June 19, 2021 – Montreal, Quebec – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Affairs of the Art, by Joanna Quinn and Les Mills (Beryl Productions International/NFB), has won the Jury Distinction “Special Distinction for Direction” at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Beryl’s back in Affairs of the Art, which showcases one family’s eccentric yet endearing obsessions with everything from drawing to screw threads and pet taxidermy. The film is screening widely on the international festival circuit and is part of the official selection at the Palm Springs Shortsfest, taking place June 22 to 28 in the U.S. The NFB had a strong showing at Annecy this year, with five works in the official competition: four animated shorts and one VR experience.

Affairs of the Art by Joanna Quinn and Les Mills (16 min)
Co-produced by Beryl Productions International and the NFB
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/affairs-of-the-art/

• Affairs of the Art has already won multiple awards, including the Jury Award for Best Comedy at the Aspen Shortsfest, Best Short at the Kaboom Animation Festival in Amsterdam and the 2021 Award for Best Animation at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France, where it had its world premiere.
• Director Joanna Quinn—whose films have won just about every major international award, including BAFTAs and Emmys, in addition to garnering two Oscar nominations—and producer/screenwriter Les Mills continue the series of beloved, hilarious and award-winning animated shorts they created in the UK featuring Beryl: Girls Night Out, winner of three awards at Annecy in 1987, Body Beautiful and Family Ties.

– 30 –

French version here | Version française ici.