The Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc., in partnership with the Game Development Association of the Philippines, recently held “Animahenasyon 11:2017 Philippine Animation Festival” at the Samsung Hall in SM Aura Premier.
A joint project of ACPI and SM, the festival aims to promote the country’s animation industry and to showcase the exceptional talents of professional, as well as young and aspiring Filipino animators both locally and internationally.
Several professional and up-and-coming Filipino animators from different universities and colleges around the country that offer animal and digital art courses participated in the competition. Among the participating schools were the University of Makati, and De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, Asia Pacific College, and De La Salle University.
The best of the best were cited during the festival’s awards night.
“Playground Beyond” by Paolo Joaquin of Go Motion Productions category and “Diskarte” by Jose Agustin Crisostomo and Michelle Cervantes of Benilde, won the Grand Prize in the professional and student categories, respectively. Cinema’s “Cine Tala” by the Nick Deocampo Center for New Cinema was honored with a Special Jury Award and Best in Production Design in professional category; while Gehashi Hino’s two-dimensional traditional hand-drawn animation, “Half Past Nine” won the John Martin Award.
Meanwhile, the Best Animation Made for Children Award was given to Mc Marvin Daisog of University of Makati for his short film, “Daisy.”
Jovanni Tinapay’s “Sierra Madre” was truly a standout, receiving many awards during the evening: Best in Narrative and Best Regional Entry in student category, and Hero TV’s Choice Award.
The Best in Production and Audience Choice Award was given to “2:55” by Victorino Sarmiento and Mark Ryan Casuyon from University of Makati; while “UNOS” by John Arthur Mercader and “Holy Dung” by Vaughnbryner Tan won the Best in Technical.
Game animators, on the other hand, were honored by GDAP. In the student division, the College of St. Benilde won big: Best Mobile Game for War Tactics AR, Best Screenplay to Responsum, Best Game Art for Santelmo, Best Narrative and Public Choice Award for Tear of the Forrest, Best Innovation for Morpheus, and Game of the Year for Into the Light. Not to be outdone, students from University of St. La Salle Bacolod won the Best Educational Game for Skip Trash.
In the professional division, The Game of the Year and Best Educational Game was awarded to Squeaky Wheel in Academia: School Simulator. The Best Mobile Game, Best Gameplay, and Best Game Art was given to Mayari by Ingenuity Games while Yangyang Mobile’s The Letter won the Best Narrative.