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Memoir of a Snail, an Australian stop-motion animated dark comedy, won the prestigious Cristal award for best feature film at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France.
The 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, one of the most important events in the industry, awarded its highest honor to Memoir of a Snail, an Australian stop-motion animated film directed by Adam Elliot. The dark comedy, which had its world premiere at the festival, follows the life story of Grace Pudel, a lonely misfit with a penchant for collecting snails, voiced by Succession star Sarah Snook.
Elliot’s second feature, coming 15 years after his acclaimed 2009 debut Mary and Max, which also won the top prize at Annecy, showcases his distinctive visual style and irreverent, often morbid sense of humor. Known for his signature “clayography” approach to stop-motion animation, Elliot’s films encompass themes of grief, loneliness and human weakness.
Set in 1970s Australia, Memoir of a Snail chronicles Grace’s troubled childhood after being separated from her twin brother Gilbert and sent to live with negligent foster parents. She finds solace in her friendship with an eccentric elderly woman named Pinky, voiced by Jacki Weaver. The voice cast also includes notable Australian actors like Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana and Magda Szubanski.
Critics praised the film as a poignant, heartfelt and hilarious chronicle of an outsider’s life, elevated by Elliot’s masterful visual storytelling and gallows humor. The Annecy win positions Memoir of a Snail as a leading contender in the upcoming awards season, with a release planned for October 2024 in Australia. IFC Films acquired the North American distribution rights.
In addition to the Cristal award for best feature film, the festival bestowed other notable honors. The Jury Prize and Audience Prize for a feature film went to Flow, a Franco-Belgian-Latvian film by Gints Zilbalodis, which was also screened at the Cannes Festival in the Un Certain Regard selection.
In the TV film category, Sophie Roze’s short film Une guitare a la mer won both the Cristal and the Audience Award, further highlighting the diverse range of animated works celebrated at the festival.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which boasted a record attendance of 17,400 festival-goers from 103 countries, continues to be a pivotal platform for showcasing and recognizing the best in animated filmmaking from around the world.
Memoir of a Snail joins a long list of stop-motion animated classics, such as Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, in pushing the boundaries of the genre and captivating audiences with its unique storytelling and visual style.
With AFP
