SPARK ANIMATION 2025: Award Winners Announced
Skwigly
The Spark Computer Graphics Society (SPARK CG) proudly announces the 2025 SPARK ANIMATION Festival Award winners, including the highly anticipated Lifetime Achievement Award. This year’s celebration of animation excellence includes global and Canadian talent, showcasing diverse storytelling and innovative filmmaking.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is being presented to Willie Ito. Ito is an acclaimed animator with a career that spans 70 years and every major studio, from the spaghetti-eating sequence in Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp; to What’s Opera Doc with the Chuck Jones unit at Warner Bros.; Bob Clampett’s Beany & Cecil; to Hanna-Barbera’s Saturday morning stars of The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo and more. Most recently Willie lent his talents to the short film Hello Maggie which will also screen at the festival.
The Best in Show award, an Academy Award®-Qualifying Prize, has been awarded to Filante from director Marion Jamault (France). The playfully charming film has now qualified for consideration in the Academy Awards®’ Animated Short Film category, solidifying its place as one of the top animations of the year.
Other notable award recipients include:
- Runner Up – Quota directed by Job, Joris & Marieke (Netherlands)
- Canadian Film – We’re Kinda Different directed by Ben Meinhardt (Canada)
- Director’s Prize – What We Leave Behind directed by Jean-Sébastien Hamel, Alexandra Myotte (Canada)
- Special Mention, Documentary – View from the Floor directed by Megan Griffiths, Mindie Lind (USA)
- Student Film – Gauze directed by Noran Fikri Alezabi, Nicholas Arujah, Xinyue Ma, Yulin Yue, Xiaonan Zhou (France)
- Runner Up, Student Film – Grim&Gran directed by Gina Guan (Canada)
- Commissioned Works – 18 Months directed by Paulo Garcia (USA)
The full list of winners can be found here.
The official awards will be presented at the SPARK ANIMATION CELEBRATION on Sunday, September 21, 2025, in Vancouver.
This year’s winners showcase the breadth of animation as a powerful storytelling medium. From personal stories to global concerns like war, climate change, and social justice, these films offer diverse and thought-provoking approaches that reflect the voices shaping the future of animation.
Marina Antunes – Festival Director
Tickets for in-person programming are available now at sparkanimation.ca.