Awards
Jury
Our 2025 jurors are Seattle-based filmmakers and educators, who will judge all shorts in competition for the Grand Jury Prize, Best in the Pacific Northwest, and Best Student Short awards.
Audience members will also vote on their favorite short to win the Audience Award.
Stefan Gruber
Stefan Gruber (they/them) is an experimental animator and festival curator born in Seattle. You can usually find them creating films in their studio along the greenbelt, traversing the country to share their films live in theaters, galleries, and backyard shows or playing a three-person hexagonal chess variant of their own invention in Seattle cafes. Stefan curates Rock, Paper, Scissors, a screening of all handmade animation at Bumbershoot.
Stefan Gruber (they/them) is an experimental animator and festival curator born in Seattle. You can usually find them creating films in their studio along the greenbelt, traversing the country to share their films live in theaters, galleries, and backyard shows or playing a three-person hexagonal chess variant of their own invention in Seattle cafes. Stefan curates Rock, Paper, Scissors, a screening of all handmade animation at Bumbershoot.
Britta Johnson
Britta Johnson (she/her) is a Seattle-based artist who makes video installations, films, and community projects. For the most part, she makes stop-motion animated installations that explore natural phenomena, with a special focus on light, texture, and movement.
Britta has also directed videos for musicians including Laura Veirs, Lusine, Andrew Bird, and Minus the Bear, and created multimedia projects with Robin Holcomb and Mirah & Spectratone Int’l. Her projects and collaborations have shown in venues including the Museum of Museums, Greg Kucera Gallery, Lawrimore Project, Gallery4Culture, Bumbershoot, the Henry Art Gallery, REDCAT, the PICA’s TBA festival, the Walker Art Center, MassMoCA, the Kennedy Center, and the Boston MFA. Recent works include her sculpture Making Kin, temporarily on display this past winter in Redmond, WA’s Downtown Park.
Britta Johnson (she/her) is a Seattle-based artist who makes video installations, films, and community projects. For the most part, she makes stop-motion animated installations that explore natural phenomena, with a special focus on light, texture, and movement.
Britta has also directed videos for musicians including Laura Veirs, Lusine, Andrew Bird, and Minus the Bear, and created multimedia projects with Robin Holcomb and Mirah & Spectratone Int’l. Her projects and collaborations have shown in venues including the Museum of Museums, Greg Kucera Gallery, Lawrimore Project, Gallery4Culture, Bumbershoot, the Henry Art Gallery, REDCAT, the PICA’s TBA festival, the Walker Art Center, MassMoCA, the Kennedy Center, and the Boston MFA. Recent works include her sculpture Making Kin, temporarily on display this past winter in Redmond, WA’s Downtown Park.
Isabella Von Ghoul
Isabella Von Ghoul (she/her) is a writer, artist, performer, creative, activist, curator, and designer. She has worked on CUT’s “100 Years of Beauty” series, produced a horror film burlesque live show called “Nocturnal Emissions,” and directed a virtual national run of Mae West’s play SEX in 2020. Previously, she worked with Langston Seattle, as the Film Programs Manager and as the Seattle Black Film Festival Program Manager. She also curated their Fade to Black series, focused on Black filmmakers and the Black image in media. Currently, she curates the film series Reel Black, a monthly film program dedicated to screening Black excellence, at SIFF cinemas.
Isabella Von Ghoul (she/her) is a writer, artist, performer, creative, activist, curator, and designer. She has worked on CUT’s “100 Years of Beauty” series, produced a horror film burlesque live show called “Nocturnal Emissions,” and directed a virtual national run of Mae West’s play SEX in 2020. Previously, she worked with Langston Seattle, as the Film Programs Manager and as the Seattle Black Film Festival Program Manager. She also curated their Fade to Black series, focused on Black filmmakers and the Black image in media. Currently, she curates the film series Reel Black, a monthly film program dedicated to screening Black excellence, at SIFF cinemas.
