The National Film Board of Canada has announced that Chris Landreth's animated short film "The Spine" has won the Best of the Festival award at the 2009 Melbourne International Animation Festival. This is the second time Landreth has won the festival's top prize, with the first being in 2005 for his Academy Award-winning short "Ryan."
The full press release follows:
CHRIS LANDRETH’S "THE SPINE" AWARDED THE
BEST OF FEST AT THE
MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
Toronto, June 29, 2009 – Chris Landreth’s animated short "The Spine," produced by the National Film Board of Canada in association with Copperheart Animation and C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, was honoured with the Best of the Festival award – the top prize – at the 2009 Melbourne International Animated Festival on Sunday, June 28. Landreth received this same honour in 2005 for his Academy Award winning short "Ryan."
The Melbourne International Animation Festival is one of the largest animation festivals in the world. It usually screens around 350–400 films each year in competitive, student, curated & retrospective programs.
About "The Spine"
For "The Spine," Landreth joins forces again with producers Steve Hoban (Copperheart Animation), Mark Smith (Copperheart Animation) and Marcy Page (National Film Board of Canada), who had collaborated with him to make "Ryan" (2004) – Oscar winner for best animated short. The Spine is a poignant story of redemption that takes us into the relationship between a man and a woman trapped in a spiral of mutual destruction. Dan and Mary Rutherford, married 26 years, sit unhappily in a couples’ group counselling session. Angela, another troubled participant in this group, wonders why their marriage has become so lopsided, so twisted. But when Mary leaves Dan, he undergoes a beautiful transformation. What will happen when she returns? Director and scriptwriter Landreth has created an insightful and daring look at the ways individuals evolve, adapt and break.
"The Spine" was produced by the National Film Board of Canada in association with Copperheart Animation and C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, with the creative participation of Autodesk Canada Co. and Seneca College School of Communication Arts. NFB.ca/thespine
About the National Film Board of Canada
The world changes, our stories live on – that’s the National Film Board of Canada’s pledge to Canadians as it marks its 70th anniversary in 2009 with a new national online Screening Room and a slate of bold, innovative productions. Canada’s public film producer and distributor, the NFB produces and distributes social-issue documentaries, auteur animation, alternative drama and digital content that provide the world with a unique Canadian perspective. In collaboration with its international partners and co-producers, the NFB is expanding the vocabulary of 21st century cinema and breaking new ground in form and content, through community filmmaking projects, cross-platform media, interactive cinema, stereoscopic animation – and more. Since the NFB’s founding in 1939, it has created over 13,000 productions and won over 5,000 awards, including 12 Oscars and more than 90 Genies. To watch over 1000 productions online or for more information, visit NFB.ca.
