Annie Awards 2017: Caroline Leaf Receives Winsor McCay Award

www.annieawards.org
www.asifa-hollywood.org
CAROLINE LEAFCaroline Leaf’s animated storytelling is renowned for its emotional content and graphic style, closely tied to the innovative animation techniques that she invented. Her films, which flow fluidly with a handcrafted sensibility, are made by manipulating beach sand on a lightbox, finger painting on glass under the camera and scratching directly into film emulsion. Leaf serves as director, animator, designer, story adaptor and/or screenwriter for all of her films, as well as working closely within the sound and editing process.Leaf began to make animated films as a student at Harvard University in Boston in 1968. In 1972, Leaf moved to Montreal at the invitation of the National Film Board of Canada--a publicly funded Canadian production center, renowned for its animation, which allows its filmmakers considerable creative freedom. She worked as staff animator/director at the Film Board until 1991, winning multiple awards and becoming a naturalized Canadian citizen in the process.Aside from animation, Leaf has completed short documentary and live action films, contributed several set designs for a Montreal theatre company (Bouffon de Boullion) and constructs large moving wind sculptures. She travels widely showing her films, giving workshops and serving on the juries of major international festivals. Leaf now lives in London, where she is establishing herself as a fine arts painter in oils.
The Winsor McCay Award, named for the most influential of character animation pioneers, was the first Annie Award established by Asifa-Hollywood and is awarded to a maximum of three individuals annually in recognition of lifetime or career contributions in direction, animation, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical expertise, music, education, or for other endeavours which exhibit an outstanding devotion to and promotion of excellence in the art of animation.