“Our Special Award goes to a cinematographic jewel with a sad story, for precise elaborated views of cinematic means of expression, componented with brilliant hand-drawn animation. A bitter sweet story about never giving up,” the jury said in a statement.
The 9-minute animation which has no dialogue is about a white cat, living in a city of black dwellers, that makes many attempts to get food, but no one pays attention to it until in quiet desperation, a small white bird, as if it too had gone through the same pain, helps the cat, Mehr News Agency reported.
A 2016 production, the short animated piece has attended several festivals and won the golden statuette for best student animator at the 10th Tehran International Animation Festival in March.
Born in Nishabur, Khorasan Razavi Province, Toroghi, 29, holds a master’s degree in animation from Tarbiat Modarres University in Tehran.
She has worked as a director, writer, producer, storyboard designer, layout designer, character and space designer, animator and editor and received numerous awards from domestic and international festivals in the fields of graphics, cartoons and animation.
Established in 2007, the Animanima festival seeks to affirm the art of animation, through featuring works of national and international authors. Besides two competition sections, the festival also holds other programs including reviews, lectures, retrospectives and shows as well as exhibitions and concerts.
Source: Financial Tribune