Press release from Screen Australia
Screen Australia–funded short film The Lost Thing has been awarded an Oscar® for Best Animated Short Film at the 2011 Academy Awards®.
Directed and written by Shaun Tan and also directed by Andrew Ruhemann, The Lost Thing is about a boy and a strange creature he finds on the beach.
The film was produced by Sophie Byrne of Melbourne’s Passion Pictures, and features the vocal talents of Australian comedian Tim Minchin.
“Winning an Oscar® offers our Australian filmmakers fantastic recognition on the world stage,” said Screen Australia Chief Executive Officer Ruth Harley. “We are immensely proud of this remarkable achievement. Australian’s have a rich history in the short animation category at the Oscars® with Adam Elliot’s win with Harvie Krumpet in 2003 along with a number of nominations over the years. I think it demonstrates the incredible calibre of talent
we have in the animation industry,” said Dr Harley.
The Lost Thing was supported under Screen Australia’s Talent Escalator program for short animation production. The program aims to provide a means of career progression for leading emerging animation talent, supporting the new generation of creative storytellers in
this field.
The Oscar® comes on the back of a long line of domestic accolades for the film. The Lost Thing has picked up a swathe of international awards including the award for best Australian film at Flickerfest Australia’s only Academy Award® accredited short film festival. The film also took short animation awards at the AFI Awards, Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals and the IF Awards. Overseas it won the prestigious Cristal at the Annecy International Animation Festival.
The Lost Thing is available on DVD from Madman Entertainment.
The 2011 Academy Awards have just taken place in Los Angeles and a number of Australians were nominated for awards. Australian producer Emile Sherman’s film The King’s Speech has won the Oscar® for Best Picture and Australian Kirk Baxter has also received an award for Film Editing on The Social Network.
Screen Australia would like to congratulate all of the Australian Oscar® nominees and winners.