Japan's Int'l Animation Film Festival in Niigata Ends with Grand Prix and Other Winners Awarded
Tokyo/Niigata, Japan, March 27, 2025 – Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF), the first film festival in the world dedicated to feature-length animated movies, concluded its six days of colorful and lively events on Thursday, March 20. NIAFF's official website (https://niigata-iaff.net/en/competition/) lists the following winners for the festival's Feature Film Competition:
GRAND PRIX:
Look Back
Directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama
KABUKU Award:
Memoir of a Snail
Directed by Adam Elliot
Evolve Award:
Balentes
Directed by Giovanni Columbu
Honorable Mention:
Papercuts: My Life as an Indie Animator
Directed by Eric Power
At the film festival's closure, the above winners were awarded with trophies and prizes by the three juries (Manuel Cristóbal, Christine Panushka, and Noriko Matsumoto) who evaluated all 12 nominated films.
Okawa Hiroshi Award and Fukiya Koji Awards ceremony also took place. The recipients were: Shinei Animation Co., Ltd., and Kiyotaka Oshiyama (Animator), Toshiyuki Inoue (Animator)*, Eriko Kimura (sound director), Yuki Hayashi (composer).
* Mr. Inoue could not attend the award ceremony, unfortunately.
For more information, please visit https://niigata-iaff.net/en/
We hope to see you at the next edition of NIAFF slated for February 20-26, 2026!
About NIAFF
As the world's first film festival focusing on feature-length animation and the largest animation film festival in Asia, Niigata International Animation Film Festival provides a wide variety of programs: Feature Film Competition, Retrospective screenings, Animation Camp, and numerous talk and forum events. The festival is held in the city of Niigata, the “Animation Capital of Japan”, where many creators of manga and animation originated from, including Hiroshi Ōkawa who founded Toei Animation and produced Japan's first colored feature-length animation movie The Tale of the White Serpent in 1958. NIAFF prides itself for providing opportunities to both creators and audiences to intermingle and exchange ideas in this centuries-old historical port city of Niigata which in the Meiji era boasted a population that surpassed that of Tokyo.
GRAND PRIX:
Look Back
Directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama
KABUKU Award:
Memoir of a Snail
Directed by Adam Elliot
Evolve Award:
Balentes
Directed by Giovanni Columbu
Honorable Mention:
Papercuts: My Life as an Indie Animator
Directed by Eric Power
At the film festival's closure, the above winners were awarded with trophies and prizes by the three juries (Manuel Cristóbal, Christine Panushka, and Noriko Matsumoto) who evaluated all 12 nominated films.
Okawa Hiroshi Award and Fukiya Koji Awards ceremony also took place. The recipients were: Shinei Animation Co., Ltd., and Kiyotaka Oshiyama (Animator), Toshiyuki Inoue (Animator)*, Eriko Kimura (sound director), Yuki Hayashi (composer).
* Mr. Inoue could not attend the award ceremony, unfortunately.
For more information, please visit https://niigata-iaff.net/en/
We hope to see you at the next edition of NIAFF slated for February 20-26, 2026!
About NIAFF
As the world's first film festival focusing on feature-length animation and the largest animation film festival in Asia, Niigata International Animation Film Festival provides a wide variety of programs: Feature Film Competition, Retrospective screenings, Animation Camp, and numerous talk and forum events. The festival is held in the city of Niigata, the “Animation Capital of Japan”, where many creators of manga and animation originated from, including Hiroshi Ōkawa who founded Toei Animation and produced Japan's first colored feature-length animation movie The Tale of the White Serpent in 1958. NIAFF prides itself for providing opportunities to both creators and audiences to intermingle and exchange ideas in this centuries-old historical port city of Niigata which in the Meiji era boasted a population that surpassed that of Tokyo.
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