‘Niko and the Way To The Stars,’ the animated feature film co-produced by Magma Films in Galway and Anima Vitae in Finland, has won the Best Film and Best Script “Jussi” awards at the Finnish Film Awards in Helsinki.
Galway based writer Marteinn Thorisson who wrote the screen play has been living and working in Galway for 12 years and has written on several international animation series and two other feature films produced by Magma. The awards are two of the most prestigious in the award categories and are all the more noteworthy as it is the first time a family genre animated feature has received these top awards which are normally the domain of live action films.
‘Niko and the Way to The Stars’ has also been nomintated in three categories in the upcoming IFTA awards which take place on February 14th in Dublin.
The nominations are for Best Animation, Best Original Score, which was composed by Wicklow based Stephen McKeon and Best Sound, which was completed in Ardmore Sound.
At the Cinekid festival earlier this year in Amsterdam, Niko picked up both Best Film and the Audience award; the first time ever a film received both at the festival.
The film has now sold to over 120 countries across the globe and so far has seen over 1,200,000 admissions world wide. In France, where it was also recently on release, it enjoyed a very impressive reception from critics and audiences alike and has had a very significant 650,000 admissions. The film which went on release in Ireland for Christmas is still showing in a selection of Irish cinemas.
“For a relatively small budget and an independent European co-production this is a huge achievement. We are delighted and very proud of the Irish talent that has contributed so much to the quality and success of the film at home and internationally.” Moe Honan Producer, Magma Films.
