Cutting Loose has won the best documentary award at Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival in Bristol.

The Festival, which ran form the 18-23rd of September, is one of the world’s best-known showcases and meeting points for emerging film and animation talent.

The jury had this to say about Cutting Loose:

” The winning film is one full of respect, love, optimism and stylistic exuberance. It contains a simple and strong social message: treat people – however badly they have erred – with respect, and they will repay you in kind. The lead character really stayed with the jury – we all discovered in out meeting that we had wept at the same point. There were so many tiny moments. And the access the filmmakers got was simply extraordinary”

A massive congratualtions to Adrian McDowall and Finlay Pretsell for their beautiful documentary and this impressive win.

Iain Gardner‘s The Tannery will be in competition at the International Youth Cinema Festival from the 23-30th of September.

For the past 30 years the festival, based in Quebec, has endeavoured to make youth cinema accessible and educational. In order to mark the anniversary, this year’s edition will be under the theme of “Picture the Time”.

Congratulations to Iain Gardener, producer Anke Hilt and Axis Animation.

Eva Riley‘s Sweetheart will have its first international premier screening at the Message to Man Festival in Saint Petersburg. Running from 22-29th of September the international festival featurs an impressive selection of documentaries, short films and animated films.

Congratulations to Eva Riley and all the crew involved in this beautiful short.

Working in partnership with Hopscotch Films, Digicult is about to launch a new short film development and production initiative for Scottish based producers, writers and directors for 2012/13.

Over the next five months, Scottish Shorts will develop up to 10 teams with short film proposals before commissioning four high quality live action and animated films early in 2013.

Keep up to date with this new project on the Digicult and Hopscotch websites. Scottish Shorts 2012/13 is due to launch Monday 10th September.

This week Iain Gardner‘s The Tannery plays Portland Oregon at the Northwest Animation Festival in its presentation of the best animation from around the world as part of a special one night only event.

A total of 16 films feature in the programme which boasts Oscar contenders and the 2012 Academy Award winner for Best Animated Short, so congratulations to Iain Gardner, producer Anke Hilt, Axis Animation and all invloved for their captivating short.