“CRAB” WINS OSCAR-QUALIFYING AWARD
It was bound to happen. The animated film by Piotr Chmielewski has had an excellent run at festivals for quite some time now and brought numerous distinctions and awards. The latest win happened at the Edmonton International Film Festival in Canada and turned out to be the one qualifying for the famous American awards.
The organizers of the Canadian Edmonton International Film Festival have set out to present quality cinema from around the world and enable both local and international filmmakers to create a forum for meetings both between themselves and with the audience. Attendees can participate in numerous Q&As, gala screenings, as well as discussion panels and special events. The program only includes films produced in the 20 months before each edition of the event.
Piotr Chmielewski's animated film was one such submission. Crab was named the best animated short of the festival and received the Grand Jury Award.
The awarded production attempts to adopt the perspective of the titular crustacean and discover the worlds it inhabits through its eyes and ears. Animals are mute witnesses of our history; they have accompanied us during humanity's greatest failures and triumphs. Their lives run parallel to ours – we eat them, use them as tools, and sometimes we simply don't notice them. But what would happen if we tried to adopt their perspective? What do the events that we all know from history lessons look like when seen through the eyes of animals?
All winning titles can be found here.