Tangles and Paper Trail Take Top Honors as the Animation Is Film Festival Wraps Its Ninth Landmark Edition

By Jamie Lang | October 22, 2026

Main Facts: A Triumph of Diverse Storytelling in Hollywood

The prestigious Animation Is Film Festival (AIF) officially brought the curtains down on its stellar ninth annual edition in Los Angeles, celebrating the pinnacle of global independent and studio animation. Marking another milestone in the event’s history, Leah Nelson’s poignant 2D feature Tangles captured the coveted Grand Jury Prize for best feature film, while acclaimed auteur Don Hertzfeldt claimed the top shorts honor with his latest visionary work, Paper Trail.

Running from October 16 through October 19, the four-day cinematic celebration unfolded across two iconic Hollywood venues: the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres and the Academy Museum’s state-of-the-art David Geffen Theater. This year’s highly competitive slate showcased nine feature films and 18 short films from around the globe, complemented by exclusive studio previews, immersive filmmaker conversations, high-profile retrospective screenings, and inaugural industry events that further cemented AIF’s status as a powerhouse on the international festival circuit.

The festival continues to serve as North America’s premier showcase for high-caliber animated cinema, challenging persistent industry biases by spotlighting animation not as a monolithic genre, but as a boundless medium capable of exploring deeply human, complex, and mature themes.

Chronology: Four Days of Animation Excellence in Hollywood

Opening and Early Screenings (Thursday, October 16 – Friday, October 17)

The festival kicked off in grand fashion at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, immediately diving into a robust program of international competition entries. Early days of the festival prioritized ground-level audience engagement, with enthusiastic crowds packing theaters for innovative narrative features and cutting-edge short blocks.

Amidst the competitive screenings, the festival’s high-profile spotlight events drew massive attention. Dana Terrace delivered the eagerly anticipated first-ever big-screen presentation of Knights of Guinevere, thrilling fans of her distinct storytelling style. Concurrently, Laika president and director Travis Knight treated attendees to an extraordinary special presentation and behind-the-scenes deep dive into the studio’s upcoming stop-motion feature, Wildwood.

Mid-Festival Highlights and Industry Milestones (Saturday, October 18)

As the weekend hit its stride, the festival shifted deeper into artistic masterclasses and rare retrospective screenings. The Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theater hosted a packed house for a celebratory screening of Cartoon Saloon’s modern masterwork Wolfwalkers, followed by an in-depth, illuminating conversation with studio founders Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey, and Paul Young.

Saturday also marked a major milestone for industry journalism: the very first live edition of The Hollywood Reporter’s Animation Roundtable, bringing together elite creators to discuss the shifting economic and artistic landscape of the medium. Other mid-festival highlights included an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Hexed and a deeply personal work-in-progress presentation of Matt Braly’s highly anticipated project, Clara and the Below.

Awards and Closing Gala (Sunday, October 19)

The festival concluded on Sunday evening after a marathon of final screenings and deliberation by the esteemed feature and short film juries. The culmination of the event was the announcement of the 2026 winners, honoring the projects that pushed aesthetic, emotional, and technical boundaries over the past year.

‘Tangles,’ ‘Paper Trail’ Win Top Prizes At Animation Is Film

Supporting Data: The 2026 Award Winners and Jury Breakdowns

The 2026 edition featured carefully curated competition slates evaluated by two distinct, highly respected juries comprised of industry veterans, historians, and acclaimed creators.

Feature Film Competition

Grand Jury Prize: Tangles, directed by Leah Nelson.
Audience Award & Fumi Kitahara Special Jury Prize: Iron Boy, directed by Louis Clichy.

The Feature Jury:

Jinko Gotoh: Renowned producer and incoming president of Women in Animation (WIA).
Dice Tsutsumi: Co-founder of Tonko House and co-director of the Oscar-nominated short The Dam Keeper.
Ramin Zahed: Editor-in-chief of Animation Magazine.

Short Film Competition

Grand Jury Prize (Best Short): Paper Trail, directed by Don Hertzfeldt.
Special Jury Prize (Shorts): Please, directed by Anna Mantzaris.

The Shorts Jury:

Elizabeth Ito: Creator of the critically acclaimed Netflix series City of Ghosts.
Jerry Beck: Renowned animation historian, author, and Cartoon Brew co-founder.
Rachel House: Acclaimed actor and director known for memorable voice performances in Disney’s Moana and Pixar’s Soul.

In-Depth Analysis of the Winning Films

Tangles (Grand Jury Prize – Feature)

Adapted from Sarah Leavitt’s critically acclaimed graphic novel, Tangles won over the feature jury with its striking visual palette and emotionally devastating narrative. Set against the backdrop of a vibrant 1990s San Francisco, the film chronicles a family coming to terms with a matriarch’s advancing dementia.

