The film “Ice Merchants”, by Portuguese director João Gonzalez, was awarded twice in Japan, as part of the Tokyo Animation Festival, it was announced today.
According to the Tokyo Anime Award Festival, which ended today, “Ice Merchants” won the Grand Prize for Best Short Film, which also gave it the Tokyo Governor’s Award.
João Gonzalez’s film has continued its award-winning international tour of festivals since its premiere in May 2022 at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
According to data from the Short Film Agency, animated short films have had around 270,000 viewers and have been shown at 353 festivals.
“Ice Merchants”, a story without dialogues about a father and son who produce and distribute ice by jumping off a cliff where they live every day, has already won 132 awards – a rare feat in Portuguese cinema – in addition to an unprecedented nomination for the Oscars in 2023.
Last year, because of this Oscar nomination, “Ice Merchants”, produced by Cola Animation in co-production with France and the United Kingdom, had its commercial premiere in Portuguese cinemas and was the fourth most watched Portuguese film in theaters, with 13,944 spectators.
This week, João Gonzalez’s films will be screened in Italy as part of the Bergamo Film Meeting, which runs until the 17th and this year has a special program dedicated to Portuguese animation cinema.