The Slovenian-Italian short film 'Cosmonauts', directed by Leo Cernic, has won the Grand Trophy at the 21st Animest International Animation Film Festival in Bucharest, organisers announced in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.

The short film jury praised the film's strength and humour, describing it as 'an exploration of the human need for connection that is as vulnerable as it is bold, a visual celebration of love culminating in an ending that left us shaking with laughter'.



'This film took us on a cosmic journey through infinite space, yet never once made us feel alone,' the jury said.

The Grand Trophy automatically qualifies the winning short film for consideration for an Academy Award nomination. Animest has been Romania's only Oscar-qualifying film festival since 2017.

Cernic's film also won the Audience Award, based on votes cast by cinema-goers. A Special Mention in the international short film competition went to the Canadian production 'Paradaiz', directed by Matea Radic.

The Romanian competition award went to 'Aici a fost un parc', created by the Animators for IOR collective. Since the festival's 19th edition, the winner of this section has also qualified for Oscar consideration.

The jury praised the film as 'a light in a dark time', highlighting its portrayal of the importance of public parks as shared spaces and vital parts of community life.
The production also received the Green Sheep Badge, awarded by the festival to films promoting environmental responsibility and protection.

The Best Feature Film award went to the Brazilian production 'Son of a Bitch', directed by Otto Guerra, Erica Maradona, Savio Leite and Tania Anaya.

In the international student short film competition, the top prize went to 'Taming Phenomena', directed by Shunyuan Yao (Estonia), while the Anidoc award for Best Animated Documentary was presented to the British film 'Doug + Me', directed by Cecile Fountain-Jardim.

The Best VR Film award went to 'Retsu' (The Line), directed by Japan's Naho Kamimura, while 'The Great Dreamscape', directed by Remi Durin (France-Belgium), won the Minimest award for Best Children's Short Film.

The festival's industry development programmes also recognised emerging projects, including 'Crossing', directed by Lavinia Petrache, which received the Rise & Shine award in the 'Pitch, please!' competition.

The 21st edition of Animest took place in Bucharest from 2 to 11 October, screening more than 320 short and feature films from around the world and welcoming over 80 international guests, including filmmakers, producers and industry professionals.

The festival is organised by the Animest Association and co-financed by Romania's Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN). AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Petronius Craiu; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)

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