Taiwanese animated film "City of Lost Things(廢棄之城)" has won the Best Animated Feature Film, first prize in the category of Professional Jury Awards at the 38th Chicago International Children's Film Festival (CICFF), marking the first time in 22 years that a Taiwanese animation has received a prize at the festival, after the Taiwanese animated film "Grandma and Her Ghosts (魔法阿媽)" won a prize at the film festival in 1999.
Directed by Yee Chih-yen (易智言) and produced by Lee Lieh (李烈), "City of Lost Things" had gained recognition at last year's Golden Horse Awards, where it received the prize for Best Animation Feature, and also won the Outstanding Technology Award at Taipei Film Festival.
Voiced by Taiwanese actors Joseph Chang (張孝全), Kwai Lun-mei (桂綸鎂) and River Huang (黃河), the film tells the story of a struggling 16-year-old teenager, Leaf, who ran away from home and mysteriously arrive at a peculiar place. In the film, he befriended a plastic bag named Baggy, and together they embarked on a fantasy soul-searching adventure.
In a press release from Monkey Movies, director Yee expressed his gratitude to the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, and revealed that the film took 10 years to make, at a cost of around NT$100 million. Even so, he was determined to complete the film. He added that it is possible to make another animation film, but as of now, he has not written another animation script.
Founded in 1984, the CICFF serves as a global hub for filmmakers and producers of films for young people, as an opportunity to connect with and elevate the aesthetic and production standards for youth cinema production.