Press release from The Lampshade Collective
Melbourne animation group ‘The Lampshade Collective’ continues to enjoy success on the festival circuit with their ten minute animated road movie Nullarbor . They received the Grand Prix prize over the weekend at the largest and longest running animation festival in the UK – the Bradford Animation Festival, which is run by the National Media Museum. The prestigious award was presented by Andy Schmidt from Pixar Animation Studios on Saturday night
Nullarbor has already collected an impressive swag of high profile awards; including Best Animation Short Film Award at both the Melbourne International and Sydney Film Festivals, as well as awards at Krok, Maelstrom and Palm Springs.
Currently in consideration for an Academy® Award, the team are over the moon at this new recognition.
The film’s producer Katrina Mathers said they were invited to submit to many festivals after they screened at Annecy in France earlier in the year. “We’ve actually had to say no to many festivals as we just don’t have the resources to manage all the screening requirements, but we’re glad we said yes to this invitation.”
The film’s directors Alister Lockhart and Patrick Sarell are over the moon that audiences are responding so well to the film. “We wanted to make an animated film about Australian people that looks at the foolishness and charm of our culture and our unique style of miscommunication” says Sarell. Lockhart ads “It’s a kind of contemporary adaptation of the old tortoise and hare story. It’s set across Australia’s Nullarbor Plain, which is home to the longest, flattest straightest piece of road in the world.”
The team couldn’t attend the festival as they are all head down working on developing the next project. They will however be heading to Sydney this week for the announcement of the IF Awards, where they are also nominated for Best Short Animation. The IF Awards will be broadcast on SBS in Australia at 10pm on November 23rd.
For other news and screenings information: visit the website: www.nullarborshortfilm.com
Mathers, along with fellow producers at The Lampshade Collective, Merrin Jensen and Daryl Munton said the team couldn’t be happier with the attention the film is receiving after its run of screenings so far. “It’s been a long road…” they all say with a laugh “but we’re loving the ride!”