Animation Is Film Awards 'Tangles', 'Iron Boy' and More
Festivals, both film festivals and festivals dedicated to animation, are a great place to see films before anybody else. Any festival worth its salt also has a competitive element. Films and shorts can screen both in and out of competition. Typically, awards are handed out in a ceremony at the event's climax. The Animation Is Film Festival recently concluded in Los Angeles and has named the prize winners for this year's edition.
AIF's biggest award the Grand Jury Prize 2026 was given to Leah Nelson's biographical drama Tangles. Based on Sarah Leavitt's graphic novel memoir, it tells of Sarah's return to her small conservative hometown to take care of her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease. The US/Canadian production stars Abbi Jacobson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen, who is also a producer on the film. This latest win is added to prizes from Deauville Film Festival (France), Heartland Film Festival (Indianapolis, USA) and San Sebastian Film Festival (Spain), adding to the awards buzz around the films. Surely is has to be in the conversation for Best Animated Feature at the major awards? IFC will release Tangles in January 2027. See the trailer here.
“We loved the fluid 2D animation which uses a stark monochrome framing to bring to life the personal story of a family impacted by the mother’s battle with dementia,” the jury commented. “We were especially impressed with how director Leah Nelson and her perfectly cast voice team were able to remain faithful to Sarah Leavitt’s graphic novel which tackles a serious, painful subject with great beauty, honesty, and a gentle touch and also offers a great flashback to 1990s-era San Francisco.”
The Fumi Katahara Special Jury Award went to French feature Iron Boy. Ex-Pixar animator and director of two Asterix movies, Louis Clichy returns to 2D animation for the story of a young boy forced to wear an iron corset. The win comes on the back of wins for Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at Cannes and both the Jury Award and Audience Award at the Annecy Festival. Amazingly, the film repeated its Annecy one-two at Animation Is Film and also won the AIF Audience Award.
“Iron Boy is pure beauty from the medium we all love" the jury siad. "Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy was an easy stand-out thanks to its beautifully crafted water-colour-like and Chinese ink-brush style visuals and how it told a story inspired by the director’s own memories of growing up in rural France. We also admired the way Clichy conveyed a world of emotions with his impressionistic visuals as well as his depiction of a young boy’s personal struggles with a physical handicap and the heartfelt portrayal of a strained father-and-son relationship which avoids sentimentality and the pitfalls of a traditional coming-of-age story.”
Animation Is Film also awards prizes for animated short films. The Grand Jury Prize, Shorts for this year went to Paper Trail, the newest film from indie animation icon Don Hertzfeldt (It's Such A beautiful Day, World Of Tommorrow). The film depicts a life flashing by in fragments of paper, fitting a whole life into the span of a few minutes. Paper Trail also won the Cristal For A Short Film at the Annecy Festival in June 2026. The jury described it as “unique and profoundly moving.”
The Special Jury Prize, Shorts was awarded to the stop-motion film Please. The film is directed by Anna Mantzaris, a Swedish animation director based between London and Stockholm, and winner of more than 100 international awards. It features a series of wry vignetts depicting lonely city dwellers looking for a connection. It screened as part of AIF's Best Of Annecy selection, presented in partnership with WIA (formerly Women In Animation). The jury described it as “a wonderfully made, funny, and tender film that captures the absurdity and very human longing for connection.”
The Feature Jury comprised of Jinko Gotoh, respected producer of films such as Finding Nemo, The Illusionist, The Little Princess and Klaus, and as announced at the festival the new President of WIA; Dice Tsutsumi, former Pixar and Blue Sky filmmaker and founder of indpendent studio Tonko House and Ramin Zahed, Editor-in-chief of Animation Magazine and author of numerous 'Art Of' books. The Shorts Jury featured Elizabeth Ito, Emmy-winning animator, writer and director who created Netflix's City Of Ghosts; Jerry Beck, respected author, educator and animation historian and original co-founder of Cartoon Brew and Rachel House New Zealand Maori actress and director, star of Hunt For The Wilderpeople and the voice of Gramma Tala in Moana.
Animation Is Film held another succesful festival. As well as Tangles and Iron Boy, it screened much anticipated animated films such as The Violinist, Cartoon Saloon's Julian, Viva Carmen!, Jim Queen and LAIKA's Wildwood. It screened classics Vampire Hunter D and Wolfwalkers, offered previews of Disney's Hexed and Clara and The Below, celebrated 25 years of Cartoon Saloon and hosted The Hollywood Reporter's live Animation Roundtable. Animation fans are already looking forward to next year.
The Animation Is Film Festival is a joint venture between GKIDS Films, Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Variety. It takes place every October at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood.
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