Awards
Grand Jury Prize – Noggin
Animation has a unique ability to turn emotional experiences inside out and help us illustrate the motions involved in intricate inner experiences. This film was one many of us watched again and again and felt moved each time. An extraordinary stand out, Noggin by Case Jernigan is a powerful animated film we found deserving of Grand Prize recognition.
Animation has a unique ability to turn emotional experiences inside out and help us illustrate the motions involved in intricate inner experiences. This film was one many of us watched again and again and felt moved each time. An extraordinary stand out, Noggin by Case Jernigan is a powerful animated film we found deserving of Grand Prize recognition.
Best in the Pacific Northwest – Hunky Dory
We felt that this visual lullaby really captured a Pacific Northwest vibe, from its cloudy textures to its ever-changing blend of natural and human technology. The film additionally elevates both the lowly index card and the humble morph to new heights.
We felt that this visual lullaby really captured a Pacific Northwest vibe, from its cloudy textures to its ever-changing blend of natural and human technology. The film additionally elevates both the lowly index card and the humble morph to new heights.
Best Student Film – Bunnyhood
This tour-de-force from a unique new voice in animation took our breath away. The stark drawing style, personal and imaginative storytelling, and dynamic sound design and edit left us clutching our midsections in terror, wondering what our appendices would say to us if they could speak.
This tour-de-force from a unique new voice in animation took our breath away. The stark drawing style, personal and imaginative storytelling, and dynamic sound design and edit left us clutching our midsections in terror, wondering what our appendices would say to us if they could speak.
Special Jury Mention (Stefan Gruber) – A Festa
A Festa is an animated prism of color and thoughts delivered in a drawn style with a layered in taste of strata-cut, a technique that gives that wow factor. In this film’s case, it grants an extra level of meaning. This spelunking tour of the inner perspective of an elder keeping peaceable watch over the social dynamics of a party shows that animation can shine a light into philosophical ideas that otherwise can’t be photographed.
A Festa is an animated prism of color and thoughts delivered in a drawn style with a layered in taste of strata-cut, a technique that gives that wow factor. In this film’s case, it grants an extra level of meaning. This spelunking tour of the inner perspective of an elder keeping peaceable watch over the social dynamics of a party shows that animation can shine a light into philosophical ideas that otherwise can’t be photographed.
Special Jury Mention (Britta Johnson) – Gina Kamentsky’s Pinocchio in 70mm
I found Gina Kamentsky’s Pinocchio in 70mm to be a rich and wildly entertaining work. I especially enjoyed the rollicking edit and soundtrack and the way the film playfully pushes the storytelling limits of direct animation and collage. I also found the film’s gender transition allegory both delightful and deeply moving.
I found Gina Kamentsky’s Pinocchio in 70mm to be a rich and wildly entertaining work. I especially enjoyed the rollicking edit and soundtrack and the way the film playfully pushes the storytelling limits of direct animation and collage. I also found the film’s gender transition allegory both delightful and deeply moving.
Special Jury Mention (Isabella Von Ghoul) – How Was Your Day?
How Was Your Day? is a film that reminds me so much of the joy of childhood creativity, a combination of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Blue’s Clues, Adventure Time, and Chowder. This student has a fresh and deeply original voice and I'm sure she is going to be one of the bright new stars of animation. I look forward to what she makes next.
How Was Your Day? is a film that reminds me so much of the joy of childhood creativity, a combination of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Blue’s Clues, Adventure Time, and Chowder. This student has a fresh and deeply original voice and I'm sure she is going to be one of the bright new stars of animation. I look forward to what she makes next.
Audience Award – A Kind of Testament
This visionary nightmare of the internet age wowed our head of programming in 2023 when they discovered it via Annecy. Its confident treatment of design, sound, and humor whisk the viewer on a truly bewildering and unpredictable journey. And never has a character been so well-dressed while being so distraught! We’re delighted our audiences were as taken as we were by this animated marvel.
This visionary nightmare of the internet age wowed our head of programming in 2023 when they discovered it via Annecy. Its confident treatment of design, sound, and humor whisk the viewer on a truly bewildering and unpredictable journey. And never has a character been so well-dressed while being so distraught! We’re delighted our audiences were as taken as we were by this animated marvel.