available in April 2020. Alternative comics artist turned animator Dash Shaw's Cryptozoo (2021) enjoyed critical success at the Sundance Film Festival to the point of winning the NEXT Innovator Award while it was also nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards a year afterwards. Independent animation outside the United States Germany One of the earliest feature-length animated films was The Adventures of Prince Achmed, made in 1926 by Lotte Reiniger, a German artist who made silhouette animation using intricate cut-out figures and back-lighting. She made another feature, Dr. Dolittle, in 1928. The United Kingdom The BFI funded around thirty pieces of experimental animation between the mid-fifties to mid-nineties (notable examples: The Quay Brothers). Another major contributor to independent animation in Britain was Channel 4, which gained an international reputation as one of the most adventurous broadcasters of animation featuring works from Joanna Quinn (Girls' Night Out), Paul Barry (The Sandman), Mark Baker (The Village) and former National Film Board of Canada animator Paul Driessen (3 Misses). Another British animated milestone, the 1978 adaptation of Watership Down by American filmmaker Martin Rosen, was also made independently as well. France Examples of French independent efforts include René Laloux's Cannes-winning Fantastic Planet (1973) and Jérémy Clapin's Annecy Film Festival winner I Lost My Body (2019). Japan Kōji Yamamura, Yoji Kuri and Kihachiro Kawamoto have been prominently acclaimed Japanese independent animators known for their artistic qualities. Chile Pato Escala's 2014 debut short film, Bear Story, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short. As a result, many animators such as Fernanda Frick (Here's the Plan), who worked on Bear Story, and Hugo Covarrubias (the Oscar-nominated Bestia) made their own animated shorts in Chile. See also Zagreb Film Pannonia Film Studio Norman McLaren- Scottish experimental animator who worked at the National Film Board of Canada United Productions of America Adult animation Animated documentary Soyuzmultfilm Halas & Batchelor Richard Williams-director of the independently produced The Thief and the Cobbler Cartoon Saloon Animation Show of Shows-showcase for both independent and mainstream animated shorts International Tournée of Animation The Animation Show Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation Laika Studios Arthouse animation References External links 9 Essential Animated Indie Movies|IndieWire History of animation