In their official statement, the feature jury lauded the production:

"We loved the fluid 2D animation which uses a stark monochrome framing to bring to life the personal story of a family impacted by the mother’s battle with dementia. We were especially impressed with how director Leah Nelson and her perfectly cast voice team were able to remain faithful to Sarah Leavitt’s graphic novel which tackles a serious, painful subject with great beauty, honesty, and a gentle touch and also offers a great flashback to 1990s-era San Francisco."

Iron Boy (Audience Award & Fumi Kitahara Special Jury Prize)

Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy emerged as a double winner, capturing both the hearts of general festivalgoers and the special recognition of the jury. Named in honor of the late, beloved publicist and tireless AIF champion Fumi Kitahara—who passed away in 2025—the Special Jury Prize added deep emotional resonance to the victory. The film draws heavily on Clichy’s childhood memories of growing up in rural France, utilizing breathtaking watercolor- and Chinese ink-brush aesthetics.

The jury praised its thematic depth and technical brilliance:

“Iron Boy is pure beauty from the medium we all love. Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy was an easy stand-out thanks to its beautifully crafted water-color-like and Chinese ink-brush style visuals and how it told a story inspired by the director’s own memories of growing up in rural France. We also admired the way Clichy conveyed a world of emotions with his impressionistic visuals as well as his depiction of a young boy’s personal struggles with a physical handicap and the heartfelt portrayal of a strained father-and-son relationship which avoids sentimentality and the pitfalls of a traditional coming-of-age story.”

Paper Trail (Grand Jury Prize – Shorts)

Don Hertzfeldt continues to redefine the boundaries of independent short-form animation. Paper Trail earned unanimous praise from the shorts jury for its singular visual language, existential depth, and structural innovation. Jurors celebrated the film as "unique and profoundly moving," noting that it was a piece of cinema that "stayed with us" long after the credits rolled.

Please (Special Jury Prize – Shorts)

Anna Mantzaris’s stop-motion triumph Please won over audiences and judges alike with its exquisite felt-puppet craftsmanship and deeply empathetic character work. The shorts jury described it as "a wonderfully made, funny, and tender film that captures the absurdity and very human longing for connection."

Official Responses and Perspectives

The core philosophy driving the Animation Is Film Festival has always been to elevate the medium out of commercial pigeonholes and into the sphere of high art and serious dramatic storytelling. This mission statement was passionately reiterated by festival leadership as the event drew to a close.

Reflecting on the overarching cultural mission of the festival, AIF Festival Director Matt Kaszanek delivered a definitive statement during the closing ceremonies:

"Animation Is Film is a festival, but it is also an argument: animated films should never be lumped together under the broad heading ‘Animation.’ Animation is drama and comedy, musical and horror; features and shorts, documentary and fiction, narrative and experimental."

Kaszanek’s sentiment resonated throughout the weekend’s programming, which deliberately juxtaposed massive, studio-backed stop-motion and hand-drawn works alongside deeply personal, micro-budget independent submissions. By providing a unified platform where studio blockbusters and uncompromising indie shorts share equal billing, AIF continues to challenge industry gatekeepers and shift consumer perceptions regarding what animated films can achieve.

Implications: The Evolving Landscape of Independent Animation

As the Animation Is Film Festival wraps its ninth successful year, its growing influence on the broader entertainment landscape is undeniable. Positioned strategically during the early months of Hollywood’s awards season, AIF has effectively established itself as a critical bellwether for the Academy Awards’ Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short Film categories.

The success of titles like Tangles and Iron Boy signals several key trends for the future of the medium:

The Rise of Mature, Literary Adaptations: The triumph of Tangles demonstrates a growing appetite for mature, biographical, and emotionally complex graphic novel adaptations that tackle difficult real-world subjects such as illness, aging, and family trauma without talking down to audiences.
Global Stylistic Diversity: By honoring works that blend traditional European storytelling sensibilities with traditional aesthetic forms—such as the Chinese ink-brush techniques seen in Iron Boy—the festival reinforces the global nature of animation, proving that innovation frequently bubbles up outside traditional studio hubs.
The Resilience of Independent Stop-Motion and 2D: In an era heavily dominated by computer-generated imagery, the heavy recognition given to hand-drawn 2D animation (Tangles), traditional impressionistic aesthetics (Iron Boy), and tactile stop-motion (Paper Trail, Please) underscores a thriving counter-movement. Audiences and critics alike continue to crave tangible, artisanal craftsmanship.

Looking ahead toward its milestone tenth edition next year, the Animation Is Film Festival stands stronger than ever. It has successfully cultivated an engaged, sophisticated community of cinephiles and creators who view animation not merely as a genre for children, but as one of the most powerful and versatile cinematic mediums of the 21st century.