Japan’s Ayumu Watanabe triumphs at FICAM

MEKNES – Japanese anime director Ayumu Watanabe won junior jury’s Prize for Best Long Compet Animated Feature Film and Public Long Compet prize for his film “Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko” at the Meknes International Animated Film Festival (FICAM) which closed Wednesday its curtains.

Dressed in a traditional black djellaba and Moroccan slippers, Watanabe expressed his joy and surprise to the huge cheers of the audience.

“I’m very happy to be selected for the awards and delighted to spend these days in Meknes. Thank you for this surprise,” Watanabe modestly said.

As for the winners, the jury of the Court Compet awarded the Grand Jury Prize for the best short film to Claude Cloutier for his short film “Bad Seeds” (Mauvaises herbes).

The Special Mention of the Jury was awarded to director Yoriko Mizushiri for her short film “Anxious Body”. The Public Prize went to Câline by Margot Reumont.

The two short films “Goodbye Jérôme!” by Adam Sillard, Gabrielle Selnet and Chloé Farr and “The Old Lion and the Little Cat” by Violeta Cortes received respectively the Best Student Film and the Young Audience while “The Soloists” by Mehrnaz Abdollahinia received the Junior Jury Prize.

FICAM’s 20th edition, which was held after a two-year hiatus because the government’s preventive measures to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, has witnessed six days of unprecedented screenings of animated films, debates, workshops and meetings with renowned international anime directors and producers, including Michel Ocelot and Tomm Moore.

The Festival paid a special tribute paid to Philippe Peythieu and Véronique Augereau, two undisputed masters of dubbing who lent their voices in particular to Homer and Marge Simpson.

The First Animation Film Forum in Morocco was an undeniable success, particularly in the presence of the three Moroccan animation studios Artcoustic, Lorem and Never Seen. The forum seeks to promote new development prospects in the animated cinema in the North African kingdom.

More than 25,000 people attended the various preview screenings scheduled in Morocco, including 5,000 schoolchildren who took advantage of the school screenings in the presence of prestigious guests while 150 students benefited from the workshops.