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Mizuki Kiyama's Animated Short Wins Award at Stuttgart Film Festival

Mizuki Kiyama's "Bath House of Whales" ("Kujira no Yu") animated short won the Lotte Reiniger Promotion Award for Animated Film at the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film in Germany on May 10. The short is streaming on Knowledge Capital's YouTube channel.

The festival's website posted videos of the jury announcing the award, and Kiyama accepting the award virtually. This year's festival was held online from May 5-10, after the physical version of the festival was canceled due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Oscar-nominated animator Koji Yamamura is the chief producer of the short, and he produced it alongside Yuichi Ito, Mitsuko Okamoto, and Taruto Fuyama. Kiyama produced the short at the Tokyo University of the Arts.

Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo also won the festival's AniMovie award for best animated feature film award in 2010, and Makoto Shinkai's The Garden of Words film won the award in 2014. Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai won the award last year.

Thanks to Jordan Scott for the news tip.

Source: Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film