With the animation film AWAY, the 18th edition of the Spirit of Fire Int. Film Festival in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia added another title to the ECFA Award nominations list.
At its Russian premiere in the Yuor Cinema Programme for Children & Youth (Spirit of Fire IDFF) Latvian director, scriptwriter, producer and animator Gints Zilbalodis was given the ECFA Award. In his unique film AWAY, a boy travelling an island on a motorcycle is trying to escape from a dark spirit. Along the way he connects with different animals and reflects on how he ended up here. Part dream, part reality, AWAY is a (self)reflective vision on the creative process of film-making.
The ECFA Jury were Josep Arbiol , Jitendra Mishra (Smile Int. Film Festival, India) and Ivaschenko Tatyana, professor at the Ugra State University.