''Away'' is a 2019 animated silent film, written and animated by Gints Zilbalodis, a Latvian film-maker, who also wrote and recorded the score for the film. It is a computer-animated film, using the programme Maya. The film follows a boy who parachutes onto land, where he finds a motorbike and an injured bird. With these, he sets off to reach an initially unknown goal, pursued by a shadowy giant monster, which drains life from every living being that crosses its path. The film is divided into different chapters, each individually named. It was presented at the 2019 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, winning the Contrechamp Award. It was also presented at the Tokyo Film Festival, and the

London International Animation Festival The London International Animation Festival is an annual animation festival founded in 2003 that takes place at the Barbican Centre in London in November and December.

Reception

Variety praised the visual and soundtrack aspects of the movie but highlighted weaknesses in the story-telling. Some reviewers talked about the surreal nature of the work and the minimalist soundtrack. Several reviewers focussed on the effort required for a single person to create an entire animated film, and the opportunities modern animation software offers to independent film-makers.

Awards

The film was nominated for the Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production at the

47th Annie Awards The 47th ceremony of the Annie Awards, honoring excellence in the field of animation for the year of 2019, took place on January 25, 2020, at the University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California, in 37 categories. P ...

. Away won Best Animated Film at the 2019

Lielais Kristaps The Big Christopher ( lv, Lielais Kristaps) is the highest award in Latvian cinema. Established in 1977, it is given out at the ''Latvian National Film Festival''. Due to different reasons, the festival has not been held in 1992, from 1994 t ...

, the largest Latvian film awards. The Lielais Kristaps award jury (which included

Lolita Ritmanis Lolita Ritmanis (born November 1, 1962) is a Latvian-American composer, known for her film score, film and television scores, including her work on the animated series ''Batman Beyond''. Early life Born on November 1, 1962, in Portland, Oregon, ...

, , Larisa Gūtmane, , Zane Balčus and ) also remarked upon the achievement of one person making an entire film, stating "When awarding the prize, the jury wants to emphasize the film's unique visual and audio fantasy world, which the author has convincingly created alone."

References

External Links

*{{IMDb title, tt8288450 2019 films 2019 animated films 2019 computer-animated films Animated films without speech Latvian animated films