The Secret of Kells Scoops Best European Feature at British Animation Awards
The Irish animation The Secret of Kells has triumphed again, picking up the Best European Feature award at the 8th British Animation Awards which took place in London last week.
The Oscar-nominated animation, which was directed by Tomm Moore and features the voice talent of Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally, tells the story of an orphan named Brendan who is set the task of completing the Book of Kells. The task sees him called to a new life of creativity and imagination where adventure, danger and action await him.
The critically acclaimed film has been hugely successful, scooping a large amount of awards in the past twelve months including the Jury and Audience Awards in Kecskemet in Hungary, the Audience Award in Annecy, and received a Special Mention at the Zagreb Animation Festival in Croatia. It was also nominated for Best Feature Animation at both the prestigious Annie Awards and the Academy Awards® this year.
The Secret of Kells was produced by Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon, who were previously awarded European Producers of the Year. The film received funding from the IFB, BAI, France 2 Cinema, Eurimages, Media programme, Canal+ Cine Cinema, Conseil General de la Charente, Piste Rouge, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique et des Télédistributeurs Wallons, Promimage and Wallimage.
The independent film went on limited release in the US last month, drawing a higher per-screen average than some of its Hollywood rivals on its opening weekend, including Alice in Wonderland, Avatar and Shutter Island.
The British Animation Awards (BAA) covers all aspects of the UK animation scene, from student work to commercials, children's entertainment, short and experimental art films, music videos, new technologies.
The Secret of Kells wins Best European Feature at the 8th British Animation Awards, held at the BFI, Southbank in London on 8th April.