Last Saturday, the Goya Awards ceremony took place, where Uka was nominated for Best Animated Short Film.
Although it did not ultimately win the Goya, simply being among the four nominees has been a complete success, continuing a fantastic festival run.
Distribution was handled through the OFF ECAM program, achieving no fewer than 92 selections to date. The first submissions were made to festivals with an April deadline; therefore, it has reached this figure in less than a year.
Uka is made using the stop-motion technique and has strengths that define its festival distribution: a total duration of 3 minutes with no dialogue, and a profile very well-suited for children.
This segment is increasingly on the rise, and many festivals now include a children’s section in their programming.
Distribution started very well, with immediate results from the first submissions. One of the first festivals where Valle Comba, its director, traveled was the WatchOut! Film Festival in Macedonia, winning an award.
The preselection for the Goya Awards was achieved thanks to the selection at the Chicago Children’s Film Festival in the United States, aimed at children.
Along these lines, its premiere in New York City is now scheduled at the New York Children International Film Festival, which begins on February 24.
In these two charts, you can see the evolution of the short film from the start of its festival run to the present:
The growth in selections did not stop in the first few months, reaching 18 festivals in October alone, with 16 of these selections in competitive sections.
The start of 2017 has continued the momentum of last year, with 8 festivals in February, and we already have 9 confirmed for March:
The success of the short film has been primarily in international festivals, participating in no fewer than 62 festivals worldwide:
As you can see in the chart, Italy leads the ranking with 11 selections, followed by the United States with 8, and Mexico with 6.
We are still in the middle of the distribution process, and there are several months left to complete the first year. Above all, it is worth highlighting how well it has performed at festivals in the audience segments most suited to the short film.