am I a wolf? by Amir Houshang Moein – Iran | 2019 – 8 minutes

The students are performing a play called . Everybody has a role. They are totally immersed in their roles such that the boundary between reality and acting becomes blurred. The child acting as the wolf is doomed to be defeated, and he feels lonely and irritated. He takes his role too seriously, and there is a bit of chaos. At the end, the presence of the other children and his friends beside him take him out of this mood.

What the Jury said: This film is presented with a very high degree of animation performance, successfully invoking life through its movements and reaching beyond the more easily achieved illustration of actions. The narrative of the story is beautifully woven between the parallel of outer and inner realities. As the children is performing a stage play about the perils of 7domestic goats and a wild wolf, the viewer is invited to experience and be transported in-and-out between the dramas of performing children and blending into the fictional story of the play. The choice of art direction and graphic styling is very whimsical, invoking dream-like qualities while maintaining a more serious undertone and very fitting to the nature of the story. – Mike Nguyen

Prize for Asian Road

Lola the living potato by Leonid Shmelkov – Russia | 2018 – 17 minutes

Little Lola’s family is forced to leave their old house with which they feel a deep connection. The time comes when we must part with the things that we love dearly. Lola will come to accept this more easily as she grows older.

What the Jury said: Life and death, meeting and parting, growth and love are endlessly repeated clichés, but they are also inevitable parts of life that we are destined to experience. We know they are clichés, but that it why the smallest touch can make us inescapably sentimental. As we become adults, we dismiss it as being repetitive. But if we had a child’s point of view, would we have the same opinion? Being faced with the unfamiliar, the child cannot easily take a step forward. Ultimately, the child is pushed forward into growth.

The grandfather and granddaughter make a perfection combination and invite our laughter. We were impressed by the strong colors and the scenes recalling the paintings of a certain artist. Each scene is full of warmth and humor without tugging on the audience’s heart strings too fiercely. The director did not forget to bring us back to reality in the final scene where rain falls on an abandoned memory. This film is at once delicate and inventive yet also coolly objective. – Park Jee-youn

Jury Special Prize

Kin’s Hair by Kwunchung Chan, See-wan Chang, Tsz-yin Wong
Hong Kong | 2019 – 6 minutes

<Kin’s Hair> is an animation with Hong Kong’s history background to arouse Hong Kong people’s collective memories and recall the memories of them. Also, to encourage Hong Kong people by using Kin’s story.

What the Jury said: The things that are precious to me vanish one by one. This is something remorseful, yet the film is also presented with a sense of cheeriness. We can laugh at the efforts to hold onto that which is precious. Everything in the film touches upon our everyday lives. The story develops naturally through fitting comparisons and compositions. The rough visual style sometimes gets in the way, but that’s alright. It’s all in good fun. – Lee Lyu-tae

Audience Choice “Star of Festival”

The Body swap center by Kazuki Sekiguchi – Japan | 2018 – 9 minutes

Mimi is fed up with her pathetic self. One day, she walks along looking at the ground like usual when she notices a suspicious flyer.

What the Jury said: Having so many precious and meaningful films made our decision very difficult. As our opinions became more varied, it made us think more seriously and deeply about our choice. We worked hard to follow the spirit of the Indie-AniFest Audience Jury while choosing a film that shows originality of expression and excellence in conveying its message. This film made us think about human emotions that are endlessly connected and repeated. We were impressed by the use of traditional patterns repeating and changing to convey the message of the un blooming fig, and by the choice of the title which contains the meaning of being reborn and repeating the cycle of life.

Although this film is part of the First Flight Competition, it evokes the grandeur of a sky blazing with sunlight. We offer our most earnest applause for this film and the director’s unending passion and dedication to their work. – Kwon Jin-a