'Robot dreams' Leads Quirino Awards 2024 Winners

There's more to the animation world than the United States. Many other countries have thriving industries, and they deserve to be celebrated. The Quirino Awards are dedicated to celebrating the best in Iberio-American animation (from Spain, Portugal and Latin America). Held on the Spanish island of Tenerife, which is not only a favourite Holiday spot for Brits but also an animation hub, this year saw the seventh iteration of the awards.

This year saw 247 works submitted, from 15 participating countries, making up 51 hours of animation. The nominees were narrowed down to three finalists in each category, from which the eventual winner was selected.

Pablo Berger's Oscar-nominated, Annie winning Robot Dreams was nominated for three awards, of which it won two for Best Feature Film and Best Sound Design. Best Series went to Jasmine and Jambo, for the second year in a row.

Best Short Film went to Brazilian Marcus Vinicius Vasconcelos for his film Lulina And The Moon. Best School Short Film went to Colombian-Belgian Paola Cubillos's stop-motion short The Leak.

Gabriel Osario, director of the Oscar-winning Bear Story and Punkrobot Studios took home the award for Best Commissioned Animation for the short In The Stars from Star Wars Visions Volume 2. Star Wars Visions segment Sith also received two nominations but was not able to turn that into wins.

Best Music Video went to All The Best from Argentinian animator Pablo Roldan. Best Animation In A Video Game was awarded to The Many Pieces of Mr Coo, from Nacho Rodriguez. Best Animation Design went to Cold Soup, a Portugal-France co-production. Best Visual Design went to Spanish/German co-production Sultana’s Dream, directed by Isabel Heguera.

This year's awards were dominated by Spain, which won half of all possible awards. The country seems to be having something of a moment, led by the international success of Robot Dreams. There were also wins for Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia. as well as non-Iberian nations France, Belgium, Germany and The US (through co-productions).

The Quirino Awards were first awarded in 2018 and were created to celebrate the thriving animation industry across Iberio-America. They were named after animation Argentine-Italian pioneer Quirino Cristiani, who is believed to have created the world's first animated feature.

Quirino also ran a co-production and business forum to allow animators and filmmakers to make all-important contacts and plan productions that may feature in the awards in future years. The Forum is sponsored by Cabildo de Tenerife through Turismo de Tenerife and the Tenerife Film Commission and receives European Union Funding and support from Annecy, Weird, and RTVE.

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