Quest is a 1996 German animated short film directed by Tyron Montgomery, written (story) and produced by Thomas Stellmach at the University of Kassel - Art College. After four years of production it won several awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Supported by the German Federal Film Board and the Cultural Film Fund of the State of Hessian the puppet animation film was shot frame by frame with an ARRI II BV and a self constructed single frame motor. The character was made of brass skeleton, latex foam and sand. Together with the flying paper, the falling stones and the rotating machines the puppet was manipulated and photographed 19,000 times and reviewed only by video control. No digital compositing software was used.
Quest is distributed by Thomas Stellmach. It is part of the Animation Show of Shows as well.
Contents
Story
In search of water, a sand puppet leaves the sand world in which it lives, wandering through worlds made of paper, stone and iron, following the sound of dripping water. In the end the sand puppet manages to reach the water, in a tragic way.
Awards
OSCAR© of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the Best Short Animation Film 1996, (awarded 1997), Los Angeles
Certificate: "exceptional valuable" Film Valuation Authority Wiesbaden, Germany
CARTOON D'OR 96, best film of the European Animated Prize Winner Films, awarded by the European Association of Animation Film, Brussels, Belgium
Grand Prix for best school film 1997, European First Film Festival of Angers, France
European Broadcasters Award, European Short Film Competition, Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (BIFFF), Belgium (1997)
Best Debut Film 1997, World Animation Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA
Special Jury Prize 1997, Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, France
Bronze Worldmedal 1997, New York Festival, USA
ALVES COSTA PRIZE, Special Award of the Journalists, International Animation Film Festival Espinho, CINANIMA 96, Portugal
ZLATKO GRIGIC - Prize for Best Debut Film, International Animation Film Festival Zagreb 1996, Croatia
Golden Damby award International Animation EXPO Seoul 1997, Korea
CITY OF MELBOURNE AWARD for Best Animation Film 1996, International Film Festival of Melbourne, Australia
DON QUIJOTE - Prize of the critics FICC International Short Film Festival of Kraków, Poland
GOLD HUGO, 1996, Student Animation Category, International Film Festival Chicago, USA
Best European Short Film, International Film Festival Cork 1996, Ireland
Best Animation 1996, Albany International Short Film Festival, USA
Best Animation 1997, MEDIAWAVE, International Festival of Media Arts, Győr, Hungary
Best Animation 1996, Molodist - Kyiv International Film Festival, Ukraine
Grand Prix for Best School Film 1997, International Film Festival Huy, Belgium
Grand Prix 1997, International Film Festival of Environment, "Green Vision", St. Petersburg
Grand Prix International Mountain and Adventure Film Festival Graz 1997, Austria
Category Award (10 to 30 min), International Animation Film Festival "Krok", Kyiv 1997, Ukraine
First Audience Prize of the German TV Station - SDR 1996, International Animation Film Festival of Stuttgart, Germany
SILVER DANZANTE for the best Animation Film 1996, Huesca International Film Festival, Spain
Nominated for the German Short Film Award 1996, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Germany
First Audience Prize of the 7 nominated German short films 1996, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Germany
ANIMAT'T Award, Sitges International Fantasy Film Festival of Barcelona 1996, Spain
First Audience Prize 1996, International Film Celebration of Dresden, Germany
Jury Special Award 1996, Festival international du film d'environnement, Rienna, France
SECOND PRIZE 1996, International Short Film Festival Drama, Greece
Best Animation Film 1996, International Short Film Festival of Hamburg, Germany
OEKOMEDIA Award for the Best Artistic Achievement 1996, International Ecological Film Festival of Freiburg
Germany Special Prize of the Federal Minister of the Environment for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Environment Education 1996, Oekomedia, International Ecological Film Festival of Freiburg
Special Prize of the National Park Administration "Lower Saxony Mud-flats" 1996, Maritime Film Days of Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Laudable Mention of pupils 1996, Maritime Film Days of Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Second Prize 1996, Exground on screen, Wiesbaden, Germany
Tour Prize of the University Kassel 1996, Germany
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Prize 1996 Wiesbaden, Germany
Compilation Best of Ottawa 1996, International Animation Film Festival of Ottawa, Canada
Preservation
The Academy Film Archive preserved Quest in 2010.