The capital of film and TV animation in Germany will next year honour New Zealand with a special host country award for aspiring animated cartoon artists. The award is part of the annual Hamburg Animation Awards 2008, a prestigious international film accolade designed to stimulate creativity amongst young, up-and-coming animators.

Image: The 2007 Hamburg Animation Award went to FREEJ - the Middle East's first 3D animated series.The capital of film and TV animation in Germany will next year honour New Zealand with a special host country award for aspiring animated cartoon artists. The award is part of the annual Hamburg Animation Awards 2008, a prestigious international film accolade designed to stimulate creativity amongst young, up-and-coming animators.

Image: The 2007 Hamburg Animation Award went to FREEJ - the Middle East's first 3D animated series.New Zealand will be the fourth host country since the inauguration of the awards in 2003.

The host country award carries a prize of EUR 2,000 (approximately NZ$3,900). New Zealand entrants to the award are automatically permitted to go forward to the wider amburg Animation Awards, which have three more categories of winners with the top prize package of EUR 5,000 (approximately NZ$10,000). All awards are judged by a jury which includes European film studio executives.

Auckland City Council's strategic alliance with Hamburg (signed in May 2007) has led to this recognition and support of New Zealand's aspiring animators.

Auckland city Mayor Dick Hubbard says that this is an outstanding opportunity for young New Zealand animated film makers.

"These are precisely the kinds of opportunities we sought with Hamburg when we signed the alliance," he says.

"Hamburg is the epicentre of German media including film, TV, advertising and music production employing 62,000 people, and the sector has increased in size by over 50 per cent since 2000. Auckland's creative industries account for 40 per cent of national creative sector employment and we employ over 13,000 people in the creative industries. This is an area that is burgeoning for us too."

The awards will be presented in the historic Hamburg Schmidts Tivoli Theatre. The audience also votes for the most popular film.

Chairperson of Auckland City Council's Partnerships Committee John Hinchcliff says "Auckland City's screen production sector is the second largest employer in our creative sector, and we also contribute hugely to the tertiary education area which trains young animators. This award could be the event of a lifetime for a budding animator."

The Hamburg award is open to students and graduates within three years of leaving college. They are asked to submit animated cartoons that were made during their studies, and they are judged on the basis of a well-told story and unique or novel style.

Detailed information and criteria for the competition will be available at the end of October from the Goethe Institut's website.

18/9/07